Backdating

When you apply for Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit any entitlement to benefit is normally paid from the following dates:

• Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance (income-based) and Guarantee Credit claims are normally paid from the Monday following the date of entitlement as long as a claim for Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit is received by the Benefits Section or the Department for Work and Pensions within 28 days of that date
• All other types of claim are normally paid from the Monday following the date the claim is received by the Council

If you want to claim Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit from an earlier date you can make a request for backdating, in writing, to the office dealing with your claim.

Making A Claim

Make A Request in Writing

If you want to claim Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit from an earlier date you can make a request for backdating, in writing, to the office dealing with your claim. A supervisor normally makes the decision on these types of claim.

We are allowed to backdate Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit for a maximum of 52 weeks from the date we receive your request.

Backdating is not an automatic entitlement – we can only backdate your claim for benefit if we feel that you have shown good cause for not applying earlier, and that the good cause lasted for the whole period for which you are requesting backdating.

How Do I Make the Request?

The person who is entitled to Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit should make a written request for backdating to the office dealing with their claim.

Alternatively an appointee or someone acting on your behalf may make a request in writing if this is considered necessary. (If an appointee is acting on behalf of a claimant we normally ask for the claimant to provide their written consent for the person to act for them.)

On the written request you must give us the following information as this will help us to look at your claim quickly:

• The date you want your benefit backdated to
• Your benefit claim reference number
• Your reasons for not making an earlier claim - please include any details you think are important and any relevant documents in support of your claim

Entitlement to Backdating

Will I be entitled to Backdating?

When we get your letter we will make a decision on whether your benefit can be backdated based on:

• Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit legislation
• the information you give us on your letter
• any other information we already have

It is very important that you give us as much information as possible about why you think your benefit should be backdated.

Evidence and Further Information

In order to process your claim for backdating we may write to you asking for further evidence or information to support your claim.

We may also ask you to come into the office to discuss your claim, if necessary. Any documents you provide must be originals and can only by photocopied in a Council office.

If you call into an office your information will be photocopied and returned to you immediately. Alternatively, any information you send us by post will be photocopied and returned to you by first class post on the day it is received.

"Good Causes" for Backdating

The following list gives examples of what may be considered "good cause" for us to award backdated Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit (this list is by no means exhaustive):

• If a claimant was ill and had no one to make the claim on his/her behalf
• If a claimant could not reasonably have been expected to know his/her rights i.e. due to detailed changes to the law
• If a claimant was wrongly advised that he/she was not entitled to claim Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit
• If a claimant was unable to manage his/her own affairs and did not have an appointee
• If a claimant did not understand that he/she could claim because of age, inexperience or language difficulties

Outcome of Claim

Once we receive your written request, we aim to make a decision on your backdating claim within 14 days. We will write to you giving you our decision and an explanation of the reasons why we came to this decision.

What happens if my backdating claim is successful?

If we decide to award backdated benefit you will be informed by letter.

The letter you receive will explain your benefit entitlement for the period you have been granted backdating and how it was worked out. We will adjust your benefit accordingly and this may mean you will receive a revised rent statement and council tax bill for the current and/or previous year.

The maximum backdated Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit you may be granted is 52 weeks from the date you request it in writing.

What happens if my backdating claim is unsuccessful and I do not agree with the decision?

As above, we will send you a letter informing you of our decision.

If you disagree with the decision you should write to us within one month of the date you received our letter. Your letter must state that you wish to dispute the decision and you must also clearly give the reasons why you disagree with it.

What happens next?

We will look at our decision again and decide whether or not to revise it.

We will write to you again with our new decision. If you are still unhappy with the new decision you have a further month from the date you receive the new letter to appeal against it, again stating clearly the reasons why you are appealing.

If you decide to appeal for a second time, your case will be passed to the Appeals Service who will make a decision on your claim.

Other organisations that can help

There are a number of organisations such as advice centres that can help you if you wish assistance or support in querying the decision with regard to your benefit claim. They can help you to fill in forms or write letters.