There are various regulations that tell us how to work out your benefit, how to pay your benefit and how any overpayment of benefit should be recovered.
Your rights
You have the right to:
Know how we have calculated your benefit.
Ask for an explanation of the decision we have made.
Ask us to look at our decision again.
Ask for an independent appeal tribunal to look at any decision we have made.
The dispute process
If you want more information about our decision you must contact us straight away. You can ask for a written statement of reasons for the decision. The statement of reasons sets out:
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The information we have used to make our decision.
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How your benefit has been calculated.
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The way any overpayment has been calculated (if applicable).
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The relevant Housing Benefit / Council Tax Benefit regulations that have been used to reach our decision and how they apply to your case.
You can ask us to look at our decision again or you can make an appeal to the independent Tribunals Service, but you only have one month from the date of the decision letter to do either of these things.
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If you want us to look at the decision again
You must request this in writing and we shall check if the decision is correct. If the decision is wrong we will change it.
If the decision cannot be changed we shall write and inform you. In either case, if you then wish to make an appeal to the independent Tribunal Service, the one month time limit starts again.
To apply for the decision to be reconsidered, please print off and complete this Recon form and return to:
Revenues and Benefits
Wellington House
22-32 Wellington Street
Leicester, LE1 6HL
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Appeals to the independent Tribunals Service
If you want to appeal against the decision you must write to us within one month of the decision letter (or if you asked us to look at the decision again, one month from that decision).
In your appeal application, you must identify the decision you are appealing against and what you think is wrong with our decision, and make sure you sign it.
If our decision is wrong we shall change it. If the decision cannot be changed a Judge from the Tribunal Service will then look at your appeal at a Tribunal hearing.
The Tribunal is independent from the council and is made up of legally qualified Judges, trained in Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.
If your appeal is late you must include an explanation of why you could not appeal within one month.
Please complete and return this Appeal application form, which should be returned to:
Appeals Team
Revenues and Benefit Office
Wellington House
22-32 Wellington Street
Leicester, LE1 6HL
Please note that some decisions do not carry the right to appeal.
General information on appealing against a decision.*
*Leicester City Council is not responsible for the content and services on external websites.
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