Council tax benefit advice
This section provides information and advice on claiming Council Tax Benefit.
What is Council Tax Benefit?
Who can claim Council Tax Benefit?
How is Council Tax Benefit paid?
How do I claim Council Tax Benefit?
Claim promptly
How is Council Tax Benefit worked out?
Savings
The money you have coming in
The money you need to live on
What is the most benefit I can get?
Second Adult Rebate
What happens after the claim is made?
Renewing your claim
Reporting changes
Appeals
What is Council Tax Benefit?
Council Tax Benefit is a social security benefit to help you pay your Council Tax.
How much benefit you can get depends on the amount of Council Tax you have to pay your income, savings and personal circumstances.
This section explains about Council Tax Benefit and gives helpful hints about claiming.
Who can claim Council Tax Benefit?
If you pay Council Tax on your home you may be able to claim Council Tax Benefit. You cannot claim Council Tax Benefit on a 'second' home.
How is Council Tax Benefit paid?
If you get Council Tax Benefit it is credited to your Council Tax account. This means you will pay less Council Tax.
How do I claim Council Tax Benefit?
There are two ways to claim benefit:
- If you are on or are claiming Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance.
The paying social security office (such as The Jobcentre-Plus) will give you a Council Tax Benefit claim form when you first claim.
This form is called NHB1(CTB). Fill it in and send it back to the paying Office (within four weeks), who will send it on to us.
We will also send you a form, which you must get back to us within four weeks of your claim for Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance.
Benefit will start from the Monday after the first day you qualify for Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance.
If you have submitted a claim within 4 weeks of claiming Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance. - If you are not on or claiming Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance.
You can pick up a form to claim Council Tax Benefit from any of the Help Shops in the Borough or download the claim form on the website.
Alternatively call 01737 276497 and ask for Benefit Services.
If you are elderly and housebound or have a disability, please ring the Benefit Services. We will arrange a home visit to help you fill in the form to claim Council Tax benefit.
All visiting officers carry identity cards. Ask to see proof of identity before letting anyone into your home. Benefit is normally paid from the Monday after we get your claim form.
Claim promptly
The date we get your claim form will decide the date we pay your benefit from.
The claim form tells you what information and other documents we need. The sooner you give us this information, the sooner we can work out your benefit.
If you do not have all the information and documents we need, send the form to us anyway. You can send any extra information or relevant documents later. If you delay sending your claim form you may lose money.
Benefit can only be backdated if you can prove that you had good reason for not claiming earlier.
How is Council Tax Benefit worked out?
All councils work out benefit in the same way, using rules set by Parliament. The amount you get depends on four things:
- how much savings you have;
- how much money you have coming in;
- your personal circumstances (for example, your age, how many children you have, whether you have a 'non-dependant' living in your home)
- the amount of your council tax.
Savings
We will add together your savings and your partner's. If you have savings more than £16,000 you will not be able to get benefit.
The money you have coming in
To work out how much money you have coming in, we add together your earnings and any other income you have. If you have a partner, their earnings and income are added to yours.
The money you need to live on
This depends on your personal circumstances. We use amounts called 'personal allowances' and 'premiums' to work out how much you need each week to live on.
Personal allowances and premiums combined are known as 'applicable amounts'. They are set each year by Parliament.
The personal allowance you get depends on your age, whether you are single or have a partner, how many children you have and how old they are.
Premiums are extra sums of money for people in certain circumstances - for example, disabled people or carers.
What is the most benefit I can get?
The most benefit you can get is 100% of your Council Tax bill. But this will only apply if your home is in Council Tax bands 'A' to 'E'. If your Council Tax band is F, G or H you cannot get benefit for the amount you pay above the band 'E' tax.
Second Adult Rebate
You may also be able to get Council Tax Benefit if any other person, other than your partner, is sharing your home. You do not need to have a low income or capital below £16,000 to claim.
You may be able to claim Council Tax Benefit (called Second Adult Rebate) for someone over 18 years who:
- is sharing your home and is not paying rent;
- is not your husband, wife or partner;
- does not pay Council Tax:
- has a low income.
For example - if you are a single person who has to pay Council Tax and your unemployed son comes to live with you, you may be able to claim a Second Adult Rebate for him.
If you claim and qualify for both Second Adult Rebate and Council Tax Benefit, we will compare the two amounts of benefit and pay whichever is more. We will tell you when this happens.
What happens after the claim is made?
When we have the claim and all the information we need, we will work out how much Council Tax Benefit you are entitled to.
We will then write to you and tell you how much you will get. We deal with most claims within 14 days (in 2001 we dealt with 82% of Council Tax Benefit new claims within 14 days).
If you have not heard anything from us within 14 days contact us.
Renewing your claim
Once you have been awarded Council Tax Benefit we will send you letters explaining the amount of your benefit and the time you have been awarded benefit for.
We will usually send you a renewal claim about eight weeks before your benefit is due to end.
If you do not return your renewal claim on time you may lose money. If you do not receive a renewal claim you must contact us before your benefit is due to end.
Reporting changes
If you get Council Tax Benefit, it is very important that you tell us immediately if you have any changes in your circumstances which may affect the amount of benefit you receive.
If you do not tell us and we overpay you as a result, we will probably ask you to repay any overpaid benefit. There are some overpayments that we cannot ask you to repay.
If you tell another Council department about a change in your circumstances, make sure you tell us as well.
Appeals
When you have claimed benefit, we will write to you and tell you about the benefit you qualify for.
If you disagree with our decision about your benefit, you can ask us for a written explanation of how we have worked your benefit out.
If you still disagree with our decision you can ask for the decision to be revised.
Last updated : 15/06/2009
