Challenging an Income Support decision - mandatory reconsideration

You can still ask for a mandatory reconsideration, as long as it’s within 13 months of the decision. You'll need to explain your reasons for being late - for example if being ill or dealing with difficult personal circumstances meant you couldn't apply in time.

Call the DWP and explain why you missed the 1-month deadline. To help get them to accept your late mandatory reconsideration, say why it’s important they change the decision.

The DWP can refuse your application if it's late, but as long as you applied within 13 months you can still appeal the decision at a tribunal. If you think you’ve been treated unfairly you can make a complaint.

If you got the decision letter more than 13 months ago, the DWP might change the decision if they made a mistake – known as an ‘official error’. This includes if the DWP:

• made a mistake when calculating your Income Support 
or SMI

• overlooked a piece of evidence you sent them


• misunderstood some evidence you sent


You’ll need to write to the DWP to explain why you think they made an official error. Write ‘Request for official error revision’ at the top of your letter and include:

• your full name

• your National Insurance number, if you can

• what the official error was

Send it to the address on the decision letter.

You might have been paid the wrong amount of Income Support if the DWP missed a change you reported.

If you wrote to the DWP to report the change, send copies of the letter and proof of postage, if you have it. 

If you called the DWP to report the change, fill in this form on GOV.UK to ask for an audio or written copy of the call. This is known as a ‘subject access request’. 

Send the completed form to your nearest Jobcentre Plus. Write ‘For the attention of the DWP Data Protection Officer’ on the envelope.

It can take 6 to 8 weeks for a subject access request to come through, so don’t wait for it. Send the letter asking for the mandatory reconsideration within the 1-month deadline. Say in the letter that you’ve made a subject access request and will send the evidence to the DWP when you have it.

Your Income Support decision can be wrong if the DWP thinks you live with a partner when you don’t - for example, if you’ve recently split up with someone. 

If you’re in touch with the person the DWP thinks you live with, ask them for a copy of a recent bill. A bill from another address will help prove that they don’t live with you. As well as household bills, this could be an entertainment subscription, like Sky or Netflix. 

You should also send copies of one or more of the following:

• a letter from your landlord confirming only you live there

• your tenancy agreement - to show it’s in just your name

• bank statements for as long as the DWP thinks you’ve been living together - for security, use a pen to cover your account number and sort code

• council tax and utility bills in just your name

Your Income Support decision might be wrong if the DWP:

• doesn’t believe you’re the one responsible for caring for someone with a disability or illness

• wrongly thinks you should be getting Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment to get Income Support

You don’t have to be getting Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment to get Income Support, but if you are, you can use this to prove you’re a carer. Send a copy of your Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment award notice with your request for a mandatory reconsideration.

If you don’t get Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment, in your letter tell the DWP if you regularly care for someone who:

• gets Attendance Allowance

• gets Pension Age Disability Payment

• gets the middle or highest rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

• gets the standard or enhanced rate of the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

• gets the standard or enhanced rate of the daily living component of Adult Disability Payment

• gets the middle or highest rate of the care component of Child Disability Payment

• in the last 26 weeks has applied for Attendance Allowance, DLA, PIP, Adult Disability Payment, Child Disability Payment or Pension Age Disability Payment

Explain in your letter how you regularly care for someone - this is particularly important if they don’t get Attendance Allowance, DLA or PIP. The DWP might contact you to ask for more information about the type of care you give.