Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit are administered by your local Council, on behalf of the Government, to help you to meet the cost of your rent and/or Council Tax. They are paid to people who are liable to pay rent and/or Council Tax, (the person whose name is on the bill) and who have a low income, whether they are working or not.
Housing and Council Tax Benefits are means tested, so we will need to know about all of your income and capital in order to see if you are entitled. If you have to pay rent and/or Council Tax and your income is low, you can claim, regardless of whether you are retired, unemployed, or in full or part-time work. If you have over £16,000 capital, including property and investments you will not be entitled to any help, unless you receive the guarantee element of Pension Credit.
How to claim Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit
Claim form
You need to complete and return a standard Housing and Council Tax Benefit form. You can complete a claim form online by visiting the 'online forms' section of our online services page. Forms are also available at all of our main offices listed below:
Bury St Edmunds - West Suffolk House, Western Way
Dereham – Breckland Business Centre,
St Withburga Lane
Ely - The Grange, Nutholt Lane
Haverhill - Lower Down Slade
Mildenhall – Forest Heath offices, College Heath Road
Thetford – Breckland House, St Nicholas Street
To see what documents you should include with your claim, please see the page on supporting evidence.
By Telephone
You can now also make a claim by telephone. When you contact us, an appointment will be made for an advisor to call you back to take your details and complete the claim form electronically on your behalf. They will tell you what supporting evidence you need to provide and make arrangements for us to collect them or for you to bring them in.
To make your claim please call us on:
Breckland residents: 01362 656872
Forest Heath residents: 0800 163030
East Cambridgeshire residents: 0845 8426000
St Edmundsbury residents: 01284 757269
(Telephone claiming will be available for St Edmundsbury residents from Autumn 2011. Until this facility is available you can call into any of our offices for an application form or we can send you one in the post)
Help completing the claim form
We offer a visiting service for all customers wishing to make a new claim. Please call us on the numbers above and a member of staff will explain everything you need to provide with your claim form and a Visiting Officer will then visit you at home to complete the form with you and collect the relevant evidence. This will ensure your claim is dealt with as fast and efficiently as possible.
If you have people living with you who are on a low income
You may be able to have your Council Tax bill reduced, regardless of your own circumstances (including earnings and savings) because other people who live with you are on benefit or a low income. In such cases you should make a claim for Second Adult Rebate. You cannot claim Second Adult Rebate if you are married or have a partner.
When should I claim?
Generally, you should claim as soon as you believe you may be entitled as there are strict rules in Housing and Council Tax Benefit governing the time-limits for which claims can be submitted.
We can also accept advance claims (e.g. if you know you are moving into a new property in 2 weeks time). Advance claims can be accepted providing they are received within 13 weeks (17 weeks for pensioners) of the date of a change that will mean you are entitled to Housing and/or Council Tax benefit. For new Council Tax liabilities we can accept a new claim up to 8 weeks prior to the start of your liability.
Online access to my personal details and claim information
As part of our Online services we offer a ‘self service’ facility which enables you to view details of the personal information we hold in relation to your claim. You can view correspondence we have sent to you regarding your Housing and Council Tax Benefit awards, details of your payments and a breakdown of your assessment. To use this facility you will need to ask us for a PIN in order to register online. For further details please visit the Online Services section and choose the ‘Self service’ option for your Local Authority.
If you are a landlord and receive direct payments of Housing Benefit on behalf of your tenant(s) you can also register to use this service. You will be able to view individual tenants’ payments and invoices and a full list of payments and invoices for all of your tenants. You will also be able to view correspondence we have sent to you.
Landlords who use the self service facility will not be able to view any of their tenant(s) personal information or details of payments made directly to their tenant(s).
