DLA appeal acknowledgement wording

Hi,

In January I was awarded LRC and LRM DLA. I asked for a reconsideration and on 1st March (a Friday) they wrote back saying they would not revise their decision.

I awaited additional evidence for my appeal, but it didn't arrive as quickly as I'd hoped and as time was running out, I submitted my appeal on 28th March (I know, I know, I should've done it sooner) stating that I couldn't get hold of the additional evidence yet but would post it to them asap.

They wrote back stating that they received my appeal on 2nd April and enclosed a freepost envelope to submit my additional evidence by 30th April. I sent that off today.

However, what puzzles me is that the letter states at the bottom: "When we receive your reply we will decide if we can go ahead."

My initial reaction was that they considered the appeal to be late so they will decide whether or not it can proceed. However, their own regulations here www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/ch02.pdf in section 2036 say that an appeal period is one calendar month (not 28 days) and section 2043 goes on to say that if the notification was issued on a Friday (which it was), "you must treat the appeal as being on time if it is received up to three days after the date the appeal period ends", and as they received it one day after the date the appeal period ended, by their own regulations, it isn't late. Are there any other grounds for the DWP to decide that I can't go ahead with the appeal?

Any ideas about this? Is it a normal phrase used by the DWP on these DLA appeal letters? When I appealed my ESA claim a couple of months ago (I won at the mandatory revision stage btw) they never said anything like that in their correspondence.

Thanks.

Jonathan wrote: Hi,

In January I was awarded LRC and LRM DLA. I asked for a reconsideration and on 1st March (a Friday) they wrote back saying they would not revise their decision.

I awaited additional evidence for my appeal, but it didn't arrive as quickly as I'd hoped and as time was running out, I submitted my appeal on 28th March (I know, I know, I should've done it sooner) stating that I couldn't get hold of the additional evidence yet but would post it to them asap.

They wrote back stating that they received my appeal on 2nd April and enclosed a freepost envelope to submit my additional evidence by 30th April. I sent that off today.

However, what puzzles me is that the letter states at the bottom: "When we receive your reply we will decide if we can go ahead."

My initial reaction was that they considered the appeal to be late so they will decide whether or not it can proceed. However, their own regulations here www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/ch02.pdf in section 2036 say that an appeal period is one calendar month (not 28 days) and section 2043 goes on to say that if the notification was issued on a Friday (which it was), "you must treat the appeal as being on time if it is received up to three days after the date the appeal period ends", and as they received it one day after the date the appeal period ended, by their own regulations, it isn't late. Are there any other grounds for the DWP to decide that I can't go ahead with the appeal?

Any ideas about this? Is it a normal phrase used by the DWP on these DLA appeal letters? When I appealed my ESA claim a couple of months ago (I won at the mandatory revision stage btw) they never said anything like that in their correspondence.

Thanks.

Hi J,

They could argue that they received your appeal after one calendar month, and that you should have made allowances for the Easter Bank Holiday.

However, this would be harsh.

If they did class it as a "late appeal" it would then be up to the Tribunal on whether it should be allowed, and you may be expected to show "good cause"

See : How long do I have to appeal?

And the link at the bottom of the page to the full DM Guide :

www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch03.pdf

bro58

Hi,

Thanks for the replies.

Gordon: I didn't really want to contact the DWP in case it gave them any ideas for considering it to be late, to be honest! That, plus I'm always on hold for a very long time. I might wait a little while and then phone them just to ask if they received my evidence and then casually drop it into the conversation.

bro58: I agree that it would be harsh, but even in the link you posted, it states "the one calendar month must always be extended by one day where the claimant makes an application on the day following the end of the one month period." - surely, if the notice was given on 1st March and my application was received on 2nd April, it's still within time because of the one day automatic extension?

It's quite confusing. I've uploaded a copy of the letter with my personal details edited out, if it might help anyone (or if anyone has seen a similar letter before): i.imgur.com/GfVkWjg.jpg

The code on the bottom of the letter (not shown in the photo) is DBD890.

I'd have thought they would have explicitly mentioned if it was late because they haven't asked me to explain why...

Thanks for the reassurance Gordon. I sent it off this morning.

It was just the wording that they will "decide if we can go ahead" with the appeal that confused me.

I'll just let it go through the system and hope that there aren't any problems.