Benefits - Frequently Asked Questions
How much Housing/Council Tax benefit will I
qualify for?
- Any Housing/Council Tax benefit claim is assessed on individual
circumstances.
- For a trial calculation please contact us direct.
- Alternatively, complete and return a benefit application form
and notification of your entitlement (if any) will be sent to you
in writing, as soon as possible.
What is the criteria for claiming backdated benefit and how do
I make a claim?
- Housing/Council Tax benefit can only be backdated for a maximum
of 52 weeks from the date of claim.
- Reasons for backdate must show "good cause".
- A backdate request must be made in writing on either the
benefit application form or in a letter, clearly stating the
reasons why you want your benefit backdating.
How can I report fraud - What will the council do about
it?
- You can
report suspected fraud anonymously online, call into the
Benefits Section or telephone the benefits office with details of
any suspected fraud.
- There is a fraud hotline telephone number 01562 732658. Any
information given will be treated in the strictest of
confidence.
- If you decide to report a fraud please give as much information
as possible - you can remain anonymous.
Examples of information we will need to investigate fraud include:
- Name and address
- Type of fraud
- If working, do you know who they work for?
- What time of day does the person leave for work?
- Do they have a company car/van?
Why has my Housing/Council Tax Benefit changed?
There are a number of reasons why this may have happened.
- Have you had a change in your circumstances? For example,
income, rent, people moving in/out of your household, children
reaching the age of 16 or eighteen?
- You recently submitted a new application form.
- Your benefit may have expired and you need to fill in a new
application form. Please note reminders are despatched prior to
benefit expiry.
- You have been overpaid and your benefit is reduced to pay the
overpayment.
How will I be notified if I am entitled to any Benefit?
- Once all the information has been received to assess any
entitlement you have, your claim is calculated and a notification
letter produced. This letter will be sent to you in the post
giving details of the amount of benefit you are entitled to and a
breakdown of how it is calculated.
- If you lose or misplace your notification letter you may
request a duplicate letter by telephone or in person.
How do I know what rent will be paid on the property I am
thinking of renting?
- If your landlord is a Housing Association or Wyre Forest
Community Housing the rent they are charging should be considered
as reasonable.
- If you are interested in renting from a private landlord, you
can have the rent being charged assessed by the rent officer to see
if the rent charged for the property is reasonable or not, before
deciding whether or not to take the tenancy.
- To have a property assessed by the rent officer you need to
complete a pre-tenancy determination form. This form is
available from the Benefits Section. This form is then forwarded to
the Rent Officer Service and within 5 working days you will receive
a letter from them confirming if the rent charged is reasonable,
and the maximum amount of Housing Benefit that could be contributed
to the amount of rent charges. If there is a difference in the rent
charged to the maximum amount of Housing Benefit being paid -
Could you afford to pay the shortfall?
- There is no limit to the number of pre-tenancy determinations
you can request.
How has my benefit been worked out?
- We calculate 1) Your Income - less any disregards (an amount of
money the government says does not have to be used in the benefit
calculation) and 2) your applicable amount - this is the minimum
the government say you can live on.
- The applicable amount is deducted from the Income. If the
customers income is less than their applicable amount then they are
entitled to full Housing/Council Tax Benefit (dependant on the Rent
Officer valuation if a private tenant).
- If there is excess income (money left over after the applicable
amount is deducted from the income) a taper is used to calculate
the amount of Housing/Council Tax Benefit you may be entitled
to.
- The taper works as follows; Calculate 65% of the excess income
for Housing benefit and 20% of the excess income for Council Tax
and deduct this amount from the rent/Council tax liability in order
to calculate the entitlement.
- If there are any non-dependants (people aged over 18 years of
age excluding claimant/partner/joint tenants or owners) in the
household, we will deduct a charge for them.
Sample Calculations
1. Single claimant on Income Support/Job Seekers Allowance
(Income Based)
A single claimant has no non-dependants, she lives alone. Her
eligible rent is £55.00 per week. The Council Tax on her home would
be £8.00 per week apart from the fact that she qualifies for a 25%
Single Person Discount which reduces her liability to £6.00 per
week.
Claimants on Income support or JSA(IB) get maximum benefit - which
is based on their eligible rent and eligible Council Tax;
Housing Benefit:
ELIGIBLE RENT = ELIGIBLE
HOUSING BENEFIT £55.00 PER WEEK
Council Tax Benefit:
ELIGIBLE COUNCIL TAX = ELIGIBLE COUNCIL TAX BENEFIT £6.00 PER
WEEK
2. Couple not on Income Support/Job seekers
Allowance
A couple have no non-dependants. They are not on Income Support or
JSA(IB). Their joint weekly income exceeds their applicable amount
by £20.00. Their eligle rent is £50.00 per week. Their eligible
Council Tax Liability is £7.56 per week.
Claimants with excess income get maximum benefit minus a percentage
of their excess income;
Housing Benefit:
ELIGIBLE RENT = £50.00
MINUS 65% OF EXCESS INCOME (65% X £20.00) = £13.00
EQUALS WEEKLY HOUSING BENEFIT = £37.00
Council Tax Benefit:
ELIGIBLE COUNCIL TAX = £7.56
MINUS 20% OF EXCESS INCOME (20% X £20.00) = £4.00
EQUALS WEEKLY MAIN COUNCIL TAX BENEFIT = £3.56
Further information on benefits is available at the Department of
Work and Pensions web site.
Visit the DWP Website
How will I be paid?
Housing Benefit is paid every four weeks, in
most cases 4 weeks in arrears.
Housing Benefit is paid to the tenant unless a rent direct is
completed, in which case the benefit will be paid to the
landlord.
Payment is made by a cheque crossed "account payee".
Council Tax Benefit will be paid straight to your Council Tax
account. You will receive a bill showing any amount you have to pay
after benefit has been awarded.
Benefit Application Forms
Benefit application forms are available
online
