Social Security and Child Support Tribunal - Appeals
Appeal process
- You can appeal against a decision you have received. If you do this, you will be known as 'the appellant'.
- The office that made the decision sends a copy of the reasons for their decision to you, to any other people involved in the appeal and to us.
- On receipt of the papers we will send you an information pack. This pack will include a prepaid reply envelope, and consist of:
- A letter acknowledging receipt of your appeal
- An information leaflet
- You fill in the pre-hearing enquiry form and return to us.
- We arrange a time and place to hear the appeal and send this information to you and other people involved in the appeal.
- A tribunal hears the appeal and makes a decision.
- The tribunal sends copies of its decision, together with notes about it, to you and the other people involved in the appeal.
How to appeal
- How to appeal leaflet (PDF 1.5mb)
- How to appeal, easy–read version (PDF 865kb)
- How to appeal, Welsh (PDF 1.2mb)
What is the enquiry form?
The enquiry form is a two page form that needs to be completed by you (or your representative, on your behalf) if you want to take your appeal to hearing. Below is an example of what the enquiry form you have received should look like.
The example form is for example purposes only, do not print this off as it will not be accepted.
- First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) Enquiry Form for Appellant (PDF 0.3Mb)
- First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) Enquiry Form for Appellant in Welsh (PDF 0.4Mb)
- First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) Enquiry Form for other Party (PDF 0.3Mb)
- First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) Enquiry Form for other Party in Welsh (PDF 0.4Mb)
Why do you need to complete the enquiry form?
The purpose of the enquiry form is to obtain information from you that will help us to organise a suitable hearing for your appeal. This form must be completed and sent back to the specified Social Security and Child Support office within 14 days of you receiving it through the post.
The main points you will have to consider when completing the form are as follows:
- Do you want to continue with your appeal or would you like to withdraw?
- Do you or your representative, if you have one, wish to attend the hearing where you can meet the Tribunal and put forward your case?
- Any days of unavailability?
- Do you need an interpreter or signer?
- Any other special requirements?
- Provide details of your representative, if you have one.
Permission to Appeal to the Upper Tribunal
Application for Permission to Appeal to the Upper Tribunal and Notice of Appeal
Please note that you must ask the First-tier Tribunal for permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal. Please see Page 30 of the ‘How to Appeal Guide’.
Once you have the ruling of the First–tier Tribunal on your application for permission to appeal, important information about the next steps in the process can be found on the Upper Tribunal Administrative Appeals website.
Guidance notes
The enquiry form comes with its own explanatory notes (as you can see from the example above) but to try and make it even easier to complete we have included on this site some more helpful guidance notes which you might find useful to follow when completing your form. If you are still having difficulties completing your form please contact us.
