Search Legislation

Advanced Search

The Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001

Changes over time for: PART IV

Help about opening options

Status:

Point in time view as at 01/11/2010.

Changes to legislation:

There are currently no known outstanding effects for the The Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001, PART IV. Help about Changes to Legislation

Close

Changes to Legislation

Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. At the current time any known changes or effects made by subsequent legislation have been applied to the text of the legislation you are viewing by the editorial team. Please see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ for details regarding the timescales for which new effects are identified and recorded on this site.

PART IVE+W+S RIGHTS OF APPEAL AND PROCEDURE FOR BRINGING APPEALS

Decisions against which no appeal liesE+W+S

16.—(1) No appeal shall lie against a decision specified in the Schedule to these Regulations.

F1(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(3) In this regulation references to a decision include references to a determination embodied in or necessary to a decision.

Textual Amendments

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

Appeal against a decision which has been revisedE+W+S

17.—(1) An appeal against a decision of the relevant authority shall not lapse where the decision is revised under paragraph 3 of Schedule 7 to the Act before the appeal is determined and the decision as revised is not more advantageous to the appellant than the decision before it was so revised.

(2) For the purposes of this regulation, a decision which is more advantageous includes any decision where—

(a)any housing benefit or council tax benefit paid or any reduction in the amount that a person is liable to pay in respect of council tax is greater or is awarded for a longer period in consequence of a decision made under paragraph 3 of Schedule 7 to the Act;

(b)the amount of housing benefit or council tax benefit in payment or reduction in the amount a person is liable to pay in respect of council tax would have been greater but for the operation of the Administration Act in suspending the payment of, or disqualifying a claimant from receiving, some or all of the benefit;

(c)as a result of the decision, a denial of, or disqualification for the receiving of, housing benefit or council tax benefit is lifted, wholly or in part; or

(d)in consequence of the revised decision, housing benefit or council tax benefit paid is not recoverable by virtue of or as a consequence of section 75 or 76 of the Administration Act, or an amount so recoverable is reduced.

(3) Where a decision as revised under paragraph 3 of Schedule 7 to the Act is not more advantageous to the appellant than the decision before it was revised, the appeal shall be treated as though it had been brought against the decision as revised.

(4) The appellant shall have a period of one month from the date of notification of the decision as revised to make further representations as to the appeal.

(5) After the expiration of the period specified in paragraph (4), or within that period if the appellant consents in writing, the appeal to the [F2First-tier Tribunal] shall proceed except where, in the light of further representations from the appellant, the relevant authority further revises its decision and that decision is more advantageous to the appellant than the decision before it was revised.

Textual Amendments

Time within which an appeal is to be broughtE+W+S

F318.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

Late appealsE+W+S

19.—F4(1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F4(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F4(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F4(4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[F5(5) Where a dispute arises as to whether an appeal was brought within the time specified under Tribunal Procedure Rules the dispute shall be referred to, and determined by, the First-tier Tribunal.

(5A) The relevant authority may treat a late appeal as made in time in accordance with Tribunal Procedure Rules if the relevant authority is satisfied that it is in the interests of justice.]

(6) For the purposes of paragraph [F6(5)], it is not in the interests of justice to [F7treat the appeal as made in time unless the relevant authority], is satisfied that—

(a)any of the special circumstances specified in paragraph (7) are relevantF8...; or

(b)some other special circumstances exist which are wholly exceptional and relevantF8...,

and as a result of those special circumstances, it was not practicable for the [F9appeal notice to be submitted in accordance with Tribunal Procedure Rules.]

(7) For the purposes of paragraph (6)(a), the special circumstances are—

(a)the [F10appellant] or a partner or dependant of the [F10appellant] has died or suffered serious illness;

(b)the [F10appellant] is not resident in the United Kingdom; or

(c)normal postal services were disrupted.

(8) In determining whether it is in the interests of justice to [F11treat the appeal as made in time], [F12regard shall be had] to the principle that the greater the amount of time that has elapsed between the expiration of the time [F13limit under Tribunal Procedure Rules and the submission of the notice of appeal, the more compelling should be the special circumstances.]

(9) In determining whether it is in the interests of justice to [F14treat the appeal as made in time], no account shall be taken of the following—

(a)that the applicant was unaware of or misunderstood the law applicable to his case (including ignorance or misunderstanding of the time limits imposed by [F15Tribunal Procedure Rules]); or

(b)that [F16the Upper Tribunal] or a court has taken a different view of the law from that previously understood and applied.

F17(10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F17(11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F17(12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

[F18Notice of Appeal]E+W+S

20.—[F19(1) A notice of appeal made in accordance with Tribunal Procedure Rules must be made on a form approved by the relevant authority, or in such other format as the relevant authority may accept, and sent or delivered to the relevant authority.]

[F20(2) Except where paragraph (3) applies, where a form does not contain the information required under Tribunal Procedure Rules the form may be returned by the relevant authority to the sender for completion in accordance with the Tribunal Procedure Rules.]

(3) Where the relevant authority is satisfied that the form, although not completed in accordance with the instructions on it, includes sufficient information to enable the appeal F21... to proceed, it may treat the form as satisfying the requirements of [F22Tribunal Procedure Rules].

(4) Where [F23a notice of appeal] is made in writing otherwise than on the approved form (“the letter”), and the letter includes sufficient information to enable the appeal F24... to proceed, the relevant authority may treat the letter as satisfying the requirements of [F25Tribunal Procedure Rules].

(5) Where the letter does not include sufficient information to enable the appeal F26... to proceed, the relevant authority may request, in writing, further particulars.

(6) Where a person to whom a form is returned or from whom further particulars are requested duly completes and returns the form or sends the further particulars and the form or particulars, as the case may be, are received by the relevant authority within—

(a)14 days of the date on which the form was returned to him, the time for making the appeal shall be extended by 14 days from the date on which the form was returned;

(b)14 days of the date on which the relevant authority’s request was made, the time for making the appeal shall be extended by 14 days from the date of the request;

(c)such longer period as the relevant authority may direct, the time for making the appeal shall be extended by a period equal to that longer period directed by the relevant authority.

(7) Where a person to whom a form is returned or from whom further particulars are requested does not complete and return the form or send further particulars within the period of time specified in paragraph (6)—

(a)the relevant authority shall forward a copy of the form, or as the case may be, the letter, together with any other relevant documents or evidence to [F27the First-tier Tribunal]; and

(b)the [F28First-tier Tribunal] shall determine whether the form or the letter satisfies the requirements of [F29Tribunal Procedure Rules.]

(8) Where—

(a)a form is duly completed and returned or further particulars are sent after the expiry of the period of time allowed in accordance with paragraph (6); and

(b)no decision has been made under paragraph (7) at the time the form or the further particulars are received by the relevant authority,

the form or further particulars shall also be forwarded to the [F30First-tier Tribunal which] shall take into account any further information or evidence set out in the form or further particulars.

(9) The relevant authority may discontinue action on an appeal where [F31the notice of appeal] has not been forwarded to the [F32First-tier Tribunal] and the appellant or an authorised representative of the appellant has given written notice that the appellant does not wish the appeal to continue.

Textual Amendments

Death of a party to an appealE+W+S

21.—(1) In any proceedings, on the death of a party to those proceedings, the relevant authority may appoint such person as it thinks fit to proceed with the appeal in the place of the deceased.

(2) A grant of probate, confirmation or letters of administration in respect of the deceased, whenever taken out, shall have no effect on an appointment made under paragraph (1).

(3) Where a person appointed under paragraph (1) has, prior to the date of such appointment, taken any action in relation to the appeal on behalf of the deceased, the effective date of appointment shall be treated as the day immediately prior to the first day on which such action was taken.

[F33(4) For the purposes of this regulation only, “appeal” means an appeal to an appeal tribunal, a Commissioner or a court.]

Textual Amendments

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

Close

Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.

Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

Point in Time: This becomes available after navigating to view revised legislation as it stood at a certain point in time via Advanced Features > Show Timeline of Changes or via a point in time advanced search.

Close

See additional information alongside the content

Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.

Close

Opening Options

Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources
Close

Timeline of Changes

This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.

Close

More Resources

Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as made version that was used for the print copy
  • correction slips

Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:

  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • links to related legislation and further information resources