Step 1 - You get a letter from the DWP telling you their decision on your claim. Use our free work capability assessment mandatory reconsideration tool to ask for a mandatory reconsideration if:

●        your claim has been closed because they say you didn’t send back the WCA50 questionnaire in time.

●        your claim has been closed because you didn’t go to the assessment.

●        you claimed Universal Credit and you have been found not to have limited capability for work (no award), or think you have been given the wrong award.

●        you claimed Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and you have been found not to have limited capability for work for the second time in a row, or you think you have been put in the wrong group.

You are supposed to ask for a mandatory reconsideration within one month of the date at the top of the letter to ask for a mandatory reconsideration, although you can ask later. Our mandatory reconsideration letter tool will show you how and where to provide an explanation of the delay. A mandatory reconsideration is where the DWP look at the decision again.  The decision letter from the DWP will tell you if you must do this before you appeal.

If you claimed ESA for the first time and you were given no award (you have been found not to have limited capability for work), or you have been given no award for the first time when you have received an award of ESA before (whether awarded by DWP or appeal panel), then you do not need to ask for a mandatory reconsideration and should appeal straight away. Your decision letter from the DWP will confirm that you can appeal without asking for a mandatory reconsideration. Jump to step 4.

Step 2 -  Ask the DWP to look again at their decision. This is called a mandatory reconsideration. Use our free work capability assessment mandatory reconsideration tool to check what award you should have got, and write a really good letter to the DWP that sets out why the decisin was wrong.

The DWP will look at your questionnaire again, the assessment report, and any other evidence you may have sent (like a letter from your doctor, or consultant or a friend) to see if they will change the decision.

Step 3 -  The DWP will send you their reconsideration decision. You will need a copy if you wish to appeal. If their decision has been changed and you are happy with it, you can stop here. But if it has not, don’t be put off.  

You have one month to ask for an appeal. (If one month has already passed you should still ask for an appeal, see How to appeal a work capability assessment decision).

Step 4 - Ask for an appeal. You can do this online or using the appeal form and posting it.  You can use the wording from the letter generated by our mandatory reconsideration tool to help you make your case. 

Choose to participate in the hearing – you are much more likely to win if the panel can ask you questions. 

See How to appeal a work capability assessment decision for all our advice about what to put on the appeal form.

Step 5 - The DWP will send you (and HMCTS) an explanation of why they gave you the award that they did (these are called the ‘appeal papers’). Don’t be put off by the size of the appeal papers, they can be very long as they usually contain the full history of your claim.

Step 6 - You need to prepare for your appeal and, if you can, send in more information about your difficulties. See How to prepare for a work capability assessment decision appeal hearing for more help.

Step 7 - You will be told the date of the hearing at least one week before. If you have any further evidence about your difficulties that you haven’t yet sent, send it/upload it as soon as possible. And always have a copy with you on the day (one ready to email if it is a video hearing).

If you can, use our free tool to write a submission for the tribunal explaining why the decision was wrong. It will increase your chances of winning and may reduce your stress on the day as you don't have to remember to say everything.

Step 8 -  Your appeal will be heard by an independent panel, called a Social Security and Child Support Tribunal. They will make a new decision.  Your hearing might be in person, by video call or by telephone. For more detail about what will happen at the hearing and what you should do, please see Work capability assessment tribunal hearings.

If you are successful (and most people are), you will usually receive your extra money in 4-6 weeks. You will receive a backdated payment to when you became eligible for the higher rate, usually the date you first claimed.