If you don’t agree or don't understand our decision
If you have applied for, or are claiming a benefit, and you think our decision is wrong, you can:
ask us to look at our decision again
appeal against our decision if you have already had the decision looked at again
If you don’t understand the decision or would like some more information, ask us for a spoken or written explanation.
Types of decisions
If you receive a decision from us in writing, it’s usually because you have:
Asking us to look at our decision again
You can ask us to look at the decision again if:
You must let us know after receiving the first letter informing you of our decision, and you should supply any additional evidence you want to use to support your case.
We allow some time for you to ask for us to look at the decision again. You should let us know if there is a special circumstance which means you can’t contact us or supply evidence within that time.
What happens next
Once you have asked for the decision to be looked at again, we'll get a second opinion from an officer who was not involved with the original decision.
They will look at any evidence you may have sent to support why you think the decision is wrong and if they agree, they will change it.
If our decision is changed
If our decision is changed, anything you have been awarded as a result of the new decision will be paid to you up to the date of the original decision.
If you don't agree with the new decision, you may be able to appeal against it.
If our decision isn’t changed
If the officer decides not to change the decision, they'll send you a letter telling you this and confirming the original decision. The letter will also tell you if you can appeal to an independent tribunal.
You will have a set period of time from the day you receive the letter to submit your appeal to the Registrar of Appeals, which will be set out in the letter.
Appealing to an independent tribunal
If you would like to appeal to an independent tribunal, complete and submit the appeal form.
Social Security Tribunal appeal form
Send your completed form to the Registrar of Appeals at the address on the form.
The independent tribunal will look at:
Considering any changes in circumstance
The tribunal won't consider any changes to your circumstances that happened after we made our decision that you are appealing against.
You must contact us straight away if you have had any change of circumstances since the decision was made.
The appeal process
The Registrar of Appeals will tell us you have appealed our decision and will forward any documents you have submitted in support of your appeal.
We may contact you to explain the decision in more detail. If you accept the explanation, you can choose not to continue with your appeal.
If you do want to continue with your appeal and you’ve submitted new information to the Registrar of Appeals, we might look at the decision again (even if we have already done so).
We’ll let you know if we make a new decision, and tell you if this may affect your appeal.
Who sits on the tribunal?
Tribunal members are appointed by the States of Jersey and are completely independent from the Employment, Social Security and Housing Department.
All tribunals have a legally qualified chair to help apply the law to your appeal.
The result of your appeal with an independent tribunal
Once the tribunal has made their decision on your appeal, you'll be sent a written explanation of the decision. A copy will also be sent to us at the Customer Hub.
If your appeal is successful
If your appeal is successful, we'll usually carry out the tribunal’s decision as soon as we receive a written copy of it.
If we don’t agree with the tribunal’s decision
If we decide the tribunal has made an error on a point of law, we may be able to take the case to the Royal Court. We’ll not take any action until they have made their decision.
If you don’t agree with the tribunal’s decision
The decision of the tribunal is final. However, if you feel the tribunal has made an error on a point of law, you may be able to appeal to the Royal Court.
Situations where your appeal won’t succeed
There are some situations where it’s not possible for your appeal to succeed, such as:
If we think your appeal won’t succeed, we'll ask the chair of the tribunal for a decision. If they agree, the chair will write to you to let you know. Your appeal will then stop unless you write to the Registrar of Appeals.
If you insist on going ahead with your appeal, it will still continue even if it can't succeed.
Contact us
For more information and support, complete the Income Support query form.
Make an Income Support query
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