Social Entitlement Chamber

Updated November 2025

Thank you for visiting this section of website. I hope that you will find the information it provides about the Social Entitlement Chamber (SEC) useful.

The SEC is home to three different Tribunals:

The largest is the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal. It decides appeals about an individual’s entitlement to a range of disability, work related and almost 60 other benefit, credit and allowance types, including state pensions, and also hears appeals about liability to make child support payments.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal hears appeals about whether and how much compensation can be paid to someone who has been injured as a victim of a crime of violence.

The Asylum Support Tribunal hears appeals about decisions where asylum support has been refused or where an existing award has been cancelled.

Hearings in the SEC are accessible and parties are not expected to be represented or to have experience or knowledge of the law. The judges and expert Tribunal members will do all that they can to enable every party to an appeal to present their case.

Appeals are decided on the papers alone or after an oral hearing. If a party wants an oral hearing, they may choose for this to be at a hearing centre or remotely, via telephone or video. There are SSCS hearing centres across England, Wales and Scotland and the Tribunal decides tens of thousands of SSCS appeals each year. The CIC Tribunal’s hearings are mainly remote although if an appeal requires a hearing at a hearing centre this can be arranged. The CIC Tribunal decides hundreds of appeals each year. The AST hears appeals in London and decides hundreds of appeals each year.

Hearings in the Social Entitlement Chamber are enabling and inquisitorial. This means that, even if a party is not legally represented, they are not at a disadvantage. The Tribunals within the Chamber are flexible and will make adjustments to the proceedings to ensure that each party is able to put their case, and that each appeal is determined fairly and justly.

  • Below are links to each of the different Tribunals within the SEC, which contain some helpful information.

Elizabeth McMahon
Chamber President

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