Help with an appeal against Community Care Grant decision please.

Mackydees

Hi, I applied for a CCG for assistance with staying in the community rather than going into care. I currently receive IB, IS and lower mob. and middle care portions of DLA (currently going through a change of circumstances to get the latter upped to higher rate). They awarded me a certain amount and denied about half of what I was asking for. I sent in an appeal stating my reasons and received a letter saying that as they didn't receive it within 28 days so I had 12 days to state why I hadn't sent it sooner. In my reply to that, which I sent Special Delivery because the deadline was 2 days away when I got the letter, I stated that because of my disability I was unable to post letters myself and needed someone else to post letters for me and if there was a delay it would be because of that. I received a letter in reply stating that my reasons weren't good enough and they wouldn't be looking at it again. I can get no further information from anyone only that there is no form of appeal against that final decision.

So I need to know whether this is true? If not then what reasons are valid for not having the appeal letter in on time? Finally where can I go from here?

Any help would be very grateful received,
Thanks in advance,
Macky.

DX2

What to do if you are unhappy with the decision on your application

If you're unhappy with a Community Care Grant decision or award you have the right to ask for a review. You must write to Jobcentre Plus within 28 days explaining why you think the decision was wrong and ask for it to be reviewed.
If you're still unhappy with the outcome, you can ask for a further review by a Social Fund Inspector. The review process is quick and simple, and should take no longer than 12 days.
You can download the leaflet and claim form, 'How to ask for an independent review' from the Independent Review Service website.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Caringforsomeone/DG_10018921