A Breakdown of the Social Security Appeal Statistics

April 2025 to March 2026

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 2025 to March 2026 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 58.2%; and,
that they are even more likely to be successful if they have representation – with a success rate of 72.3% for PIP appeals and 61.4% 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 an increased success rate for those who attend their hearing in person when compared to those that opt for a remote hearing.  

In 2025-26, in person appeals across all benefit types had a success rate of 54.1% compared to a success rate for remote appeals across all benefit types of 49.3%. Success rates for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals are higher at 65.1% for in person hearings and 56.6% for remote hearings. 

The improved outcomes for oral hearings across all benefits (58.2%) 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 (25.2%).  

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 (72.3% for PIP appeals and 61.4% 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

Following a welcome trend in decreased adjournments it is unfortunate to observe that the number of adjournments has again increased. It is the view of Law Centre NI that more can be done in advance of hearings to avoid unnecessary adjournment.

Following a drop during 2024-25 of 31.0%. there has now been an increase as a proportion of heard cases of 35.7% in 2025-26.

PIP appeals, where legal members review papers in advance and can issue directions, have a lower adjournment rate at 30.8%. With careful direction, specific to each case, the rate of adjournment can reduce further.

Slight increase in Appeals

Overall, the number of appeals heard slightly increased from 5,641 in 2024-25 to 5,780 in 2025-26.

In addition, the number of PIP appeals heard increased from 2,522 in 2024-25 to 2,891 in 2025-26.

Pending Appeals

As of 1 April 2026, there were 4,821 appeals awaiting hearing showing an increase of 11% compared to the same time last year when there were 4,342 appeals awaiting hearing.