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Covered benefits

The Disability and Carers Service deals with claims for the following benefits:

How to make a complaint

If you're unhappy with the service you have received and want to complain, you should contact the office dealing with your claim.

Contact details for the office dealing with your claim will be at the top of any letters the Disability and Carers Service sent to you. Please explain what has happened, how this has affected you and what you want to happen to put things right.

If you are not sure which office to contact, you can phone:

• DLA and AA Helpline: 0845 712 3456
• Carer's Allowance Unit: 0845 608 4321
• Carer's Allowance Unit (Textphone): 0845 604 5312
• Vaccine Damage Payments Unit: 01772 899 944

This complaints process is different from the process you can follow if you think a decision about your benefit claim is wrong. If you think a decision is wrong, then you need to make an appeal. See ‘How to appeal against a benefits decision’.

• How to appeal against a benefits decision (general money, tax and benefits section)

What happens next

The Disability and Carers Service will contact you to find out more about your complaint and then try to sort things out to your satisfaction. They will usually contact you by phone so it's important to include your telephone number when you contact them. You will be provided with the name and direct contact details of the person looking into your complaint. The Disability and Carers Service will aim to deal with your complaint within 15 working days.

Your complaint will be dealt with in the best way for you. For example, if you want to be contacted in writing, instead of by phone, just let the office know when you complain.

At each stage of the process you will be given clear guidance on what to do next.

What to do if you're unhappy with the response

If you’re not satisfied with the response, you will be asked if you want to take your complaint further. If you do want to take your complaint further, the person looking into your complaint will send it to the Chief Operating Officer. They will aim to deal with your complaint within 15 working days.

If you're unhappy with the Chief Operating Officer of the Disability and Carers Service response, you can ask the Independent Case Examiner to investigate. The response from the Disability and Carers Service will tell you how to do that. The Independent Case Examiner can help if you feel that you have not had your complaint dealt with in a satisfactory manner. See 'Other help with your complaint about service' to learn more about the Independent Case Examiner and how to contact them.

Other help with your complaint about service

If you need help when you’re dealing with the Disability and Carers Service or when you want to complain about their service, you could ask:

• a local advice centre like a Citizens Advice Bureau
• your Member of Parliament (MP)

• Find your local Citizens Advice Bureau Opens new window

• Find your MP Opens new window

Independent Case Examiner

If you have been through the Disability and Carers Service’s complaints procedure and are still unhappy, you can contact the Independent Case Examiner. The Independent Case Examiner is independent of the Disability and Carers Service and offers a free and impartial review of a complaint. You must contact them within six months of receiving a final reply about your complaint from the Chief Operating Officer of the Disability and Carers Service.

The Independent Case Examiner can look at complaints about the standard of service provided by the Disability and Carers Service. They cannot look at matters of law (for example, they will not review benefit decisions because you can appeal against these) or government policy. If they accept your complaint, they will look at what happened and what the Disability and Carers Service did about it. If they think that the Disability and Carers Service should have done more, they will ask them to put matters right.

• Independent Case Examiner website Opens new window

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

You can also contact a Member of Parliament and ask them to send your complaint to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about government organisations not acting properly or fairly or providing a poor service. The Ombudsman will not normally become involved until the Disability and Carers Service and the Independent Case Examiner have had the opportunity to deal with your complaint.

• Find your local MP (Member of Parliament)

• Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Opens new window

If a mistake has been made

If the Disability and Carers Service has made a mistake it will act quickly to apologise, explain what went wrong and correct its mistakes.

It may also award a special payment if something it has done (or not done) has caused you to experience unfair treatment or suffer financially. For more details see the guide ‘Financial Redress for Injustice Resulting from Maladministration'.

• Download 'Financial Redress for Injustice Resulting from Maladministration' (PDF, 223MB) Opens new window

Disability and Carers Service leaflet for download

You can download a Disability and Carers Service leaflet in PDF format. It includes information about complaints. Please contact the office that deals with your claim if you would like to receive a copy.

• Download Customer Information leaflet - Disability and Carers Service (PDF, 718K)

• Help with PDF files

If you think a decision about your benefit is wrong

If you think a decision about your benefit claim is wrong, you can ask the office who made the decision to explain it.

You can also ask to have the decision reconsidered. If you are still unhappy, you can usually appeal against the decision.

• How to appeal against a benefits decision (general money, tax and benefits section)

Useful contacts

• Financial support contacts