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Explanations and appeals

If you disagree with a Housing Benefit decision you can ask us to explain or reconsider it, or you can appeal to an independent tribunal.

Ask for an explanation of a decision

If you think a decision is wrong or you want to know more you can ask for an explanation. We’ll write to you explaining how we came to the decision.

View an example of a Housing Benefit decision letter (PDF, 178kb)with notes to help you understand it.

Ask us to reconsider a decision

If you think a decision is wrong you can ask us to reconsider it.  You must ask us within 1 month of the date of the decision and explain what you think is wrong.  Please include any extra information to support your request.

After looking at the decision again we’ll write to you to tell you whether we think the decision is right or whether we've changed it. 

Appeal against a decision

If you’re a person affected by a decision, you have a right to appeal. An affected person is a person claiming Housing Benefit or someone authorised to act on their behalf or a landlord or other person who receives the Housing Benefit payments directly.

If you’d like someone to act on your behalf or have an appointee, you’ll need to give us permission to share information with them.

Decisions you can't appeal against

There are some decisions that you can't appeal against. These are:

  • which partner in a couple may claim
  • when, how and to whom payments are made
  • the amount of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate we've used to work out your benefit
  • how often payments are made
  • suspending your payments
  • how you repay an overpayment
  • repaying overpayments from other benefits
  • how much Pension Credit is used in the decision
  • how much Discretionary Housing Payment we give you

How to appeal

You must submit your appeal (PDF, 38kb) within 1 month of the date of the decision and it must be signed by you or someone authorised to act on your behalf. You must tell us the date of the decision you’re appealing and why you think it’s wrong. Please include any extra information to support your request.

If your appeal is made more than 1 month after the date of decision you must tell us why it's late.

After looking at the decision again we’ll write to you to tell you whether we think it’s right or whether we’ve changed it. If we can’t change it, we’ll send your appeal to the Tribunal Service, which will make a decision about it.

Page last updated: 02 October 2017

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