Rejecting an application is not the same as a determination that an individual is not entitled to assistance. This is because there is not enough information to make a determination about entitlement.

Applications must be accompanied by the required forms and supporting information that the Scottish Ministers require (SS Act 2018 s.38(1)). For example, an individual might not provide part two of the application within the required 6 week period even after a case manager has attempted to contact the individual and has offered support to complete the application. Where this is the case, the application should be rejected.

If an application is rejected, the case manager must:

• inform the individual of the decision to reject their application. This is different from a determination.
• explain why that decision was made
• state the individual’s right to appeal the rejection decision

A case manager does not make a determination when rejecting an application. For this reason, it is not possible for the individual to request a re-determination. Instead, if an application has been rejected, they have 31 days to appeal the decision to the First-Tier Tribunal for Scotland from the date they were informed of the decision (SS Act 2018 s.61(1)(a)).