The simple fact is that these delays, as stated, can lead to hardships. We often advise on the use of the social fund, local charities and social services for those who are left without an income.
I have had client's who have lost their home where delays in administering appeals has contributed. In one recent case, by the time we finished dealing with the client, the LA (that doesn't have the resources or staff to deal with complex cases) had had the appeal for well over a year without producing the bundle and the claimant lost her accommodation.
In another case, the client's appeal for tax credit has been with HMRC for over seven months. The client isn't being paid. Interestingly, in the seven years since the introduction of tax credits, I have still NEVER repped a TC appeal, and those I have been involved in have been maladminstered or simply not dealt with. Sometimes, it seems as though TCO rely on and enhance the complexity of the system to avoid dealing with these issues. In a recent case, the TCO actually inserted words into an act of parliament in an attempt to justify an administrative procedure.
Effects of delays are obvious and hardly need evidencing. Especially the obvious short-term effects like being able to heat a home (most of our clients are on pre-payment meters so no income means no heat or hot water), providing adequate food and clothing, keeping a roof, etc. Those cases, such as IS/JSA/HB are the more serious, but cases like DLA are less so. Yes it is the case that denying DLA incorrectly can adversely affect a disabled person's quality of life, but at least they have the means to feed themselves.
RTR/HRT decisions tend to have the biggest impact because they often mean no income or HB at all for the claimant. Three months for the bundle and three months for a hearing really doesn't represent an effective remedy for 'no income' cases.
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