If you disagree with a decision, you can appeal against it. A First Tier Tribunal will deal with your appeal. Tribunals are independent and completely separate from the office which gave you the decision you are appealing against. The hearing will be free, local, mostly informal and have less complicated procedures than the courts.
The hearing will involve a panel consisting of a Tribunal judge and Tribunal members.
How we could help
Your responses on the enquiry form will be the foundation of any decision, as such, it must explain your side in a way that the tribunal judge can understand. Tribunal judges are legally qualified and as such usually respond well to a response written by a fellow legal professional. They know that you will have invested in making sure that they have the information they need to make a decision. In addition, we may suggest the inclusion of a specialist medical report supporting your claim, there is little chance of the benefit or tax credit office representative (who will also attend to explain their stance) having such powerful evidence. We appreciate that employing ourselves comes at a cost, as does employing medical experts, however, we politely suggest that you consider how much the lost benefits would amount to over a period. In addition, it is generally far easier to get an extension of an existing benefit than to obtain the same benefit years later, as such this initial investment, whilst having no guarantee of success, could yield significant returns.
Beginning the appeal
If you are appealing against a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) decision you can submit your appeal online on the Gov.UK website. Once your appeal is received, the Tribunal will give you a confirmation, this will include:
- Contact details for the Tribunal
- Your unique appeal number to be quoted by you if you contact them
- The information they have about your appeal
- An enquiry form, which you will need to fill in and return within two weeks.
The benefit or tax office will then give both the Tribunal and you the information about how they came to their decision and copies of forms you have filled out as well as other information. It is recommended that you read the information which you receive and make notes on what you agree or disagree with. You must then fill out and complete the enquiry form within 14 days, failing to do this will give the impression that you no longer wish to proceed with the appeal.
Enquiry form
The enquiry form helps the Tribunals or Appeals Service to arrange your appeal hearing. You will be asked if you want your appeal dealt with as an oral hearing where you and/or a representative appear in person to answer questions about your claim, or a paper hearing where the Tribunal just look at the evidence on paper without you or your representative present.
The enquiry form also asks you to provide any further information or evidence to support your appeal. You should provide as much new relevant information as you can, this could be:
- A medical report from your GP or consultant
- Bank statements
- Extracts from relevant Council Tax legislation
- Case law to support your appeal.
- If you are waiting for evidence, such as a letter from your doctor, put this on the form.
The hearing
The tribunal will hear your appeal as soon as possible after receiving your appeal form and will give you at least four weeks’ notice of the hearing date. If you have a good reason for not being able to attend, they should be able to arrange another date. Nearer the date, you will be contacted to give you an idea of the time it will take place. If a settlement can be made with the benefit or tax credit office you can withdraw your appeal at any stage before the hearing date.
Oral hearing
The people on the tribunal panel will already have seen all the information and evidence about your case that has been sent to them. When your case is heard you or your representative will be given a chance to explain in your own words why you think the decision is wrong. The benefit or tax credit office representative will also be able to explain how they came to their decision.
The tribunal panel can ask you questions about your case. If you have questions for the benefit or tax credit office representative you can ask these as well. When the tribunal panel think they have all the information they need, they will ask you if you want to say anything else to support your case. They will then ask you to leave the room so they can consider all the evidence and make their decision. You may be told the final decision there and then. Following the hearing, you will then receive the decision in writing within one month. If you fail to attend the appeal may be dismissed.
We would always suggest you opt for an oral hearing, written papers deny you the emotional element of explaining your situation, we would always suggest that you take someone with you for support, if not taking a professional representative them maybe ask a friend or relative for emotional support.
Paper hearing
The Tribunal judge will only consider written evidence and therefore you do not need to attend the hearing. You will not be told when the private hearing is taking place. You will be sent the decision in writing after the paper hearing. If you want more details about the reasons for the tribunal’s decision, you can ask for this by writing to the Tribunals or Appeals Service within one month.
Possible outcomes
The Tribunal can either change the original decision or keep the original decision. Either way, you will receive a letter confirming the outcome of the hearing. If you still think the decision is wrong you can only appeal against the tribunal’s decision if they are wrong on a point of law. The time limits for appealing against a tribunal decision are strict so it is important to seek specialist advice quickly after receiving your decision.
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