Your Rights

Challenging a decision about DLA and Attendance Allowance

Summary: What to do if you disagree with a decision about your DLA or AA claim.

• Asking the decision-maker to look at a decision again
• Appeals
• Applying for a review or appeal
• Warning
• Further information

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If you disagree with a decision about your Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Attendance Allowance (AA) you can either:

• ask the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to look at its decision again or
• appeal to an independent appeal tribunal.

Asking the decision-maker to look at a decision again

You can challenge the decision for any reason within one month of the date on the decision letter. Ask the Disability and Carer's Service (DCS), if possible in writing, to look at the decision again. Their contact details will be on the decision letter.

A different decision-maker will look at the decision again. If they alter the decision this is a revision.

If the DCS does not change its decision, or if they change the decision but you still don’t agree with it, you can ask for an appeal.

If benefit is awarded, or increased, as a result of a revision, the change will take effect from the date of the original decision.

You can ask the DCS for a written statement of the reasons for its decision, within one month of the date on the decision letter.

If you ask for this statement the normal one-month time limit for challenging the decision will be extended by 14 days. (This applies when making a review or an appeal application.)

Appeals

If you do not agree with a decision about your claim you can appeal to an independent tribunal either:

• straightaway following the initial decision or
• after the DCS has looked at the decision again (see above).

You have one month from the date of the decision to request an appeal.

To appeal you should complete the appeal form GL24, “If you think our decision is wrong”, available from the DCS or downloadable from the Directgov website. You can also enclose any supporting evidence. Send the form to the office that made the decision.

When you ask for an appeal a decision-maker will have another look at the decision, if they have not already done so. They have the power to change it without the need for an appeal tribunal.

If they change the decision, and it is to your advantage, the appeal will stop. If the new decision does not give you everything you want you will have to put in a fresh appeal within one month of the decision.

The hearing is not like a formal court hearing, and a friend or representative can accompany you to help you. Appealing against Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance decisions gives further details about appeals.

Applying for a review or appeal

When writing a letter to ask the decision-maker to reconsider a decision, or completing an appeal form, you should:

• clearly identify the decision that you are disputing;
• explain why you do not agree with the initial decision.

Disability Living Allowance and Money for Pensioners explain the criteria that a claimant must meet in order to qualify for the different components and rates. Our Guide to claiming Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance for adults gives examples of help that is commonly required by blind and partially sighted people in their daily lives, which are relevant to these benefits.

Reconsideration / appeal request

You could write something along the lines of the following in a reconsideration or appeal request:

[DCS Address]

Your name:

Address:

Your NI number:

Dear Sir / Madam

Re: Disability Living Allowance / Attendance Allowance

Please reconsider your decision dated … regarding my claim for Attendance Allowance / Disability Living Allowance.

I was registered blind / partially sighted on (date) and I require attention frequently throughout the day with seeing. I need help with:

• dressing and checking my appearance throughout the day
• washing / shaving / applying make-up / styling hair
• identifying food, cutting up food, removing bones/gristle
• reading mail, correspondence, newspapers, magazines, books, etc.
• identifying and taking medication
• getting about safely indoors and outdoors
• social, recreational and cultural activities.

[Give examples of your own care needs and all of the times that you reasonably require help.]

I have enclosed the following information in respect of my claim, which I trust you will consider in the review: [eg letter from consultant, report from rehabilitation officer].

Yours faithfully

Supporting evidence

Supporting evidence for a review or appeal increases your chances of success, such as:

• information about your sight condition
• a diary of the occasions when you need help from another person
• medical evidence from a consultant or GP such as a letter explaining how your sight problems affect your daily life
• a copy of your registration certificate
• a report from a social worker or rehabilitation officer
• a letter from your employer or college describing your need for attention while at work or college.

What happens if you miss the time limit?

If you miss the time limit for a revision request, or an appeal, it may still be possible to get the decision changed, but the rules are complicated. Seek advice straight away as any further delay could be harmful to your case.

What happens if your circumstances change?

If there has been a change in circumstances, for example if you need more help because your eyesight has deteriorated, a DLA or AA award can be altered at any time. If a decision is changed because of a change of circumstances it is called a supersession.

If your condition deteriorates (or improves) while you are receiving DLA or AA you should inform the DCS as soon as possible. You can ask for your claim to be reconsidered. The DCS will ask you to complete another form to provide more information about the help that you need.

You should ask for a reconsideration even if you have already asked for an appeal to get a higher rate of benefit. This is because the appeal tribunal will only be able to consider whether the decision under appeal was correct at the time when it was made. They cannot take into account changes of circumstances that happened after the decision was made.

Other grounds for a supersession

Your existing DLA or AA award can be looked at again at any time for reasons other than a change in your circumstances. These include:

• The original decision was based on a mistake about the law - called an ‘error of law’. In 1994 House of Lords appeal judges decided that some decisions about DLA claims could have been wrong, including about claims made by blind and partially sighted people. If you get DLA, and have not had a review or a renewal of your benefit since 1994, you should get advice about applying for a supersession of your award.
• The original decision was made in ignorance of a material fact.
• The original decision was based on a mistake about a material fact.

Warning

If you are already getting some DLA or AA for example, lower rate care component of DLA, there is a risk that your existing benefit could be reduced or lost if your claim is reconsidered by the DCS or by an appeal tribunal. This does not happen often but you should seek advice if in doubt.

Further information

Contact the Benefits Enquiry Line on 0800 88 22 00

or

RNIB Welfare Rights Service
105 Judd Street
London WC1H 9NE
Telephone 0845 766 9999
Fax 020 7391 2079

Email brit@rnib.org.uk

Please note that we can only give advice about benefits for people with sight loss and their carers or dependants.

If you use a language other than English, please let us know which language. We will try to arrange a telephone interpreting service.

Help make a difference to the lives of others who are living with sight loss by joining RNIB as a member. By adding your voice to ours, we can make a significant difference through our campaigning work. Call the RNIB Membership team to find out more on 0870 787 007.

This information gives general guidance only and is not an authoritative statement of the law. For further information contact:

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Content author: brit@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 20/11/2008 11:13