30/05/2025

A Breakdown of the Social Security Appeal Statistics 2024-25

Briefing Overview

The Law Centre has renewed its call for the Department for Communities to publish data on an annual basis relating to social security appeals in Northern Ireland.   

Recent statistics obtained by the Law Centre through a Freedom of Information request to the Appeals Service have highlighted the volume of social security appeals lodged and heard last year, as well as their outcomes.  

The data – which covers the period from April 2024 to March 2025 continues to show that people appealing against a social security benefit decision:

have a greater chance of success if their appeal is an oral hearing with a success rate of 54.7%; and,
that they are even more likely to be successful if they have representation – with a success rate of 70.9% for PIP appeals and 63.5% for Universal Credit appeals where a representative is present.

Why is the Law Centre calling for the annual publication of this data?

We currently obtain data relating to Social Security Appeals by submitting a Freedom of Information request on an annual basis. It is important that detailed statistics on appeals against social security decisions by the Department for Communities are published annually to highlight not only the volume of appeals being dealt with, but also the outcomes.  This would indicate where the system can be improved, while also driving improvements by informing people’s choices in regard to the type of appeal they would like to submit and the value of seeking representation.  

The Statistics: What do they show us? 

Attending the Hearing

As is consistently the case, the statistics show improved outcomes for those that request an oral hearing compared to those that select an appeal that is decided only on the papers.  

This year the statistics demonstrate a slightly increased success rate for those who attend their hearing in person when compared to those that opt for a remote hearing.  

In 2024-25, in person appeals across all benefit types had a success rate of 54.7% compared to a success rate for remote appeals across all benefit types of 53.7%. Success rates for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals are higher at 66.6% for in person hearings and 57.9% for remote hearings. 

The improved outcomes for oral hearings across all benefits (58.6%) suggests that it may be beneficial for the Tribunal to meet an appellant face-to-face, hearing their evidence directly and drawing out answers which they would not be able to do when compared with a paper-based appeal (27.5%).  

Representation

Again, the statistics demonstrate that a appellant’s chances of success are improved with representation. In both Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Universal Credit (UC) appeals, the success rate was much higher (70.9% for PIP appeals and 63.5% for UC appeals) in appeals where a representative was present.  

Tribunals can be stressful, and the data indicates that having a representative who can support you to answer questions relating to your appeal, and who understands the benefits process, particularly if your case is complex, can have a positive impact on the outcome of the appeal. 

Adjournments

Although the number of appeals being adjourned remains high, the figures show that this has continued to decrease.

In 2023-24, 34.8% of all appeals were adjourned. In 2024-25, this dropped to 31.0%.

PIP appeals remained slightly lower at 28.9% in 2024-25. 

Drop in Appeals

The statistics demonstrate a significant drop in appeals that have been heard when compared to 2023-24. Overall, the number of appeals heard dropped by 15.6% from 6,687 in 2023-24 to 5,641 in 2024-25.

In addition, the number of PIP appeals heard had dropped by 20.6% from 3,175 in 2023-24 to 2,522 in 2024-25.  

Although the number of appeals that have been adjourned has decreased, the data shows that the total number of appeals heard has decreased as well – which means that the backlog of cases waiting to be heard has increased which could lead to longer waiting time for claimants beginning their appeal journey.

Pending Appeals

As of 1 April 2025, there were 4,342 appeals awaiting hearing showing an increase of 25.2% compared to the same time last year when there were 3,468 appeals awaiting hearing. Of note is a 55% increase in PIP appeals awaiting hearing.