Complaining to the DWP and the Ombudsman

A complaint to the Department for Work and Pensions is not the same thing as an appeal. A complaint does not change a benefit decision, but it can be made to raise issues about delays, mistakes, poor treatment or a failure to keep you properly informed¹. If you think a decision about your award is wrong, the route is a mandatory reconsideration and then an appeal to an independent tribunal, which is completely separate from the benefit office².

Where a complaint is the right route, the DWP should deal with it within 15 working days³. If you are unhappy with how the DWP responds, you can take the issue to the Independent Case Examiner, and you can escalate the issue to the Independent Case Examiner within six months⁴. If you still disagree, you can ask your MP to get the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to look at your complaint, which deals with complaints about maladministration and delays by the DWP⁵.

Complaint or appeal: which one fits your problem

An appeal is a way of telling the benefit office that you think a decision is wrong². It is looked at by an independent tribunal, which is completely separate from the benefit office². In England, Scotland or Wales you can appeal a decision online through GOV.UK, or by post².

A complaint is a different instrument. It does not change a benefit decision, but it can be made to raise issues about, for example, delays, mistakes, poor treatment or a failure to keep you properly informed¹.

The two often run alongside each other. If the DWP has stopped your payments while you wait, or has sent you conflicting letters, that is complaint territory even while an appeal is in progress. If the question is whether you are entitled to a benefit at all, or at what rate, that is appeal territory.

For PIP specifically, the first step in challenging a PIP decision is a mandatory reconsideration⁷. If you disagree with how an overpayment happened or is calculated, you can challenge it by asking for a mandatory reconsideration and then appealing; you cannot appeal the decision to make you pay the money back itself⁸. If you do not agree that you owe the money, you can appeal⁹.

Making a complaint to the DWP

You can complain to the DWP about any aspect of the service you have received, including mistakes that have been made, unreasonable delays, how you have been treated, and not being kept informed¹⁰.

Each DWP agency has its own complaints procedure. To complain, contact the office that dealt with your claim, then escalate to a senior DWP office (tier one), then a senior DWP manager (tier two), and then the Independent Case Examiner¹¹.

For a PIP complaint, you can complain in writing using the address at the top of any PIP letter from the DWP, or by phone¹². It helps to set out your national insurance number; your full name, address and contact number; what the complaint is about, when it happened and how it affected you; and what outcome you are looking for¹².

The DWP will usually phone you to discuss your complaint. If they cannot get through to you, they will send you a letter instead¹³.

How long the DWP has to reply

The DWP should deal with the complaint within 15 working days³. The same 15 working day figure appears across the guidance on DWP complaint procedures, including the first stage of the internal complaint procedure¹⁴.

If the reply does not arrive, or arrives without addressing the points you raised, that failure is itself something you can take further. Keep a note of the date you complained and any reference number, because the escalation deadlines run from the point you became unhappy with the outcome rather than from the original problem.

If the DWP's reply does not resolve it: the Independent Case Examiner

If you are unhappy with how the DWP responds to your complaint, you can take the issue to the Independent Case Examiner¹. If you disagree with the DWP's decision, you can complain to the Independent Case Examiner¹⁵.

There is a deadline. You can escalate the issue to the Independent Case Examiner within six months of being unhappy with the DWP complaint outcome⁴. The same six month window applies from the internal process¹⁴.

The Independent Case Examiner looks at how the DWP handled the complaint, not at whether the original benefit decision was right. That distinction matters: if the substance of your case is that the award is wrong, the tribunal route is the one that can change it.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman: referral through your MP

If you do not agree with the Case Examiner's response, you can ask your MP to get the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman to look at your complaint¹. The ombudsman deals with complaints about maladministration and delays by the DWP⁵.

You begin a complaint by completing the online form and sending this to your MP. You need to do this within one year of becoming aware of the matter⁵.

The ombudsman's remit is about process rather than the merits of a decision. The Pensions Ombudsman, which handles pension complaints, describes the equivalent limit in its own guidance: you can take your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which can only look at complaints about process, not decisions¹⁶. The same principle applies to DWP complaints.

The MP step is not optional. The ombudsman is reached through your MP, and the same referral route appears in other complaint systems: after going through all the earlier steps, you can ask your Member of Parliament to refer your case to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman¹⁷. If you have followed a court's complaints procedure in full and are unhappy with the response, you can ask your MP to refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman¹⁸.

What a complaint can achieve, including compensation

A complaint can produce an explanation, an apology, a correction of records, a change of process, or a payment. It cannot rewrite a benefit decision¹.

Where an appeal succeeds, it normally takes between four and six weeks for the DWP to pay you the amount of benefit that you have missed out on¹⁹. That payment follows the appeal, not the complaint.

Compensation is more common in the financial ombudsman world, and the principles are a useful guide to what "redress" means. The Financial Ombudsman Service can look into a complaint and can award compensation to you if your complaint is upheld²⁰. If a complaint is upheld, you will be awarded a sum that aims to put you back in your original financial position²¹. The ombudsman may also ask a firm to pay compensation for distress or inconvenience²². In one published case, the ombudsman upheld a complaint and told the insurer to pay compensation for the distress and inconvenience this had caused²³.

Other regulators publish their own range of outcomes. The Information Commissioner's Office may log the complaint; tell the complainant the organisation appears to have complied; tell the organisation to do more work; recommend improvements; or take regulatory action²⁴.

Free help with a DWP complaint

Ombudsman services are free. An ombudsman is a person who investigates complaints about organisations for free⁶. You usually have the right to refer your complaint to the relevant ombudsman service for free²⁷. Complaining to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is free²⁸.

That matters because paid intermediaries exist. Claims management companies charge for work that the free routes already cover, so it is worth knowing what the free options are before signing anything²⁷.

Some complaints sit with a different ombudsman depending on the subject. In Wales, in cases where there has been some maladministration, you may be able to complain to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales²⁹. If you are unhappy with a council's response to a Disabled Facilities Grant application, you can make a complaint to the local government and social care ombudsman³⁰.

For pension complaints, the Pensions Ombudsman has its own rules. Before applying, you must first make a formal complaint directly with the relevant party, such as the trustees or manager of your pension scheme, the administrator or an employer¹⁶. You must have completed the formal complaints process with the relevant party before you come to it³¹.

For financial firms, the Financial Ombudsman Service route is: make a formal complaint to the company involved first; if you do not get a final response letter within eight weeks, or you are unhappy with the response, bring the complaint to the ombudsman via its complaint form³². Complaints can be taken to the free Financial Ombudsman Service if you are unhappy with the final response or the timeframe has passed³³. If a business does not reply within the time limits, or the consumer disagrees with the response, they can bring their complaint to the ombudsman³⁴. If you are in a group scheme, the ombudsman can consider a complaint if the policy was taken out for your benefit³⁵. You may be able to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service free of charge³⁶.

If you need someone to deal with the DWP on your behalf, there is separate guidance on managing someone else's claim: appointees and third parties. For the wider picture of what benefits exist and how decisions are made, start from Benefits in the UK: a complete guide.