How To Appeal A DLA Decision In Eight Easy Steps

One of the things that has struck me most over the last four months of fighting this appeal is how bloody archaic and unnecessarily difficult it is. I suspect this is deliberate to discourage people from appealing. So here's how to appeal, and what happens when you do.

1. Ask for a reconsideration

If your child is turned down for DLA, they don't tell you why. You have to ring up and ask. I rang the number on the letter, spoke to a helpline operator, and a lady called me back that afternoon. You have to give reasons as to why you want a reconsideration,  but they won't tell you why they turned your claim down until they call you back. So it's easy to get flustered. Your reasons are used in issuing the reconsideration and are used in your appeal, so make sure you fully explain to them why you want one.

2. Wait for the reconsideration decision to come through

For us, this stage took five days. If you're lucky, they will reinstate your DLA immediately. If you are not lucky, you will get a letter that tells you how to appeal, and, separately, a Mandatory Reconsideration Notice. You get two copies of this notice, and you must send one in with your appeal.

3. Do your appeal paperwork

THIS IS THE CORRECT LINK TO ACCESS APPEAL PAPERWORK (valid April 2016). The link in the letter was wrong, and it took me ages to find the right paperwork. You need form SSCS1, which is the first listed. You then download it with a left click:

Courtesy of justice.gov.uk

The form is reasonably simple to fill in. You are your child's representative, so you don't need to fill out Section 4 unless someone else is helping you with the appeal and willing to deal with the paperwork for you (e.g. a social worker). You have a small box to fill out with your reasons for appeal. You can write as much as you like: just attach it on separate sheets, with your child's name and date of birth at the top.
My advice is to write the reasons you are appealing in as much detail as you can. If you can get people to write supporting statements (e.g the consultant, the teachers and SEN staff from school, psychologists involved in care) then attach those as well. Take the reasons the DLA have given you for turning your claim down and refute them. We were turned down for mobility and care allowance, so I contested both separately.
You also need to decide if you want to go to the tribunal. Since Jimmy is autistic, there is nothing additional to be gleaned from the courts seeing him, so I decided not to go. If your child's disability is obvious, or you are more eloquent in person than in writing, it may well be better for you to attend. It is entirely up to you.

All this paperwork must be submitted within one calendar month of receiving the Mandatory Reconsideration Notice. You need to send:

 - The form, signed and completed

- Any additional supporting documents

- A copy of the Mandatory Reconsideration Notice

Send it by recorded delivery.

4. Wait

First, you will get a letter from the DWP acknowledging your appeal request and telling you which tribunal court your case will be heard at. It all gets a bit legal at this point. You should receive a letter from the tribunal court asking you to confirm what kind of hearing you have requested.

Within a month of your appeal being acknowledged, you will receive a truly terrifying wodge of numbered paperwork from the DWP. In it will be a copy of your original DLA application, all the supporting documentation you have sent, a copy of your reconsideration request, and the DWP's arguments against your appeal.

This huge wodge of paperwork is your case, as it will be presented to the tribunal. Keep it: you need to take it with you if you go to court, and it is also useful for reference.

5. Wait Some More

About two weeks later, you should get more information from the Courts and Tribunals Service. If the DWP are being particularly shit, they will demand an oral hearing and you will get a letter inviting you to attend. This completely threw me - I didn't realise they COULD do that, but they did in our case.
I did not attend. I did send a final statement, however, which refuted each of the DWP's reasons for not awarding DLA, systematically and concisely. You can do this, and also send through any additional evidence you might have gathered in the interim, as long as it reaches them at least a week before the court date. Send it recorded delivery though.
I also spoke to the Court twice and found them to be absolutely lovely and helpful. If you have any worries, ring them! If you do go to court, there's lots of information in the letter about how to claim your costs back.

6. Court Day

I don't know what happens if you attend, because I have other things to do smack bang in the middle of the Easter holidays than blush and fluster through a hearing, but rest assured, I sat worrying all day. The hearing consists of you (if you go), a DWP representative (if they turn up), a disability expert, a clinical expert and the judge. They decide the outcome there and then. The court write up the decision and send it out to you by first class post. Our tribunal was Tuesday, we had the decision on Friday.

7. The Decision

The decision is on one side of A4 paper, which came as a bit of a surprise after all the bumpf we got before. It tells you what they decided, and any extra notes. Ours was super short - it told us that the paperwork and case was in order and safe to be heard, it told us what they had decided to award our son, and that was about it. There is a lot of detail in the extra notes about what happens if either side dispute the ruling, how to appeal the appeal, and that the tribunal court cannot enforce the decision.

8. Next Steps

We won. The following Monday, DWP rang up and asked a few questions to confirm the rebate of funds and said they would be with us within ten days. I also phoned Tax Credits to get that part reinstated - they can decide whether to backdate your payment four weeks or for the full amount it was stopped, but if they're kind, they'll give you the full amount.