YOU VE LODGED AN APPEAL... WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

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1 Pb81 YOU VE LODGED AN APPEAL... WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? This booklet is for people who have lodged an appeal against a decision on a social security benefit or Tax Credit. Please note that the process in challenging decisions changed in October 2013 for DWP benefits. This means that before you can appeal you must first request an internal review called a mandatory reconsideration. The DWP will look at your case again and will issue a new decision. If you are still unhappy with this later decision you can appeal direct to the Tribunal Service, called a direct lodgement. This booklet is about to what happens at this direct lodgement stage. It explains the appeal process from start to finish. This process can take several months, so you should keep this booklet in a safe place, to refer to at any stage. When you appeal against a benefit decision, your appeal will be decided by an appeal Tribunal. Tribunals are independent from the benefit office which made the decision you are appealing against. A. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU SEND IN YOUR APPEAL? A1. Acknowledgement: You should receive an acknowledgement letter from The Tribunals Service to say that they have received your appeal. If you don t receive this letter within 1 month, contact them to check that they have actually received your appeal. If they haven t, send in another appeal and explain why it is being sent in late. A2. After getting the acknowledgement letter there could be a long delay before anything else happens. A3. The next thing you will get is a large bundle of documents the appeal papers. Don t be put off by the amount of pages it is mostlyphotocopies of your claim forms, perhaps medical reports, and any other documents which are relevant to your appeal. 1

2 A4. A copy of this paperwork will also have been sent to The Tribunals Service. They are independent from the DWP/HMRC and they make the arrangements for your appeal to be heard. A5. When you made your appeal you would have done it using The Tribunals Service form SSCS1 (SSCS5 if it is a Tax Credit appeal). In it you would have been asked a number of questions: A5.1 you would have been offered the choice of attending the hearing in person (an oral hearing) or letting the Tribunal decide your appeal just by reading the appeal papers (a paper hearing). Your chances of success are considerably higher if you attend; most paper hearings are unsuccessful. If you didn t ask for an oral hearing, but have now changed your mind, tell the Tribunal Service as soon as possible. A5.2 you would have been asked for any dates you would be unavailable for the next 6 months. As this may have been a while ago, if you NOW have dates where you would not be free to attend the tribunal, tell The Tribunals Service. A5.3 you will have been asked if you need an interpreter. It is important to note that the Tribunal will not allow a family member or friend to interpret; they will need an independent interpreting service that they will arrange and pay for. A6. If you haven t already done so, now is the time to get advice from an advice agency such as Citizens Advice about whether it is worth continuing with your appeal, and whether you can be referred to Warwickshire Welfare Rights Advice Service. Limited Capability for Work appeals - see our leaflet Pb20 to see how you can reclaim ESA pending the appeal date. - see back page for local advice agencies A7. There could now be another delay (possibly some months) before a date is arranged for your appeal to be heard. A8. In theory, tribunals are open to the public. In reality, members of the public never attend, but it does mean that if you want to go along beforehand to observe an appeal hearing to see what it s like, you can. It is advisable to contact The Tribunals Service beforehand to check what hearings are coming up. You might want to observe a hearing which involves the same benefit as your own appeal, as this will give you a better idea of what is likely to happen at your own hearing. Ring The Tribunals Service if you want to sit in on a Tribunal. 2

3 B. PREPARING FOR YOUR APPEAL B1. Read the bundle of appeal papers you were sent as soon as you get them. B1.1. Note anything that you disagree with- try using a highlighter pen as you go through the papers. B1.2. If anything you have sent in has not been included in the appeal papers, let the benefit office know straightaway. B1.3. Think of any evidence you could get to help your case, e.g. a letter from your doctor, your medical records, letters from people who know you well etc. What evidence you need to get will depend on the nature of your case. B1.4. You should send such evidence in to The Tribunals Service as soon as you get it.make sure you put your name and National Insurance number (or appeal reference number) on each sheet. The Tribunals Service will send a copy of this to the benefit officewho may change their decision when they see the new evidence, and a hearingmay then not be necessary. B1.5. It is up to you to gather all the evidence which you want the Tribunal to see. Although the Tribunal has the power to obtain medical evidence etc., it does not have to, and would not normally do so. If the Tribunal thinks it has enough evidence to make a decision, it won t adjourn the hearing to get extra evidence. If you are unable for some reason to get evidence which you think you need, write to The Tribunals Service and explain what evidence you want and why you can t get it. B1.6. For most appeals, the Tribunal can only consider your circumstances as they were at the time the decision was made. By the time the Tribunal hears your appeal, it could be a year or more since that decision, and it might be difficult for you to remember how things were at that time. B1.7. TOP TIP! so you don t forget what you want to say on the day, make a list of the pointsyou want to raise at the appeal, on a separate sheet. As the Tribunal could be a long time away, do this as soon as you get the appeal papers. B2. You should be given at least 14 days notice of the hearing date, unless [see A5] you agreed to accept less than 14 days when you filled in the appeal form. 3

4 B3. If you can t attend on the date given, it is vital that you tell The Tribunals Service straightaway and ask them to rearrange for another day. Your request can be refused, so do explain clearly why it is that you can t attend. B4. You are strongly advised to take someone with you to the hearing. This could be a friend, relative, support worker, carer etc. This person can provide moral support for you, and if appropriate, they would also have an opportunity to talk to the Tribunal if you want them to. They can prompt you if you might forget to mention something you meant to say. C. GETTING TO THE HEARING C1. You are expected to make your own way to the hearing. You can claim help with travel costs but not until after the hearing you will be given a form to complete and the money will be paid directly into your bank account at a later date. C2. If you have any queries about getting to the hearing or getting your expenses paid, contact The Tribunals Service as soon as possible before the day of the hearing to check that your expenses will be reimbursed. C3. If you need to travel by taxi, you must contact The Tribunals Servicein advance of the hearing date to check that they will agree to cover the cost of the taxi fare. You will also need to get a receipt from the taxi driver. D. ON THE DAY OF THE HEARING D1. While some appeal hearings are held in rooms in office buildings, those heard in Coventry are now held in a room at the magistrates court. This is because it reduces the Tribunal s costs to share rooms with other agencies. Don t be put off by this your appeal hearing will berelatively informal. D2. If your appeal is being heard at Coventry magistrates court, you enter through a separate tribunal entrance which is to the left of the main doors. There is a brief airport security - type check at the door. The security guard will tell you which waiting area to go to. You will then be seen by the Tribunal clerk who will take your details again. 4

5 D3. Wherever your appeal is held, there will be a Tribunal clerk. Their job is to assist the Tribunal with any paperwork, and administrative matters in general. S/he will come into the waiting area to talk to you, and will explain what will happen in the hearing, and ask if you have any further evidence or papers that you want to hand in. If you want to claim travel expenses, don t forget to ask the Clerk for a claim form. E. IN THE HEARING ROOM E1. When the Tribunal is ready to start your case, the Clerk will take you into the hearing room. At first sight the room may look a bit like a court room, and of course in Coventry it will be a room which is sometimes used as a court. However, remember that the hearing itself will be informal and nothing like being in court. E2. As we said earlier, appeal hearings are public hearings, but in practice members of the public never attend. So there probably won t be anyone else in the room when you go in except for the Tribunal panel itself. E3. The Tribunal members will already be seated at a table when you go into the room. You will be asked to sit at another table opposite the Tribunal. If you have taken someone with you, they can sit with you at the table. If you have taken several people with you, some of them might be asked to sit in chairs behind you, or to wait outside to be called (e.g. if they are to be witnesses). E4. Occasionally, someone from the relevant benefit office will attend the hearing. They are called a Presenting Officer. The Presenting Officer isn t the person who made the decision you re appealing against. His/her job is to present the benefit office s side of things. If a Presenting Officer does attend, s/he will sit at the same long table as you, opposite the Tribunal. E5. The only other person in the room will be the Clerk s/he takes no part in the proceedings and may go in and out of the room during the hearing. E6. Tribunals are made up of either one, two or three people, depending on the type of benefit involved. The Chair or judge is always a legally qualified person. If the appeal involves medical issues, there will also be a doctor on the Tribunal. If the appeal involves Disability Living Allowance, PIP or Attendance Allowance, there will be a third person and s/he will be someone who has experience of how disability affects people in day to day life. 5

6 E7. The judge needs to keep a written note of what is said during the hearing, so s/he may ask you to speak more slowly or more loudly, or to wait a moment while s/he writes something down. E8. The Tribunal members will each have received a copy of the appeal papers beforehand. They will have read the papers and they will have made notes on the points that they want to ask questions about. E9. The Tribunal knows that you may be anxious about the whole appeal process and especially the appeal hearing, and they will do their best to make sure the hearing is not stressful for you. E10. The Tribunal judge starts by introducing the Tribunal members to you and explaining that the Tribunal is independent from the benefit office. The judge will also explain that the Tribunal is bound by the law; this means that they cannot allow your appeal just because they are sympathetic to your situation they must make a decision based on the law. E11. The Tribunal will then ask you questions. The Tribunal will want you to try to answer the questions yourself. If you have taken someone with you, s/he will not be allowed to answer the questions for you unless there is some reason why you cannot answer yourself. The person you have taken with youwill have an opportunity to address the Tribunal at the end of the hearing and s/he may therefore want to take a note pad and pen so that s/he can note things down during the hearing that s/he wants to say at the end. E12. When you are being asked questions, listen carefully to what you are being asked. Tell the Tribunal if you haven t understood the question or you want them to repeat it. E13. The questions aren t intended to catch you out. They are simply to enable the Tribunal to understand your situation better so that they can make an informed decision. E14. If you can t recall the answer to a question, or you aren t sure of the answer, it s ok to say so. E15. If you need to get up from your chair during the hearing, or you need a drink of water, or you need a short break, just tell the Tribunal what you need. E16. If there is a Presenting Officer there from the benefit office, s/he may also ask you questions. E17. The hearings generally last between 30 minutes and an hour, but the Tribunal will give your case as long as necessary to ensure that all the relevant information is gathered. 6

7 E18. After the Tribunal has gone through all their questions, they will ask you (and anyone who has accompanied you) if there is anything else you want to say. It is important that you tell the Tribunal anything that you think is significant and relevant to your appeal, as you will not be able to come back later to give the Tribunal more information. E.19. When everyone has said everything they want to say, the judge will ask you to go back to the waiting area while the tribunal makes its decision on your appeal. Only the clerk stays in the room with the Tribunal; everyone else must leave. The clerk does not take part in the decision. F. THE DECISION F1. You may be given the decision on the day of the hearing. When the Tribunal has reached its decision, the clerk will take you back into the hearing room. You sit down again at your table and the judge tells you what the decision is. The Tribunal does not give you its reasons for the decision and you cannot discuss the appeal or the decision with the Tribunal. You will be given a copy of the decision in writing, and you then leave the room. F2. Occasionally, the Tribunal does not give you the decision on the day, but posts it instead. This may happen for example if the Tribunal is running late because the hearings have taken longer than expected. F3. The Tribunal will send a copy of its decision to the relevant benefit office. It can take 6 8 weeks for the benefit office to act on the decision. If the decision was in your favour and you haven t heard anything from the benefit office after 4 weeks, contact the benefit office to check that they have received the Tribunal s decision. F4. If the appeal was unsuccessful, and you are not happy with the Tribunal s decision, you can only appeal further on a point of law. This means that you have to show that the Tribunal made a legal error in reaching its decision. This could be for example that the Tribunal failed to take account of evidence, or got the law wrong. You cannot appeal simply because you think the Tribunal made the wrong decision. F5. You are given written information which explains what to do if you are not happy with the Tribunal s decision. 7

8 NEED HELP? For further help and advice contact your nearest advice agency CITIZENS ADVICE: Rugby CAB North Warwickshire CAB 1 st Floor, Chestnut House The Parish Rooms North Street Welcome Street Rugby, CV21 2AQ Atherstone, CV9 1DU Bedworth & District CAB (Covers Nuneaton & Bedworth) Old Market Tavern 25 Congreve Walk Bedworth, CV12 8LX To book an appointment in Nuneaton call Warwick District CAB 10 Hamilton Terrace Leamington Spa, CV32 4LY Stratford-upon-Avon CAB 25 Meer Street Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6QB Switchboard number for ALL CAs: The information in this factsheet is correct as of Sept 2014, checked at April 2017 NB: This item may not be reproduced without prior agreement or acknowledgement Produced by: Warwickshire Welfare Rights Advice Service Funded by: Warwickshire County Council Charity Registration No Company No