Welfare Benefits

Advice on welfare benefits issues

Our Welfare Benefit team can help you if your benefit claim has been refused, or you disagree with a medical assessment, wish to appeal a decision or just want some advice in relation to your benefits. 

We can help you by:

• Advising you in relation to your potential entitlement to benefits,
• Advising you in relation to your prospects of success at tribunals,
• Assisting you in appealing benefit decisions,
• Helping you to prepare cases up to tribunal hearings, (including, obtaining medical reports).
• Attending at tribunals with you as a McKenzie friend (if you are unable to put your case to the tribunal– usually if this is due to mental health problems or learning difficulties),
• Assisting/advising you in relation to appeals to the second tier tribunal,
• Advising you regarding your prospects of appealing decisions to the court of appeal. 

We advise about the whole broad range of benefits including Income Support, Tax Credits, Employment Support Allowance, Bereavement benefits, Disability benefits and Industrial injuries benefits.

A few of our recent successes include:

• Appealing a housing benefit decision for an elderly single woman and establishing on the facts that she had a commercial tenancy from a relative and was therefore entitled to full housing benefit to pay her rent.
• Assisting a client to prove that she was not the beneficial owner of money in her bank account and hence did not have to repay benefits received. 
• A mother made her first time application for Disability Living Allowance for her seven month old baby. She was awarded lowest rate care. The child had various illnesses including cerebral palsy. We helped her obtain a detailed report from the child consultant and the tribunal overturned the decision and awarded the child middle rate of care without hearing the appeal.

• Family Law

  • Child Abduction
  • Children
  • Child Maintenance
  • Cohabitation & Prenuptuals
  • Collaborative Law
  • Divorce
  • Domestic Violence
  • Finances on Separation
  • Forced Marriages

• Education Law

  • Appealing Admission
  • Attendance
  • Complaints Against Schools
  • School Exclusions
  • Special Education Needs

• Housing & Benefit Law

  • Landlord/Tenant Disputes
  • Mortgage Repossession
  • Neighbour Disputes/Harassments
  • Welfare Benefits