Housing Benefit Appeal

bkmla

On 1 August 2024, I lodged a late appeal regarding a Housing Benefit decision.

I sent this by Royal Mail, signed for on delivery.

I have documentatry proof that it was delivered on 2 August.

However, I have had no communication from Glasgow City Council regarding this appeal.

Is a four-month delay in dealing with a Housing Benefit appeal a regular occurance?

Is there anything I can do to speed up the process?

tacpot12

I can't say whether such delays are regular or not, but four months is a more than reasonable time to wait before chasing. I would definitely call the council and see if you can get an update, check that they know they have received it, etc. 

If you can't get a sensible update from the member of the Housing Benefits team you speak to, contact one of your local councillors and ask for their help. Make sure you explain what difficulties the delay is causing you. 

Jyana

From your history I see that the decision by Glasgow Council was made back in May, so your late appeal posted in August was indeed way past their deadline.

On their website they state:

"Where a deadline has been missed there is scope to make a late request or appeal where there are special reasons for why it is late."

https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/4835/Challenging-Benefit-Decisions

Did you request an extension for the appeal in advance? If they don't have a record allowing that, this could be the reason why your post wasn't actioned perhaps. If you did get permission to make the late appeal, then I would chase it. Though having a couple of reasons as to why you left it so long to do so may be wise to have in your back pocket before talking to them. 

bkmla

Jyana said:

From your history I see that the decision by Glasgow Council was made back in May, so your late appeal posted in August was indeed way past their deadline.

On their website they state:

"Where a deadline has been missed there is scope to make a late request or appeal where there are special reasons for why it is late."

https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/4835/Challenging-Benefit-Decisions

Did you request an extension for the appeal in advance? If they don't have a record allowing that, this could be the reason why your post wasn't actioned perhaps. If you did get permission to make the late appeal, then I would chase it. Though having a couple of reasons as to why you left it so long to do so may be wise to have in your back pocket before talking to them. 

When I was within the time limit for a late appeal, I did not request an extension for the appeal.

When I contacted Glasgow City Council on 1 August, I made it clear that I was submitting a late appeal and supplied reasons for doing so.

If the Council was not prepared to accept ths late appeal, should they not have contacted me to say so?

poppy12345

Jyana said:

From your history I see that the decision by Glasgow Council was made back in May, so your late appeal posted in August was indeed way past their deadline.

On their website they state:

"Where a deadline has been missed there is scope to make a late request or appeal where there are special reasons for why it is late."

https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/4835/Challenging-Benefit-Decisions

Did you request an extension for the appeal in advance? If they don't have a record allowing that, this could be the reason why your post wasn't actioned perhaps. If you did get permission to make the late appeal, then I would chase it. Though having a couple of reasons as to why you left it so long to do so may be wise to have in your back pocket before talking to them. 

You have 13 months in which to challenge the decision. You do not need to ring to ask for extra time. If you're outside the 1 month then you should give a reason why you're late. If they refuse you just proceed to Tribunal.