Article: Housing benefit appeals Article Body You can make an appeal if you think we have made the wrong decision about your entitlement to housing benefit, local housing allowance or council tax benefit. How do I know if my benefit is correct? If we make any decision about your benefit we will send you a decision letter that tells you when your benefit starts or changes, how it has been worked out and the amount if benefit you have been awarded. You should always check your letters carefully to ensure that all the details are correct. What if I think the decision you made on my claim is wrong? You should contact us to: ask us to explain it. ask us to look at the decision again (reviewed). appeal to an independent tribunal to look at the decision. You can ask us to explain the decision on the phone by calling 01226 774743. There are time limits for asking us to explain the decision to you in writing, to look at the decision again, or for making an appeal. The time limit is normally one month from the date of the decision letter. If you ask us to explain the decision in writing it is called a 'statement of reasons'. You can ask us for a statement of reasons, to look at the decision again, or appeal using one of our forms 'housing and council tax benefit - what to do if you think our decision is wrong' or you can write to us. I have asked for a statement of reasons, what happens next? If you have asked for a statement of reasons and are happy with the explanation we provide then the orginal decision remains. If you receive the statement of reasons and you think the decision is wrong you can ask us to look at the decision again or appeal. What should I do if I want you to look at the decision again? You must complete the form or write to us within one month of the date on the decision letter. When you do this tell us which decision you want us to look at again, tell us the date(s) on the notification letter(s) and give reasons why you think the decision is wrong. If you have any evidence that supports the reason you think the decision is wrong you can send it to us with your form or letter. What happens next? After you have written to us or completed the form a different officer will look at the decision to see if it is correct. Using the form will help you provide the right information. If we find that the decision is wrong we will change it and send you a letter explaining the new decision. If the decision is considered to be correct we will send you a letter explaining why. If you do not agree with our explanation and want to appeal to the Tribunals Service you have another month from the date of the letter to do so. What should I do if I want to appeal against the decision? You must complete the form or write to us within one month of the date on the decision letter. When you do this tell us which decision you are appealing against, tell us the date on the notification letter and give reasons why you think the decision is wrong. If you have any evidence to support your appeal, send it to us with your form or letter. You may find it helpful to talk to a welfare rights organisation, such as Citizens Advice or the Welfare Rights Service (see below for details). What happens after I have made an appeal? We will look at the decision again if we have not already done this. If we think the original decision is wrong we will change it and write to let you know. If we decide in your favour, your appeal will stop. If we think the original decision is wrong but it is not to your advantage for example, the amount of benefit you get remains the same or goes down; your appeal will continue. We will then put together all the information about the council's decision and send it to the Tribunal Service, when we do this we will also send you a copy. What happens if my appeal goes to the Tribunal Service? If your appeal is sent to the Tribunal Service you will be sent a form that you must fill in and return to them within 14 days, otherwise your appeal will stop. The form will ask whether you want a paper or oral hearing for your appeal, and will explain what is involved. After the tribunal hearing you will be given the tribunal's decision. If the tribunal turn down your appeal you will be given information about what you can do next. If the tribunal accept your appeal the decision will normally be changed. I have not asked you to look at my claim again or made an appeal within one month - what can I do? You can ask us to look at your claim again or make an appeal outside the one month time limit if there were reasons why you could not do this at the time. You need to tell us what the reasons are and provide any evidence that you have. We will then consider if you have good enough reason for not having contacted us within the time limit allowed. If you appeal outside the time limit and we do not consider that you have good reason for doing so we refer your appeal to the Tribunal Service for them to decide whether you appeal can be allowed. The maximum time limit for submitting an appeal is thirteen months after the decision was made. Who can make an appeal? An appeal can be made by: the person who made the claim (the claimant). someone who is appointed by the courts to act on behalf of the claimant. someone who we agree can act on behalf of the claimant. a landlord - but only about who benefit may be paid. an agent - but only about who benefit may be paid to. anyone we ask to pay back an overpayment of benefit. I have been told I cannot appeal: What can I do? Some decisions can not be appealed against, for example the goverment sets the figures that the council must use to assess benefit entitlement. These figures cannot be appealed against. Application forms Housing and council tax benefit - what to do if you think our decision is wrong Related documents Service standards Legislation Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001 Data Protection Act 1998 Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 Tribunals Procedure (First Tier Tribunal) (Social Entitlement Chamber) Rules 2008 Contact details Enquiries and requests for application forms can be made as follows: E-mail: bentax@barnsley.gov.uk Telephone the benefits helpline: 01226 774743 Opening hours: Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm and Friday 9am to 4.30pm Fax: 01226 774733 By writing or sending documents to: Benefits, Taxation and Welfare Rights Division, PO Box 634, Barnsley, S70 9GG By personal visit to any Barnsley Connects office Additional information To learn more about our compliments, comments and complaints process please see general complaints. Related services Council Tax Welfare Rights Homelessness and Housing Advice View your benefit detaills online Benefit calculator Other useful websites Citizens Advice Bureau(CAB) give free, confidential and unbiased advice on debt. National Debtline is a free helpline for people with debt problems. Consumer Credit Counselling Service give a free, confidential service to help you work out realistic solutions to your debt problems, they can help you avoid becoming bankrupt and show you how to manage your money. Frequently Asked Questions Why do I have an overpayment to pay back? Overpayments of housing and council tax benefit happen when your income increases or your household circumstances change. They happen most often when the council is not told immediately about changes that have to be reported. The changes that have to be reported are listed on your benefit award letters. Sometimes the council does not manage to deal with the information provided about a change straight away and this creates an overpayment. In most of these cases the overpayment is still repayable because the law says that if you could be aware that the change might affect your benefit, the overpayment is still recoverable. How can I repay the overpayment? You can repay the overpayment in full if we send you a bill. If you have problems paying the bill in full you can ring the council to arrange a weekly amount that you can afford. If you are still in receipt of housing benefit we will deduct a weekly amount from this to repay the overpayment. You will then have to pay the shortfall to your landlord. If you have problems making these payments we may be able to reduce them. To arrange repayment please call 01226 774781 or 773736. Why have you sent me a bill for an overpayment of benefit when you paid the benefit to my landlord? Housing benefit to help pay rent can sometimes be paid directly to landlords instead of the person claiming the benefit. If an overpayment occurs the council looks at who the benefit was paid to, and whether that person would have known they were being overpaid. If you have a change in your personal circumstances, such as starting work or starting to get tax credits, it is not reasonable for a landlord to know about such changes. The overpayment is then considered recoverable from you as the person that claimed benefit and declared that they would inform the council of those changes. Data Protection We will use the information you give on the housing benefit application form and any supporting evidence you send us to process your claim for housing benefit. We may pass the information on to the Department for Work and Pensions and HMRC, as allowed by law. We may also use the information to tell you what other welfare benefits you are entitled to. We may check the information provided by you, or information about you provided by someone else, against other information we hold. We may also ask other agencies, organisations, local authorities or government departments to give us information they have.