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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Decision making and appeals  →  Thread

Lapsed appeal

RuthChe
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Welfare Rights Greater Manchester Law Centre

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I’ve been out of the loop for a while and wondering if I’ve missed a change in the appeals procedure. DWP have written to a PIP appellant saying if she drops her appeal they will award certain extra points and change the award. They are asking her to agree before she receives the new decision notice. She has been told by telephone that on receiving the award notice she will have 30 days to change her mind and ask for the appeal to go ahead anyway. On checking the CPAG handbook, this looks like the process for settling tax credit appeals, not DWP appeals. I’ve also been informed by a presenting officer that they can’t lapse appeals any more before the hearing. Can anyone point me towards info on this apparent change?

Elliot Kent
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Shelter

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When an appeals officer thinks that the award being appealed is wrong, they can but need not revise the decision. If they revise the decision favourably, the appeal lapses. It is then open to the claimant to file a new appeal against the revised decision. Nothing has changed in this regard.

What seems to have changed is that DWP policy is now to only lapse an appeal with the consent of the appellant. When the appeals officer thinks the decision should be changed, they will ring up the claimant and ask if they want their appeal to continue or if they want the appeal to be lapsed. If they don’t get a firm decision in favour of lapsing, the appeal will continue but the concessions are recorded in the bundle.

It is entirely open to your client to accept the concessions, lapse the appeal and then lodge a new appeal anyway. This is in no way a “settling” of a case.

See ADM A5159 onwards.

NAI
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Unclaimed Benefits Campaign, Middlesbrough CAB

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Elliot Kent - 03 August 2017 01:10 PM

When an appeals officer thinks that the award being appealed is wrong, they can but need not revise the decision. If they revise the decision favourably, the appeal lapses. It is then open to the claimant to file a new appeal against the revised decision. Nothing has changed in this regard.

What seems to have changed is that DWP policy is now to only lapse an appeal with the consent of the appellant. When the appeals officer thinks the decision should be changed, they will ring up the claimant and ask if they want their appeal to continue or if they want the appeal to be lapsed. If they don’t get a firm decision in favour of lapsing, the appeal will continue but the concessions are recorded in the bundle.

It is entirely open to your client to accept the concessions, lapse the appeal and then lodge a new appeal anyway. This is in no way a “settling” of a case.

See ADM A5159 onwards.

Until recently, I would have agreed with you Elliot. Although not directly related to this bargaining thing, I have come upon an interesting development.

Part 7 of the Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2013 appears to have changed things.

I have two current appeals where clients were disallowed PIP for failure to attend an assessment without good cause. In each case, the clients requested MR’s which were unsuccessful and then appealed.

Good cause was accepted but the appeals remained open as the clients have been placed “back on the journey” (i.e.,  awaiting fresh assessments).

When I queried this, I was pointed at said Part 7 and this was confirmed to be correct by a judge at a Tribunal User Group meeting. When I discovered this I was surprised! The judge present said “The good cause appeal will be decided as part of the hearing of the assessment appeal”.

I admit to feeling like I’d entered the twilight zone. What’s to decide if good cause is accepted?

The clients were awarded no points at their subsequent assessments and neither received any appealable decisions in writing but responses have been issued by the SoS covering the assessment decision.

So I have made clear in each case, in writing to the tribunal, that the clients wish to continue to appeal and have just prepared a submission for one.

I’m waiting for my copy of the SoS response in the other case; but then I have only requested a copy three times.