Appeal a Housing Benefit decision
See also: Appeal a Council Tax reduction decision.
If you’re not happy with a Housing Benefit decision
If you’re not happy with a decision made about your Housing Benefit claim, you have 3 choices. You can complete the online form or write to us and let us know if you want:
- us to explain the decision
- us to change the decision
- to appeal against the decision – appeals are heard by an independent appeal tribunal called The Tribunals Service (external link)
You must:
- complete the online form or write to us within 1 month of our decision
- tell us which decision you disagree with or would like explained
- tell us why you disagree with our decision
If you ask us to change a Housing Benefit decision, but we choose not to, you can still appeal against the decision.
Time limit
All requests must be made within 1 month of our decision. Only in special circumstances can we extend this time limit.
If you ask us to explain a decision and then wish to appeal, we will extend the 1-month appeal deadline by the time it takes us to respond.