Housing Benefit & Council Tax Reduction for Pensioners Revenues & Benefits Service Information Booklet

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1 Benefits Housing Benefit & Council Tax Reduction for Pensioners Revenues & Benefits Service Information Booklet

2 Contents Page How do I access the service? 3 What is Council Tax Reduction and who can claim it? 4 What is Housing Benefit and who can claim it? 4 What is Second Adult Rebate and who can claim it? 5 How do I make a claim? 6 What is Pension Credit? 7 How much Council Tax Reduction will I receive? 7 Can you reduce my Council Tax Bill any other way? 7 How much Housing Benefit will I receive? 8 How is my maximum rent level decided? 8 What is a non-dependant and how do they affect my claim? 10 Paying your benefit 10 What if my circumstances change? 13 Our Aims 13 How can I help you process my claim quickly 13 Useful contacts 15 2

3 What is this leaflet about? We have written this leaflet for pensioners. In this leaflet, a pensioner is anyone who has reached the qualifying age for pension credits. It is intended as a quick reference guide. If you want more detailed advice please contact us using the useful contact list on the inside back cover of this leaflet. If you are under the qualifying age for pension credits please read our leaflet Help with rent and Council Tax for People of a Working Age. How do I access the service? We have tried to make our service as easy to access as possible. We operate a face to face enquiry counter that has fully trained staff available to answer your queries. Civic Centre Revenues Service Enquiry Counter Opening Times Monday to Friday 8:30am 4:30pm You can also your query direct to us at benefits@mansfield.gov.uk. We aim to acknowledge your within 48 hours and reply direct within 10 working days. Alternatively, you can contact us by telephone on and choosing option 2. Telephone Service Opening Times Monday to Friday 9:30am 4.30pm 3

4 What is Council Tax Reduction and who can claim it? If you are on a low income and liable to pay Council Tax, we may be able to give you help towards this. You can claim Council Tax Reduction if: You have to pay Council Tax on your home You are in receipt of a low income What is Housing Benefit and who can claim it? If you are liable to pay rent on the property you live in and you are on a low income, we may be able to assist you in paying your rent. You can claim Housing Benefit if: You are paying rent to live in your home You are in receipt of a low income You won t be entitled to Housing Benefit if any of the following applies: If you have sold your home within 5 years you may not be able to claim Housing Benefit. Anyone who lives in the same house as their landlord and who is a close relative of the landlord who is charging them rent Anyone whose tenancy - the Council believes has been created to take advantage of the Housing Benefits Scheme. Anyone who has no liability to pay rent Anyone living in residential accommodation 4

5 The majority of full time students (contact us for further advice) Anyone with a long tenancy over 21 years, contact Jobcentre Plus (Social Security office) if you require help with housing costs in this type of case. If you are in any doubt as to your possible entitlement please contact us. What is Second Adult Rebate and who can claim it? Second Adult Rebate is for people who cannot get help with their Council Tax but who have other people living with them who are on a low income. To get it, you must be the person responsible for paying the Council Tax for your home. If you only wish us to consider your entitlement to Second Adult Rebate you only need to complete part 1, part 3 and part 19 of the form. However, if you complete the full Council Tax Reduction part of the claim form and provide all the relevant income and capital proof, we will assess whether you qualify for Council Tax Reduction or Second Adult Rebate. We will award you whichever is the higher amount. The most Second Adult Rebate you can get is normally 25% of the full Council Tax bill before any discounts are taken off. Second Adult Rebate is not available for tenants and boarders. 5

6 How do I make a claim? If you are also claiming Pension Credit When you contact the Pension Service to make your claim for Pension Credit advise them that you also wish to claim Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction. The Pension Service will pass the information obtained from you with regards to your claim direct to us. We will contact you for any additional information that we need. If you are not claiming Pension Credit You can pick up a claim form from the Civic Centre or by phoning us on and choosing option 2 for benefits. Alternatively the application form can be downloaded and printed from our website at Please use black ink to fill in the claim form. We cannot accept a claim form that has been completed in pencil. If you make a mistake, just cross it out and put the right answer next to it. Do not use correction fluid or tape. Please return the completed form to us with as much proof of your income and savings as possible. If you are claiming Housing Benefit we will also need to see your fully signed tenancy agreement. 6

7 What is Pension Credit? Pension Credit is a payment The Pension Service make to people on low incomes, or who have a small amount of savings or a private pension (or both). There are two types of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit and Savings Credit. If you would like more information about Pension Credit please contact The Pension Service direct on How much Council Tax Reduction will I receive? If you receive Guaranteed Credit from The Pension Service then you will usually receive all of your Council Tax, less any non-dependant charges If you do not receive Guaranteed Credit, the amount of reduction depends on the size of your household (how many people live in your home) and your income. If you, or any of your family, are disabled, you may get more Council Tax Reduction. Can you reduce my Council Tax Bill any other way? Yes. As well as Council Tax Reduction and Second Adult Rebate, we can reduce your Council Tax with any other discounts, exemptions and Disabled Relief that you may be entitled to. For more information about Council Tax discounts, exemptions and Disabled Relief, please see our Council Tax Discounts, Exemptions and Disabled Relief leaflet or call us on and ask for Council Tax billing. 7

8 How much Housing Benefit will I receive? If you receive Guaranteed Credit from The Pension Service then you will usually receive the maximum rent level decided, less any nondependant charges If you do not receive Guaranteed Credit, the amount of benefit depends on the size of your household (how many people live in your home) and your income. If you, or any of your family, are disabled, you may get more benefit. The size of your household will affect the applicable amount for your claim, which the Government set. The applicable amount is the lowest amount of money the Government think you need to live on. How is my maximum rent level decided? Before we can work out your Housing Benefit we have to decide the amount of rent that we will use in our calculation. If you are a Council Tenant We will use the full amount of rent that you are charged in our calculation. We will work out your entitlement based on the full amount of your rent. The amount of Housing Benefit we award will then depend on the type and amount of your weekly income, your savings, family circumstances and whether any non-dependants live with you. Housing Benefit does not cover any garage, heating or insurance charges. 8

9 If you are a Housing Association Tenant If your rent includes charges for other services we have to decide whether the charges are eligible for Housing Benefit. This means that we will only calculate your entitlement based on your actual rent and not all of the other charges. For example, your Housing Benefit cannot cover the following charges: Gas and electricity Heating, lighting, hot water Water rates Meals and laundry However, Housing Benefit can cover charges for services such as any charge for maintaining/cleaning or lighting a shared area. Shared areas include areas like staircases and landings. We can also reduce the amount of rent your Housing Benefit will cover if we decide that the rent being charged is too high. If you rent your property from a private landlord From 7 April 2008, all new claims and changes of address for privately rented properties are dealt with under the new Local Housing Allowance Scheme. We have designed a specific leaflet which details the scheme and how it operates titled Local Housing Allowance for Private Tenants. Copies of this leaflet are available from the Civic Centre. Alternatively, you can download or view a copy of the leaflet from our website, 9

10 What is a non-dependant, how do they affect my claim? To calculate your benefit, we need to know who else lives with you. A non-dependant is another adult who is not a partner, including a civil partnership, joint-owner or joint-tenant and who doesn t pay you rent but who lives with you as part of your household. In many cases a grown up son or daughter. If you receive Attendance Allowance, the care component of Disability Living Allowance or are registered blind, a non-dependant living at your address will not affect your entitlement. When we calculate your benefit it is assumed that non-dependants pay towards your rent and Council Tax, even if they do not. Also, there may be circumstances where we will not take an amount off your benefit for the first 26 weeks of your claim, for example, you or your partner are aged 65 or over and a non-dependant moves in to the property If you would like more information on whether a non-dependant will affect your claim please contact us. Paying your Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction Council Tax Reduction If we award you Council Tax Reduction, we will pay it onto your Council Tax account. This means that you will pay no Council Tax, or a reduced amount, each month. We will send you a new bill giving you full details once we have worked out your benefit. 10

11 Housing Benefit if you are a council tenant If you are a council tenant, we will pay any Housing Benefit you are entitled to onto your rent account. This means that you will pay no rent, or a reduced amount each week. Housing Benefit if you are a housing association tenant We will pay your Housing Benefit to you, or to your Housing Association. We normally pay benefit into a bank or building society account. Housing Benefit if you are a private tenant From April 2008 there is a new way of working out Housing Benefit for private tenants, called Local Housing Allowance (LHA). Under this new system, you will receive a standard allowance based on the size of your household. We will publish these allowances in advance at the Civic Centre and on our website so that you can find out how much rent Housing Benefit could pay before you rent a property. As well as changing the way we work out Housing Benefit, this new system changes the way we pay it to private tenants. You will no longer be able to choose to have payments made to your landlord. We will pay your Housing Benefit entitlement by BACS direct into your bank account. The Consumer Financial Education Body have designed a leaflet that explains how almost anyone can open a bank account. This leaflet is available free from either our office or the Consumer Financial Education Body Helpline by phoning The circumstances where the authority will consider paying the claimant s LHA directly to the Landlord is as follows: 11

12 If the tenant is unlikely to pay their rent because they have rent arrears and have consistently failed to pay their rent; have previously absconded from a property leaving rent arrears; have multiple debts or a history of failing to manage their affairs. The tenant is unable to pay their rent because they are classed as a vulnerable tenant. The current benefit regulations allow the authority to pay the rent direct to the landlord where there are arrears of 8 weeks or more. This still continues and this policy document has no effect on this provision. The Council may decide to pay a landlord rather than a tenant, if the tenant: Has learning disabilities Has a mental health problem, physical disability or medical condition which impairs their ability to manage their finances. Has literacy difficulties or is unable to speak English Is dealing with addiction to drugs, alcohol or gambling Is fleeing domestic violence Has recently been released from prison Has severe debt problems Is an undischarged bankrupt Is unable to obtain a bank account Has a history of homelessness Has a history of non-payment of rent Can show that direct payment to them will cause difficulties which could lead to them losing their tenancy. This is not a complete list. For more information regarding payments under Local Housing Allowance please see our Local Housing Allowance for Private Tenants leaflet. Copies of this leaflet are available from the Civic 12

13 Centre. Alternatively, you can download or view a copy of the leaflet or our policy direct from our website, What if my circumstances change? You must tell us immediately. Most overpayments of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction occur where people do not tell us immediately of changes in their income and household. Our aims We aim to pay your claim within fourteen days of receiving all the information. You can help by providing proof of your income, savings and your tenancy agreement with your claim form and also by replying to any enquiry letter we do need to send quickly. How can I help you process my claim quickly? You can help by providing proof of your income, savings and your tenancy agreement with your claim form and also by replying to any enquiry letter we do need to send quickly. 13

14 Revised February 2013 WE CAN ALSO COPY THIS LEAFLET INTO LARGE PRINT FOR YOU IF YOU HAVE SIGHT DIFFICULTIES If you have hearing problems we can arrange a signer to be present. Contact us so that we can arrange an appointment for you at the Civic Centre. Minicom (Text Phone) We have a text phone facility at the Civic Centre for the deaf or hard of hearing. If you wish to contact us by this method the number is : (01623) Interpreter we can arrange for an interpreter for most languages. Contact us so that we can arrange an appointment for you at the Civic Centre. 14

15 Useful Contacts 24 hour telephone payments : Online payments service Council Tax enquiries : :counciltax@mansfield.gov.uk Direct Debit payments and billing enquiries : :counciltax@mansfield.gov.uk Council Tax Recovery enquiries : /463347/ : recovery@mansfield.gov.uk Housing and Council Tax Benefit enquiries : : benefits@mansfield.gov.uk Sundry Debtors : : debtors@mansfield.gov.uk Chief Cashier : : revenues@mansfield.gov.uk Disabled Relief enquiries : :counciltax@mansfield.gov.uk Fraud hotline : : fraudhotline@mansfield.gov.uk Pension Service :

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