NORTH EAST DERBYSHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL

Transcription

1 NORTH EAST DERBYSHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL Housing and Council Tax Benefit Benefits advice In this booklet: do you need help to pay your rent or Council Tax? Contents: are you entitled? claim now

2 What are Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit? Housing Benefit can help you pay your rent if you are on a low income. You can claim if you have to pay rent for the property you live in. You may be a council tenant, pay rent to a private landlord or to a housing association. Council Tax Benefit can help you if you have to pay Council Tax on your home. These are both means - tested benefits. This means you may claim if you are working full-or part-time, or are self-employed, unemployed or retired. If you and your partner have more than 16,000 in savings and investments you cannot claim Housing and Council Tax Benefits. Second Adult Rebate can help a small number of households. You have to be a single person who is liable to pay Council Tax and has other adults living with you who are on a low income. If you think you may qualify, or you want more information, please ask the benefits section. You cannot receive Council Tax Benefit and Second Adult Rebate. How do I claim? You must ask us for an application form. You can visit us in person or phone us for advice. Fill in your application form and return it with all the original documents we ask for as soon as possible. The claim form tells you exactly what you need to send us. When should I claim? Claim Housing and Council Tax Benefits as soon as you need to. If you have claimed Income Support or Job Seeker s Allowance (Income Based) your claim will start from the first Monday following your Income Support or Job seeker s Allowance (Income Based) start date, (as long as you have returned the application form and supporting evidence within one month of this date.) In any other case the benefit will start from the Monday after we get your application form. 3

3 If we ask you for more information to go with your claim and you do not send it within one month of us getting your form, you could lose benefit. Sometimes different rules apply, for example if you move house. Please contact us for more advice. Housing and Council Tax Benefits cannot normally be backdated, so you could lose benefit if you delay in claiming. You can ask for a late claim to be backdated. You must do this in writing on the application form, or in a separate letter. We will have to be sure that there is good cause for your delay in claiming. How will my Housing Benefit be paid? When we have worked out your benefit we will send you a letter telling you about it. If you are a council tenant - If your claim is successful, your benefit will automatically be credited to your rent account. This means that you will then pay less rent or no rent at all. If you are a private tenant - If your claim is successful, your Housing Benefit will be paid to you or, if you prefer, it can be paid directly to your landlord. We will need written authorisation from your landlord or their agent before we can pay your benefit directly to them. Housing Benefit is always paid in arrears at the end of each payment period. 4

4 How can I find out if I will get all my rent paid before taking a private tenancy? If you are a private tenant, we can only pay Housing Benefit based on a reasonable rent. This is called your eligible rent. So if your rent is higher than similar properties in the area, or if your home is bigger than you need, you may not get all your rent paid. So if you are thinking of taking a tenancy, other than one with a housing association, you should consider asking for a pre-tenancy determination. You will need to fill a form in giving details of your household and the property you are interested in renting. The amount of eligible rent can then be worked out quickly. This means that you will know the eligible rent before you commit yourself to a tenancy. The amount of rent you will have to pay will still depend on your personal circumstances. A pre-tenancy determination cannot be done if you have already signed an agreement. How is the rent for my Housing Benefit worked out? Housing Benefit is to help you with the part of your rent you have to pay just to live in your home. We are not able to help with day-to-day living costs like food, heating or water charges. If you are a council tenant, you do not need to tell us how much your rent is, as we already have those details. If you are a private tenant, Housing Benefit cannot be paid to help towards a rent deposit or bond. If you are a housing association tenant, or if you have lived in your present home since before 15 January 1989, or if your rent has been registered with the rent officer, your benefit will be the same as the weekly rent that you have to pay. 5

5 But if you have meals, heating charges and any other services included in your rent, we will have to take these from your Housing Benefit. If you do not belong to any of these groups, we must ask an independent organisation called the Rent Service to check the rent on your home. We will send your rent figure and any other information about the property you give us to the Rent Service. They will decide whether the rent is reasonable or not. This is called a Rent Referral. If you are single and under 25 your eligible rent may be lower. You can appeal against the Rent Service decision. You must write to us and ask for a rent re-determination, giving your reasons for appealing. You must do this within 6 weeks of the date of the Rent Service decision. Please contact us if you would like more information about this. Council Tax How is my Council Tax Benefit paid? When we have worked out your Council Tax Benefit, we will send you a letter telling you about it. If your claim is successful, we will send you a new Council Tax bill showing the revised amount to pay. How are my Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit worked out? Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit will be worked out at the same time. But you only need to fill in one form. The amount of benefit you can get depends on your family circumstances, your income and your savings. 6

6 Your benefit will be worked out by comparing the amount of money the government says you need to live on (the applicable amount), with the money you have coming in each week. If you receive Income Support or Jobseeker s Allowance (Income Based), or if your income is less than the applicable amount, you will get the full amount of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. If your income is more than your applicable amount, the amount of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit you receive will go down, using a sliding scale. If you have other people living in your home (for example grown up children), your benefit may be less, depending on their circumstances. This is because they are expected to pay towards your rent and Council Tax. If your home has a Council Tax Band of F, G, or H, your Council Tax Benefit will be based on the Council Tax you would pay on a band E home. How will my income be worked out? Your income will be the total amount you and your partner have coming in each week from all sources, including savings and investments. If you work, we will take off your stoppages such as tax and National Insurance Contributions and half of any contributions you make to a pension scheme. We also count all other income such as Child Benefit, Working Families Tax Credit and any other benefits or pensions. Some benefits are ignored, for example Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance, but we still need to know if you are getting them. We have to count income from savings and investments including; bank and building society accounts, post office accounts, stocks and shares, income bonds and so on. Income from savings and investments If you are 60 or over, and you have savings and investments of between 6,000 and 16,000 we will add 1 for every 250 or part of 250 7

7 you have, onto your weekly income figure. If you are under 60 and have savings and investments of between 3,000 and 16,000 we will add 1 for every 250 or part of 250 you have onto your weekly income figure. If you have more than 16,000 we cannot give you any benefit. What happens if my circumstances change? It is important that you tell us about changes in your circumstances immediately If the change means your benefit has been overpaid you may be asked to repay this amount. If you take more than a month to tell us about a change that makes your benefit go up we may not be able to alter your benefit from the date of the change. Examples of changes in income and family circumstances that could affect your Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit are: when Income Support or Jobseeker s Allowance stops or starts you change your address changes in income or savings when someone moves into or out of your home. This list cannot cover everything. If you don t know whether a change in your circumstances will alter your benefit, tell us anyway. What if I disagree with the council s decision on Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit? If you disagree with the decision you can ask us to look at your claim again. You must contact us within one month of the date on the decision letter. 8

8 You can phone, write or visit us and ask us to explain the decision. You can also ask for a written statement of reasons, which will show more information about the decision. If you are still dissatisfied, you can appeal. Please contact us and we will give you more information. Would you like more information? If you would like more information then please phone the Housing and Council Tax Benefit section on the following number North East Derbyshire District Council, Revenues Section, Council House, Saltergate, Chesterfield S401LF 9

9 Other leaflets which give information or advice about Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit * Benefits advice General information for private landlords If you think the decision about your Housing or Council Tax Benefit is wrong Backdated claims Discretionary housing payments Housing Benefit payment on 2 homes Temporary absence from home Our Benefits Office is open Monday - Thursday 8.30 am to 5.00 pm Friday 8.30 am to 4.30 pm You can write to us at: North East Derbyshire District Council Revenues Section Council House Saltergate Chesterfield S40 1LF Phone: For independent advice you should contact. Citizens Advice Bureau 126 High Street Clay Cross Chesterfield S45 9EE 10

10 Fraudline Do you know someone who is falsely claiming benefit? If you do please tell the Benefit Investigation Unit on NEDDC/BEN/1