How to Complain About Benefits Service in Northern Ireland

Who this guide is for

People in Northern Ireland who are unhappy with the service they have had from the Department for Communities about social security benefits, pensions or child maintenance, including Universal Credit.

What this guide does not cover

• People in England, Wales or Scotland: see the Great Britain guide.
• Whether a benefit decision is right (a refusal, an award, a sanction): that is not a complaint. See our Universal Credit appeals guide, or the benefits guide for other benefits.
• How the Ombudsman investigates. Ask the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman.
• How your personal data was used: see our data protection guide.

What the rules depend on

1. Is it about the service, or about the decision itself? The service: this guide. The decision: mandatory reconsideration and appeal, not a complaint. If it is both, do both.
2. Where do you live? Northern Ireland: this guide. England, Wales or Scotland: the Great Britain guide.
3. Which stage are you at? Not complained yet: the office. Answered at Stage One: write to the Director. Answered by the Director: NIPSO or ICE.

"How do I complain to the Department for Communities?"

1. Contact the office dealing with your case and give them the details. Their address and phone number are on any letters they have sent you.
2. Stage One: if you are not satisfied with their response, raise your complaint with the office manager responsible.
3. Stage Two: if you are still not satisfied, write to the Department and ask for your complaint to be re-examined, saying why you are unhappy with the first response. It is acknowledged within two working days, and the Director responsible answers within ten working days (or tells you why it will take longer). For Universal Credit, the Director of Universal Credit aims to respond within ten working days.

"I'm still unhappy after the Director"

You can phone or write to the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) or the Independent Case Examiner (ICE). Both are independent of the Department.

NIPSO: Progressive House, 33 Wellington Place, Belfast BT1 6HN (Freepost NIPSO); 028 9023 3821; nipso@nipso.org.uk.

ICE: contact@ice.gov.uk, or The Independent Case Examiner, PO Box 209, Bootle L20 7WA. ICE deals with maladministration and service failures such as excessive delays and poor customer service. It cannot deal with benefit entitlement decisions that have review or appeal rights, discrimination under equality law, or complaints already looked at by the Northern Ireland Ombudsman. Send a copy of the final response.

If you want someone else to act for you, you must give explicit consent first.

"Can I get compensation?"

• The Department for Communities can make a special payment if it caused you actual financial loss. That applies where it made a mistake dealing with your case, gave you the wrong information, unacceptably delayed your benefit because of its mistake, or wrongly stopped it for more than three months because of its mistake.
• Special payments are discretionary: there is no legal right to one. To get one, the delay must have been longer than the maximum period for dealing with your benefit, the amount owed to you must be at least £100 and the compensation at least £10. Ask the manager of the Social Security Office or Jobs & Benefits Office that is making your payment.
• In very exceptional circumstances it may pay a consolatory award, if its mistakes had a damaging effect on your life or it did not act reasonably. Examples are severe inconvenience from repeated errors, severe embarrassment, humiliation or unnecessary personal intrusion, or severe distress. Ask the manager of the office that made the decision or provided the service.
• If ICE upholds your complaint, it may recommend an apology, corrective action or a consolatory payment.
• NIPSO recommends how things can be put right, such as an apology, a service improvement or a refund of money. It does not award compensation itself.

Deadlines you must meet

• Independent Case Examiner: normally within 6 months of the final complaint response.
• NIPSO: once the Department has finished its complaints procedure, bring your complaint within 6 months. In exceptional cases NIPSO may accept it later.
• If your benefit decision is wrong, the time limits for challenging it are separate: see our Universal Credit appeals guide.

Money figures

• Special payments: the amount owed to you must be at least £100 and the compensation at least £10.

Traps

• Benefits in Northern Ireland are run by the Department for Communities, not the Department for Work and Pensions, so its complaints process applies.
• A complaint does not change a benefit decision and does not stop the mandatory reconsideration clock.
• Finish Stage Two with the Director before going to NIPSO or ICE.
• Older leaflets give an ICE phone number and email that ICE no longer lists. Use contact@ice.gov.uk or the Bootle address.