Housing Benefit appeals

If you are not happy with the decision on your Housing Benefit application and you would like the City Council to look at it again you must write directly to the Council, stating the reasons for your appeal or dispute, or to request a revision of the decision, or to ask for a statement of reasons.

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or by post to Revenues and Benefits, PO Box 11, Pershore, WR10 1PU

If you dispute the decision, or request a revision, or ask for a statement of reasons, and you still disagree with the Council’s reply, you have the right to appeal against the original decision. You have one month from the date of the Council’s reconsideration letter to provide your written appeal.

If you wish to appeal rather than ask for any further explanation, then, as already stated, you must do so within one month of the date of the decision letter. Your appeal must be in writing and signed by the person who claimed the Housing Benefit or their representative with attached authority.

If the Council changes the original decision to your advantage, a new decision will be sent to you and the appeal lapses and the procedure stops.

If the Council does not change its decision, your appeal along with all the relevant paperwork and documentation will be sent to you and to the HM Courts and Tribunal Service for a hearing either on paper or in person, depending on your preference. The Tribunal Service is an independent tribunal, made up of one judge who will look at the appeal and consider the Council’s decision and the relevant legislation and case law. If you choose to attend the hearing in person, you will have an opportunity to state anything you believe to be relevant to your appeal and you may ask questions, and questions may be asked of you too. You must make sure that you have the paperwork, which the Council sent you, with you at the hearing, regardless of whether the hearing is electronic or in person.

If, after the hearing, your appeal is dismissed and you feel the Tribunal Service's decision is wrong in law you can seek leave to appeal to the Upper Tribunal, but only if there has been an error of law.

Council Tax Support appeals

If you disagree with the Council’s decision on your Council Tax Support application, you must first write to the Council and ask them to look at the decision again. 

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or by post to Revenues and Benefits, PO Box 11, Pershore, WR10 1PU

If you are not happy with the Council’s reply or you do not receive a reply from the Council within two months, then you can appeal and this appeal must be made directly to the Valuation Tribunal.

Contact the Valuation Tribunal via their website - select the option 'Council Tax Appeals', followed by 'Council Tax Reduction'.

Once you have contacted the Tribunal they will register your appeal and then send the Council the details of your appeal, the grounds for your appeal and any documentation you send the Tribunal as part of the process.

Once the Council gets your appeal from the Valuation Tribunal it will check your details to ensure that you had previously queried the decision under dispute with the Council before you appealed to the Valuation Tribunal. If this is the case, then the Council will begin its process of writing up a response with all the relevant information and evidence it holds to support the decision under dispute in readiness for the submission of the appeal response. That response will be issued to you and the Valuation Tribunal.

Six weeks before the Valuation Tribunal sets a hearing date, the Council will send you all the relevant paperwork and request that you respond to that information within a period of 14 days. The Council will then consider any further information you provide within a further 14-day period, and will send the final submission of all paperwork to you and the Valuation Tribunal two weeks before the set hearing date.

Hearings can be in person or on paper, depending on your preference. The Valuation Tribunal is usually made up of three officers from the Tribunal and a clerk of the court. If you choose to attend the hearing in person, you will have an opportunity to state anything you believe to be relevant to your appeal, and you may ask questions and questions may be asked of you too. You must make sure that you have the paperwork, which the Council sent you, with you at the hearing.