Renfrewshire Council

Who can ask for a review of a Housing Benefit decision 

You can only ask for a review if you:

• are the person who made the claim
• are representing the person making the claim, for example, a welfare rights officer, a support worker, a custodian of someone's financial affairs (receiver) or a lawyer.

What you can ask for

If you want more information about our decision on your Housing Benefit claim, you can ask for an explanation. This is called a Statement of Reasons. It will give you more details about how we made our decision.

If you still disagree with this, you can ask for a Revision of Decision or an Appeal.

A Revision of Decision is when a senior member of our benefits staff reviews the decision. 

An Appeal is when the decision is reviewed by an independent tribunal.

When you need to ask us

You can ask for a Statement of Reasons first, or if you want, ask for a Revision of Decision or an Appeal straight away. 

You should ask for a Statement of Reasons or a Revision of Decision within one month of the date you received our initial decision.

If you ask for a Statement of Reasons more than a month after our decision, we can still give you an explanation, but we may not be able to look into it further. 

If you are requesting a Revision of Decision more than one month after the decision was made, you must say why your request has been delayed.

How to ask for a statement of reasons, revision or appeal

You can ask for a statement of reasons, a revision or an appeal online.

You'll need to register for MyAccount through mygov.scot. You only need an email address to sign up. If you've already registered for MyAccount, you don't need to do it again.  

Or you can send your request in writing to:

Renfrewshire Council Benefits Service
Renfrewshire House
Cotton Street 
Paisley PA1 1AD

Your written request must:

• be signed by the person who has the right of appeal
• include the date the decision was made - you'll find this on the original decision letter we sent you 
• explain why you are appealing or why you think the decision was wrong - it is not enough to say you disagree with it.

What happens next

We aim to respond to requests for a Statement of Reasons or a Revision of Decision within one month of receiving your request. 

If you ask for a Revision of Decision, we will reconsider the original decision to see if it was correct. We will write to you afterwards to tell you if it was correct or if we have made another decision.

If we look at your claim again and don't change it, you have the right to appeal within one calendar month of receiving our response.

As appeals are heard by an independent tribunal service, we can't advise how long it will take. 

What happens at an Appeals tribunal

The Tribunal Service will send you a form to ask if you:

• still want to go ahead with the appeal
• want to attend a hearing in person, called an 'oral hearing', or prefer a paper hearing which you don't need to attend
• need an interpreter or signer
• have any other outstanding appeals.

You must respond within 14 days for your appeal to be considered.

Oral hearing appeals are held in Glasgow, and if you ask for one, you or someone representing you can attend it. 

A legally qualified person chairs the tribunal. They will write to you afterwards and let you know their decision. 

If your appeal is successful, your Housing Benefit claim will be reassessed in accordance with the judge's decision at the tribunal.