Right payment programme

Hi

I have a new client who came to me for help with an appeal. His entitlement to DLA had been looked at again, he had an EMP visit, and the decision was that his entitlement was unchanged. I assumed that he had requested a supercession, and helped him put in an appeal. This resulted in him being sent an application for a supercession. I have just phoned to query this, and been told that he didn’t apply for a supercession previously, and that his entitlement was reviewed under the right payment programme., and that he had no right of appeal. I have a letter on his file advising that a decision had been made that his entitlement was unchanged, and argued that any decision on a claim carried appeal rights, but DM I spoke to was adamant that this wasn’t the case. Is this right?
Sorry - got client to see, so got to stop now. Thanks

Disability Alliance have a brief fact sheet with details of the Right Payment Programme

DWP also has some information, scroll to the bottom of DCS newspage

It’s difficult to tell without seeing the letter, does it give a right to appeal? If not, I think the decision makers reasoning might be as follows;
The Right payment program is a system for checking a random selection of claims to make sure that they are correct and there are no changes of circumstances which might affect the amount of the claim. If the information is that the award is correct and nothing has changed, arguably there’s no need for the decision maker to carry out a supersession or revision and consequently no decision to appeal.
If you think this is incorrect, you will need to identify a ground for supersession or revision – most commonly a change in the care or mobility needs since the original award was made – and write to the decision maker asking them to look at the claim again. I would complete the supersession pack in these circumstances to explain fully the changes in care and mobility needs. A refusal should result in a decision with a right to appeal. All the grounds are set out in the Disability Rights Handbook p.252 and 253 in the latest edition. The usual caution applies, it could result in the award going down instead of up.
Hope this helps.