An increasing number of people on the government's problem-plagued Universal Credit are winning their battles against the DWP over payments being slashed or stopped.
And you could do the same.
The latest report, for the January to March 2019 quarter, shows a rising success rate for appeals by those on Universal Credit, Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
The biggest success was for those on PIP and ESA, which each saw 74 per cent of claimants win their appeals during those three months.
However, despite the higher chances of success, there were fewer appeals made overall on welfare issues.
The number of social security related cases dropped by 18 per cent this quarter to 50,000 appeals, when compared with the same period in 2018.
The number of appeal cases has plummeted by 39 per cent for those on ESA and by 9 per cent for those on PIP.
It suggests fewer people are bothering to take their case to an appeal when they experience benefit cuts.
How to challenge an appeal by the DWP
You must first ask officials to look at your situation. Then you can appeal the decision by asking for a mandatory reconsideration. You must do this within one month of the date of your initial entitlement decision. Go to the Government's site for more info on making a mandatory reconsideration . If you do decide to appeal, make sure you gather supporting evidence before you do so.
If a claimant still isn't happy they have a further month to appeal to Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS).
Appealing to the HMCTS
Appeals are decided by the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal. The tribunal is impartial and independent of government. The tribunal will listen to both sides before making a decision.
How to appeal
Before you can appeal to the tribunal you must ask for the decision about your benefits to be looked at again - this is called ‘mandatory reconsideration’.
Appeal to the tribunal within one month of getting your mandatory reconsideration decision. If you start your appeal after a month you’ll have to explain why you did not do it earlier. Your appeal might not be accepted.
After you submit your appeal, you can provide evidence to the tribunal . Your appeal will be decided at a tribunal hearing .
