How to appeal A step by step guide Easy-read version

How to appeal
A step by step guide
Easy-read version
About this guide
This guide is an easy-read version of the appeals process leaflet.
This guide is about social security and tax credit appeals.
An appeal is when you think a decision about your benefit is wrong and
you want an independent group – the Tribunal – to look in to it.
The guide tells you how you can make an appeal.
Each section of this guide tells you about a different part of the
appeals process.
1
Section 1
Deciding whether to appeal
Section 2
Starting your appeal
Section 3
Before the Tribunal hearing
Section 4
The Tribunal hearing
Section 5
After the hearing
Section 6
The service you can expect
How to appeal – About this guide
Introduction
The Tribunal Hearing
This is where the decision about your appeal will be made.
An appeal is when you think a decision about a benefit is wrong and
you have asked the Tribunal to look at the decision again.
The Tribunal can look at appeals about
• Social Security
• Child Support
• Housing Benefit
• Council Tax Benefit
• Child Tax Credit
• Pensions Credit.
How to appeal – Introduction
2
The Tribunals Service
The Tribunals Service manages your appeal and supports the work of
the Tribunal.
Tribunals Service staff who have the job of passing on information,
writing letters and keeping in contact with you are called Clerks
to the Tribunal.
3
How to appeal – Introduction
Professional Help
The Tribunals Service can not advise you about whether you have a
good case for appeal.
It may be a good idea to get some advice about whether to appeal or not.
You can get help and advice from
• Citizen Advice Bureau
• Welfare Rights Service
• Advice Centre
• Law Centre
• Solicitor
• Trade Union (if you
are a member).
How to appeal – Introduction
4
Most people who make an appeal choose to get professional help or ask
if another person can represent them on the day.
If you already get help from a voluntary organisation or charity that
supports people with disabilities, you might ask them for help in finding
a representative.
You need to make sure that you get advice in time.
There is a time limit on how long you have to appeal.
There is more information about the time limits in Section 2.
5
How to appeal – Introduction
Section 1 – deciding whether to appeal
Deciding whether to appeal
You can only appeal when the law says you have a right to.
As a broad guide, you can appeal about decisions on whether you can
get a benefit, tax credit or child support, and if so, how much.
Decisions about things like how and when your benefit will be paid do
not carry a right of appeal.
If you believe you should have a right of appeal, even where the letter
says you do not, get advice.
How to appeal – Deciding whether to appeal
6
You appeal by
• Sending a letter or Form GL24 which you can get from the
Department of Work and Pensions and the Citizens Advice Bureau.
Say why you want to appeal and send it to the office that sent you
the letter about your benefit or tax credit
• That office will send your GL24 form or letter to the Tribunals Service
• The Tribunal will decide if you can appeal.
If the Tribunal decides that you do not have the right to appeal, your
appeal stops.
What the Tribunal can do
The Tribunal can decide how much benefit you are entitled to receive. It
also deals with paying child support and paying back overpaid benefit.
Please remember, it is possible that they may decide that you can not
get any benefit or credit, or that you should be paid less.
More about appeals
• There are no fees or costs involved
• The Tribunals Service is a free service
• The Tribunal can not award costs against you or in your favour
• The Tribunal can not award compensation or damages
• The Tribunals Service can help you with your expenses if you have to
attend a Tribunal hearing, please keep all of your receipts for your journey
• The appeals process will take between 3 to 8 months from start to
finish
• There are only a few forms to fill in.
7
How to appeal – Deciding whether to appeal
Section 2 – starting your appeal
Starting your appeal
You have a limited time in which to send in your appeal. As a general
rule, you have 1 month from the date of the letter giving the decision
you want to appeal against.
If you find yourself outside the time limit, it is worth sending in your
appeal, as the time limit can be extended.
Include a letter explaining why your appeal is late.
How to appeal – Starting your appeal
8
How to make the appeal
• You can appeal by letter or by using a form called a GL24
• You can get this form from the office that sent you the decision you
want to appeal against, or from the Citizens Advice Bureau.
In your appeal you should
• Say what decision you are appealing against
• Give the date of the letter that told you about the decision
• Give the reasons why you are appealing
• Put in any extra information or evidence that supports your appeal,
like a letter from your doctor
• If your appeal is late,
ask for an extension
and give the reasons
why your appeal is late
• Give your National
Insurance Number
• Sign your name
• Put the date on the
letter or form
Send your appeal to the
office you got the
decision from that you
are appealing about.
9
How to appeal – Starting your appeal
Section 3 – before the Tribunal hearing
Before the Tribunal hearing
When they get your appeal, the benefit office or council may think
again about its decision and change it in your favour.
If not, they will send you a statement, telling you why they think the
decision was right. As well as the statement (also called a response)
you will get a bundle of papers.
This bundle will have copies of your claim form and any letters and reports.
The benefit office or council will also send a copy of the statement and
bundle to your representative if you have one and to the Tribunals Service.
Shortly after you receive the bundle we will send you an enquiry form.
The enquiry form
• The form has notes
with it to help you and
your representative fill
it in
• The enquiry form must
be returned to us with
in 14 days from when
you get it
• The form is to help us
organise the hearing for
your appeal.
Probably the most
important question on the
enquiry form is whether
you want to go along to
your appeal hearing.
How to appeal – Before the Tribunal hearing
10
An appeal hearing can take place with out you there by just using the
appeal papers.
Get advice on which would be best for you.
More appeals are successful when the person appealing comes to
the hearing.
Building access
Nearly all the places that
the Tribunals Service use for
hearings are accessible to
disabled people.
If you want to check that
the place for your hearing
will be accessible to you,
say what you will need on
the enquiry form.
You can also contact the
Tribunals Service centre that
is looking after your appeal.
11
How to appeal – Before the Tribunal hearing
Your representative
Use the enquiry form to tell
us about any representative
you have chosen.
A representative is someone
who is able to
• Advise you on what kind of
evidence (information) may
help you win your case
• Gather that evidence on
your behalf or help you
gather it yourself
• Contact the benefit office or
council to see if your case
can be settled without a
Tribunal hearing
• Check out the law that
could affect your case
• Prepare a written
submission for the Tribunal
about your case
• Give you advice on things
that are related to your
case, like other benefits
• Deal with the results of the
Tribunal’s decision,
whatever it may be.
How to appeal – Before the Tribunal hearing
12
Someone who can give you this type of support is probably a
trained professional.
Page 4 has a list of places to go for professional support.
Please remember that if you are taking a representative with you to the
hearing, the Tribunal will still want to talk with you as well. This is because
you will probably be the best person to talk about your own circumstances.
As well as your representative, you can bring someone along to support
you. This can be a friend, relative or someone else who knows you well.
13
How to appeal – Before the Tribunal hearing
You can also use the enquiry form to say if you would like
communication support, such as a language interpreter, British Sign
Language interpreter or palantypist or lipspeaker, at the hearing. We can
arrange this for you.
Give as much detail on the enquiry form as you can about the language
or dialect that the interpreter needs to speak.
Language and British Sign Language interpreters will be found and paid
for by the Tribunals Service.
We also have loop systems in our offices for the hard of hearing.
If the enquiry form is late
If we do not get your completed form or letter with in 14 days, we may
think that you do not want to continue with your appeal. We will ask
the Tribunal to decide whether your appeal can carry on or should
come to a close.
It is really important you get the enquiry form back to us on time. If you
are having problems doing so please tell us.
Tell us why you missed the deadline and send us the finished enquiry form.
If you change address (move home) during the time the Tribunals
Service is dealing with your appeal, please tell us.
When we get your form
As soon as we have your completed enquiry form, we should be able to
contact you to fix a date for the hearing.
This will usually be for about 6 weeks ahead.
We will do our best not to cancel the hearing.
We would be grateful if you do not cancel or ask for the hearing to be
postponed except in exceptional circumstances.
How to appeal – Before the Tribunal hearing
14
Directions
In some appeals, the Tribunal will issue instructions (called directions).
These try to sort out any problems before the actual hearing.
These directions usually need you, the benefit office or council to do
something to help the appeal move forward.
For example, you might have told us on your enquiry form that you
were hoping to get a report from your doctor but nothing has been
heard since. The Tribunal might make a direction, giving you a deadline
to get the doctors report.
Preparing for the Tribunal hearing
Evidence
Evidence is information
which proves the facts of
your case. You will have
been sent a copy of the
benefit office or council’s
evidence with
its response.
It is unusual for the benefit
office or council to
produce any new evidence
at the actual hearing.
15
How to appeal – Before the Tribunal hearing
What kind of evidence might you produce to support
your case?
1. What you can tell the Tribunal yourself, because sometimes it is easy
to overlook that what you say to the Tribunal is evidence.
2. What others can tell the Tribunal, because a carer or friend may be
willing to go with you to the hearing to talk about your circumstances.
3. There is evidence in the form of a document, for example, a letter
from your doctor. Please remember to send us any documents you
want to use as evidence, well before the hearing.
How to appeal – Before the Tribunal hearing
16
Section 4 – the Tribunal hearing
The Tribunal hearing
This section tells you what is likely to happen at the hearing.
If you have asked for your appeal to be decided on the papers only, we
will arrange to put your case before the Tribunal as soon as possible and
you will be told of the outcome.
If you have asked to go to the hearing, we send you a letter telling you
when and where the hearing will take place. We will usually be able to
give you at least 14 days notice.
Notice of the hearing
The time that you have been given in the letter we sent to you is the
latest time by which you should arrive.
The Tribunal will do its best to make sure that your hearing starts on
time but sometimes it may start a bit later.
If you are going to be late, let someone in the Tribunals Service know.
17
How to appeal – The Tribunal hearing
Clerk to the Tribunal
You will be welcomed when you arrive at the Tribunal office by a member
of the Tribunals Service (called the Clerk to the Tribunal) who will sort
out any travel expenses and any last minute questions you may have.
The Tribunal members
The Lord Chancellor chooses Tribunal members. Each Tribunal has a
legally qualified member who is a judge. There may be 1 or 2 other
members depending on the type of appeal you have. For example,
appeals involving disability include a doctor and a disability specialist.
How to appeal – The Tribunal hearing
18
Other people at the hearing
The benefit office or council can send a representative.
Tribunals are open to the public, but it is quite unlikely that anyone
will come.
If there are members of the public present, you can ask the Judge to
send them out to respect your privacy.
You can not insist on anyone representing the benefit office or council
who made the decision you are appealing against being sent out.
What happens in the hearing?
Each hearing is slightly different as it depends on what the appeal is
about. The Judge decides on how the hearing will be done. The law
gives them this power.
Introductions
The Judge introduces everyone and makes sure everyone knows how he
or she will take part in the hearing.
19
How to appeal – The Tribunal hearing
Opening submissions
The Judge says what things need to be looked at and the order in which
everyone will have their say.
Giving evidence
In a court, evidence is given by lawyers
asking questions.
In the Tribunal, it is rare for either side
to have a lawyer to represent them. The
Tribunal takes responsibility for asking
any questions.
You should bear in mind the following
• The Tribunal will want to focus on the
issues that are being disagreed about.
Do not worry if the Tribunal does not
ask about every part of your case
• If there are big differences in evidence from you, the benefit office or
council, the Tribunal will ask detailed questions to try to resolve this
• The Tribunal will try to make sure that you do not forget all the issues
you have in your appeal
• In disability appeals, the Tribunal may have to ask personal questions,
but it will try to do this in a sensitive way
• As giving evidence is an important part of the hearing, the Tribunal
will try to make sure that there are no distractions or interruptions
and everyone will get their turn to speak
• If you think anything has been missed out, let the Judge know.
How to appeal – The Tribunal hearing
20
The decision
It is usually possible for the decision of the Tribunal to be given on the day.
You and your representative will be asked to leave the room when the
Tribunal discuss your case.
You will be asked back into the hearing room for the Judge to announce
the decision.
The decision will also be confirmed in writing.
Adjournments
Sometimes the Tribunal may not be able to make a decision on the day.
If this is the case there will be an adjournment. The hearing will be
suspended and a new date set.
21
How to appeal – The Tribunal hearing
Section 5 – after the hearing
After the hearing
A notice setting out the Tribunal’s
decision is given or posted to you and
the benefit office or council who made
the original decision you appealed
against, on the day of the hearing.
If you disagree with the Tribunal’s
decision, you have the following options
• If you think the Tribunal got the law
wrong, you can appeal to a higher
Tribunal called the Upper Tribunal
• If you wanted to attend the hearing
but were unable to or if documents
about your appeal went missing, you
can ask for the decision to be
cancelled (called setting aside)
• If the written decision contains
accidental mistakes you can ask for
them to be put right.
You will get a letter with the Tribunal’s
decision. The letter tells you how to
appeal to the Upper Tribunal.
Please remember that the other side in
your appeal can also ask for these things.
How to appeal – After the hearing
22
Section 6 – the service you can expect
The service you can expect
This section tells you about what we will do and what to do if things
go wrong.
Our standards
• We will try to tell you a hearing date 6 weeks from when we get your
enquiry form.
• If you need an interpreter we will organise and pay for one.
• When you contact us about your appeal we will give you information
that is up to date and correct.
• Each Tribunal venue will be easy to find and accessible.
• We will do our best to make sure there
is someone to meet you when you come
for your hearing and explain how it
will work.
• We will treat you in a fair and equal way.
• We will refund you reasonable costs for
attending your hearing.
• We will try to give you clear and easy
to understand information about
our service.
• We will try to reply to general enquiries
that we get by letter, email or fax within
10 working days.
23
How to appeal – The service you can expect
• We will answer the telephone between 8.30am to 5.00pm Monday
to Friday.
• We will try to reply to any complaints within 10 working days. If we
can not we will tell you why and who to contact.
Complaints
We want to give you a good service
Complaining when things go wrong can be a good way of making sure
they work better in the future.
We want you to tell us what you think of our service.
When you complain
If you do make a complaint about our service we will
• Deal with your complaint in a professional and polite way
• Treat your complaint seriously and keep it confidential
• Put right any mistakes as quickly as we can
• Let you know how we are dealing with your complaint or what the
result is within 10 working days (not counting weekends) of when we
get your complaint
• If we have made a mistake we will say sorry
• We will tell you what went wrong and why
• We will learn from what went wrong.
We can not look at complaints you might have about the decision of
the Tribunal.
How to appeal – The service you can expect
24
How to complain
You might want to complain if you think we have not treated you in the
way we should.
Contact the office that worked on your case. Someone will talk to you
about why you are unhappy. They will try to sort it out. If they can not
sort it out straight away they will try to sort it out within 10 working days.
If you are not satisfied you can move on to Step 1.
Step 1
You write to the manager of
the Tribunal that dealt with
your case. Tell them why you
are not happy with the way
we have dealt with your
complaint.
He or she will look in to your
complaint and reply to you
with in 10 working days.
If you are not satisfied with
the manager of the Tribunals
reply you can move on to
Step 2.
Most complaints are sorted
out at Step 1.
25
How to appeal – The service you can expect
Step 2
You write to the Area Manager of the Tribunal that dealt with your
case. Tell them why you are not happy with the way we have dealt
with your complaint.
He or she will look in to your complaint and reply to you with in 10
working days.
If you are not satisfied with the Area Manager’s reply you can move
on to Step 3.
Step 3
You write to the Chief Executive of the Tribunals Service. Tell him or
her why you are not happy with the way your complaint has been
dealt with.
The Chief Executive will make sure there is an independent review
(look) in to your complaint.
To complain about the hearing or the Tribunal panel
If you have a complaint about your hearing or how the Tribunal panel
behaved contact the Tribunal office.
They will tell you who to send your complaint to.
If you want help to complain you can ask your local Citizen Advice
Bureau (CAB) or your Member of Parliament (MP).
How to appeal – The service you can expect
26
How to tell us what you like about our service
You can help us and other customers by telling us about what you
thought was good about our service. For example, someone you talked
to might have been very helpful and you want to thank them.
We will think about any ideas that you have to make our service better.
We will think about anything we can change.
You will be given the name and address of the people you need
to contact about your complaint or praise when you contact your
local Tribunal office.
Special payments
Sometimes we may be able to give you a special payment. This is a
nominal payment that we make to apologise for the way we have
treated you.
We only make special payments if things have gone very badly wrong.
For example
• you have suffered financial hardship because we made a serious
mistake with your case
• or caused the hearing of your appeal to be delayed for too long.
Very rarely we might give a special payment if you have suffered
• inconvenience as a result of lots of mistakes
• embarrassment
• humiliation
• severe distress or harm to your health.
27
How to appeal – The service you can expect
We want you to tell us when we have done
things well or not so well
As well as telling us when things have gone wrong, we want to hear
about when we have given you a really good service.
You can tell us your ideas about how we can make the service we
give better.
If you have any ideas tell the staff at the office that dealt with
you appeal.
How to appeal – The service you can expect
28
Contact information
The Tribunals Service – Birmingham
PO Box 14620, Birmingham B16 6FR
Phone 0845 408 3500
The Tribunals Service – Cardiff
Eastgate House, 35-43 Newport Road, Cardiff CF24 0YP
Phone 02920 662 180
The Tribunals Service – Glasgow
Wellington House, 134-136 Wellington Street, Glasgow G2 2XL
Phone 0141 354 8400
The Tribunals Service – Leeds
York House, York Place, Leeds LS1 2ED
Phone 0113 251 9500
The Tribunals Service – Liverpool
36 Dale Street, Liverpool L2 5UZ
Phone 0151 243 1400
The Tribunals Service – Newcastle
Manorview House, Kings Manor, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE1 6PA
Phone 0191 201 2300
The Tribunals Service – Nottingham
The Pearson Building, 57 Upper Parliament Street, Nottingham NG1 6AZ
Phone 0115 909 3600
The Tribunals Service – Sutton
Copthall House, 9 The Pavement, Grove Road, Sutton, Surrey SM1 1DA
Phone 020 8710 2900
29
How to appeal – The service you can expect
The following phone numbers are for hearing and speech impaired
people only:
RNID Typetalk
Dial 18001 then the phone number of the office you want to speak to
from the list on page 28.
Text Phone
Birmingham: 0121 634 7218
Cardiff:
02920 440 595
Glasgow:
0141 354 8413
Leeds:
0113 251 9570
Liverpool:
0151 243 1450
Newcastle:
0191 201 2350
Nottingham:
Sutton:
0115 909 3692
020 8710 2966
Published by The Tribunals Service.
Printed March 2009, on Era Silk paper,
with FSC certification, 50% recycled.
© 2009 Crown copyright
Accessible words and design by Mencap
Illustrations by Matt Buckingham
SSCS/CL (formerly ASER)