Housing Benefit

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.

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 one 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 if we think the decision is right or if we've changed it. 

Appeal against a decision

You have the right to appeal if you're:

• claiming Housing Benefit
• authorised to act on behalf of someone who gets Housing Benefit
• a landlord or other person who receives 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 cannot appeal against

There are some decisions that you cannot appeal against. These are:

• 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
• which partner in a couple may claim
• 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 one 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 one 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 if we think it’s right or if we’ve changed it. If we cannot change it, we’ll send your appeal to the Tribunal Service, which will make a decision about it.