Terms & Conditions

[Anonymous]

Hello, we are having a ‘discussion’ at our authority about what our appeals staff should be doing when they get a revision or appeal.

Say, for example, that someone requests a revision because they think we are using the wrong amount of wages in the calculation.

Some people here think that the appeals team should only look at the wages on the claim, and some think that they should be checking through the whole claim to ensure it is correct.
We all agree that in an ideal world with no time constraints that we should be checking through the whole claim, but is there any legal requirement to do this, or do we just do what the customer has asked us to do?
I should perhaps point out that I am not an appeals officer……..

[Julian Hobson]

My view (and it is nothing more than that) is that if you are going to revise or supersede a decision that was made by someone else then you should be happy that all aspects of the decision you are about to make are correct.

You will of course be issuing a new decision with new appeal rights and it would seem a nonsense to do that without ensuring that you are happy with every aspect of it. I don’t think any argument that says “well the claimant was happy with the level of rent used in the first decision” actually stands up. If you find it was wrong (regardless of in whose favour) then it needs putting right.

[Carol Meredith]

I am an appeals officer and would agree with Julian that you should be checking all aspects of the assessment. To take Marci’s example, I may well agree that the wage figure in the assessment is correct but not the number of hours or realise that Tax Credits have possibly changed, been missed out etc or no child care taken into account. The possbilities are endless.

Carol

[Nicky]

I agree. You need to look at the whole decision.

It’s surpising what you sometimes find………….. 🙄

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your replies.
Marcia

[Author]

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