Have you considered whether there are risks in challenging the PIP decision? If not, check Before you appeal
It's a good idea to get help with appealing from a local advice agency that provides free, independent advice. An adviser can help you assess whether you have grounds to appeal and whether there are any risks involved in appealing. They may be able to help you submit your appeal and once the DWP has sent its response, help you prepare a written submission for the tribunal. Depending on resources, they may also be willing to act as your 'representative' and attend your appeal hearing with you. Once you've informed HMCTS that they act as your representative they will be sent any document relating to your appeal that you should be sent and can help you put your case to the tribunal.
To find an adviser, check advicelocal.uk
The time limit for appealing depends on whether you have to ask the DWP to reconsider its decision before you can appeal.
Requesting a mandatory reconsideration
If you have to ask for a mandatory reconsideration before appealing, the standard time limit to appeal is one calendar month from the date you are sent the mandatory reconsideration notice (this is the written notice the DWP sends you to tell you the outcome of the mandatory reconsideration). Your appeal must normally be received by HMCTS within this time limit.1
If you’ve missed the one-month time limit, you may still be able to make a late appeal.
The DWP sends a mandatory reconsideration notice to Leon which is dated 4 March. The DWP hasn’t changed the original decision. Leon wants to appeal.
The standard time limit for Leon to make his appeal expires at 5pm on 4 April. HMCTS must receive his appeal by then. Just posting it within the time limit is not enough.
If you don’t have to apply for a mandatory reconsideration before you can appeal, the standard time limit is one calendar month from the date you are sent the decision.
If the decision didn’t contain a written statement of reasons for the decision and you request one within one-month of being sent the decision, this time limit can be extended by 14 days or, if later, to 14 days after the date you were sent the written statement of reasons. 2
If you’ve missed the standard time limit, you may still be able to make a late appeal.
If you don’t appeal within the standard time limit, you may be able to make a late appeal if the DWP doesn’t object and your appeal is received no later than 12 months after the time limit expired. This is known as the ‘absolute time limit’.3
The DWP doesn’t usually object to late appeals and, even if it does, the tribunal can still decide that your late appeal should go ahead.
Rarely, the tribunal can decide not to accept your late appeal even if the DWP doesn’t object.4 If this happens, you can appeal against the refusal to the Upper Tribunal.
See our Welfare Benefits Handbook (for subscribers):
Ella received a decision, dated 21 May, saying she wasn’t entitled to PIP. She asked the DWP to reconsider its decision. Ella’s request was received on 15 June. The DWP carried out a mandatory reconsideration, but the decision wasn’t changed. It sent Ella a mandatory reconsideration notice on 9 July.
After getting the mandatory reconsideration notice, Ella had an accident at home which resulted in her spending a short time in hospital. Because of this, she didn’t appeal until 2 September. This is outside the standard one-month time limit, (the one-month period started on 9 July), but within the absolute time limit.
Ella stated on her appeal form that she was appealing late because her accident and hospital stay made it difficult for her to appeal within one month. She also explained that her appeal had strong merits and that her GP could confirm that she needs a lot of help at home and did so even before her accident.
The tribunal only accepts appeals made outside the absolute time limit in exceptional circumstances. This would have to be on human rights grounds where your right to a fair trial has been breached and you have done all you can to appeal on time.6
To appeal, you must submit a valid notice of appeal to HMCTS. To be valid, your notice of appeal must be in writing and must include certain information.
The best way to ensure your appeal is valid, is to either:
See Submit your appeal on GOV.UK.
To be valid, your appeal must:
If you had to request a mandatory reconsideration before you can appeal but don’t have a copy of the mandatory reconsideration notice, send your appeal anyway in order not to miss the time limit and provide as many other details as possible.
For example, give the date of the original decision, evidence that you requested a mandatory reconsideration and evidence that this was carried out. Ask the DWP for a copy of the mandatory reconsideration notice and send it to HMCTS when you get it.
Only the tribunal can decide whether your appeal is valid. If the tribunal clerk thinks there’s not enough information in your appeal, they can ask you to provide more. If you used the official appeal form, they might send it back for you to add more information. If you can, make sure you do what the clerk asks. Otherwise, they may decide that your appeal should be ‘struck out’ (cancelled).8
The appeal form asks for:
The grounds for your appeal are the reasons why you disagree with the decision. Your grounds don’t need to refer to the law necessarily, but they must state why you’re appealing and show why you think the decision is wrong.
I disagree with the DWP’s decision that I am only entitled to the standard rate of the daily living component of personal independence payment. I think I should score sufficient points to qualify for the enhanced rate of the daily living component because of the difficulties I have with preparing meals, managing my medication, washing and dressing.
The appeal form asks whether you want to take part in the hearing. This means a date would be arranged for you to attend a hearing of your appeal. The hearing can be conducted by telephone or video call, or in person.
If you feel you can’t take part in the hearing, the tribunal reaches its decision on your appeal by just considering the evidence in the appeal documents and applying the law. HMCTS calls this a paper hearing even though, strictly speaking, there isn’t a hearing.
An in-person hearing normally takes place at a tribunal venue nearest your home. If there are exceptional circumstances, a hearing can also take place in person at your home. This is called a domiciliary hearing. Domiciliary hearings are rare and will only be arranged if the tribunal accepts that you can’t get to a tribunal venue, and a telephone or video hearing isn’t possible.
The following points may help you make your decision.
If you’ve completed an online form, you can submit it online.
Otherwise, send your appeal to HMCTS at the address on the appeal form (see Form SSCS1 on GOV.UK for details).
Keep a copy of the form and of any evidence you submit. If you’re sending it by post, it’s best to send it by ‘signed for’ delivery so you have proof of receipt.
If your circumstances change after the date of the DWP’s decision, the tribunal can't take this into account when making a decision on your appeal.
If your health condition worsens and you're appealing against a decision not to award you PIP, consider making a new claim while waiting for your appeal. If you're already getting PIP, consider asking for a 'supersession' of your award (that, is asking for the decision on your award to be changed) on the basis of the change in your circumstances. If the DWP doesn't make the decision you want on your new claim or the supersession, you can challenge that decision.
The position can be complicated, so you may wish to get advice.
See our Welfare Benefits Handbook (for subscribers):
When HMCTS receives a valid appeal, it sends a copy of the appeal to the DWP.10
HMCTS also sends you an acknowledgment of your appeal, which includes contact details for the office handling your appeal. Be sure to keep this, in case you need to refer to it later.
If you appealed online, you should get the acknowledgement by email. The email contains a link that you can use to set up an online account. You can use the online account to:
It may be some time (possibly several months) before your appeal is decided by the tribunal. Your main point of contact with the tribunal during this time is the tribunal clerk.
The DWP will look at the grounds of your appeal and any further evidence you’ve provided and may consider revising (changing) its decision. It can do this any time before your appeal is heard by the tribunal.
If the DWP revises its decision and the new decision is more advantageous to you, your appeal 'lapses' (in other words, it doesn’t go ahead).11 This applies even if the revised decision doesn’t give you all you wanted. However, you can submit a new appeal against the revised decision.
After you’ve appealed, the DWP may phone you to discuss making a new, revised decision. If you have a representative, the DWP should contact them instead of you.
If the revised decision wouldn’t give you everything you could be awarded by the tribunal, there are some things that are helpful to know.
For further information, see our article Latest offers – PIP appeals (October 2021).
You can withdraw your appeal at any time before the hearing by writing to the tribunal to request this. You don’t have to give any reasons. If you withdraw your appeal, it’s not considered by the tribunal, and the original decision stands. The withdrawal is automatic unless the tribunal directs that it must agree to the withdrawal.13
If you want to withdraw your appeal after the hearing has started, you can tell the tribunal judge, but the tribunal must agree to the withdrawal. You could be asked to give reasons. The same applies if your hearing has been 'adjourned' (paused) and the tribunal has directed that you need its permission to withdraw your appeal.
If you withdraw your appeal, you (or the DWP) can apply to the tribunal in writing for it to be reinstated. Your application must be received within one month of the date the tribunal notified you that your withdrawal had taken effect. This will be the date of the hearing (if you were at the hearing and the appeal was withdrawn during the hearing), otherwise, it's the date you were sent the notification. In some circumstances, the tribunal may agree to extend this deadline.14
Unless your appeal has lapsed or you have withdrawn it, the DWP must prepare its response to your appeal. The response should contain a summary of its reasons for making the decision and details of the law on which the decision is based. The DWP includes its response in a set of appeal papers – sometimes referred to as an appeal 'bundle' (or ‘the DWP’s bundle’) – which must also contain copies of the decision and any documents the DWP holds that may be relevant to the appeal.
The DWP must send this appeal bundle to the tribunal within 28 days of receiving notice of your appeal.15 In some circumstances, the tribunal may agree to extend this time limit.
Both you and your representative (if you have one) are sent a copy of the appeal bundle.
