Housing benefit
When we have dealt with your claim for housing benefit we will send you a decision letter.
If you think that the decision regarding your housing benefit entitlement is wrong you should get in touch with us within one calendar month of the date of the letter.
When you contact us you can either:
- Ask us to explain the reasons for our decision or ask for more information to help you decide what to do
- Ask us for a written statement of reasons for our decision if we have not already sent you one. Ask us to look at our decision again. If the decision can be changed we will send you a new decision letter and, if you still do not agree, you will have one month to appeal from the date of the new decision. If we cannot change the decision we will tell you why and you will have a further month to appeal
- Appeal against our decision. This can only be done in writing. An appeal can be made at any time within one calendar month of the date of the letter or the date of the new decision. If you have already asked for an explanation or for us to look at the decision again you can still appeal
The HM Courts and Tribunals Service deals with housing benefit appeals. All appeals will be sent to the service who will arrange for an independent tribunal to hear your appeal.
Council tax reduction
If you think that the decision regarding your council tax reduction entitlement is wrong you should get in touch with us as soon as possible.
When you contact us you can either:
- Ask us to explain the reasons for our decision or ask us for more information to help you decide what to do
- Ask us for a written statement of reasons for our decision if we have not already sent you one
- Ask us to look at our decision again. If the decision can be changed we will send you a new decision letter and if you still do not agree you have a right to make an appeal to the valuation tribunal. We will give you more information about this with our decision