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Council Tax and Housing Benefits FAQsWhat Is Local Housing Allowance? Who can claim? How do you work out my benefit? How much could I get? Why might I not get all my rent paid? Why might I not get benefit at all? Why might I not get all my Council Tax paid? How do you pay Housing Benefit? How do you pay Council Tax Benefit? Do you take Childcare costs into account? What do I do if I have a change in my circumstances? What happens if I get too much benefit? Can I find out how much benefit I will get before I move into a property? Is there any more help available if my rent or Council Tax is not all paid by benefit? What if I want my claim to start from an earlier date? What is a review? What if I suspect Fraud? What if I am not happy? How can I claim? How can I get in touch? Where can I get other help and advice? Benefits Service Mission Statement
Date Published: 11 February 2008
Housing Benefit helps towards the cost of your rent. Council Tax Benefit helps you pay your Council Tax. We pay Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit based on rules set by central government. Click here to download a pdf version of the Help With Your Rent and Council Tax leaflet
Date Published: 11 February 2008
Local Housing Allowance is a new way of calculating your Housing Benefit. it will affect people living in private rented accommodation making a new claim for benefit or changing address on or after 7 April 2008. Click here for more information about the Local Housing allowance.
Date Published: 11 February 2008
Anyone who has to pay rent or Council Tax (or both) can claim. The benefits scheme is for people who have a low income or who are unemployed.
Date Published: 11 February 2008
If you are on Income Support, income based Jobseekers Allowance or Guarantee Pension Credit, you will normally get maximum Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. People who are not on Income Support, income-based Jobseekers Allowance or Guarantee Pension Credit are means tested. This means that we will compare your income with the minimum amount the Government says you need to live on. If your income is less than this amount, you will get maximum Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. If your income is more than the Government says you need to live on, we will reduce Housing Benefit by 65p for each £1 you have over the Governments minimum figure. In the same way, we will reduce Council Tax Benefit by 20p for each £1.
Date Published: 11 February 2008
Click here to use our Online Benefits Calculator From 7 April 2008 if you are affected by the new Local Housing Allowance you will also be able to check the amount of Local Housing Allowance you may be entitled to. Click here for more information about the Local Housing Allowance.
Date Published: 21 April 2008
You might not get all your rent paid because:
Date Published: 11 February 2008
You cannot get Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit if you have capital (savings) over £16,000. Although we may still be able to pay some people getting the Guarantee Pension Credit. You cannot normally get benefit if you are living with a member of your immediate family and paying them rent. We cannot pay you benefit if you do not give us all the information we need.
Date Published: 11 February 2008
You might not get all your Council Tax paid because:
Date Published: 11 February 2008
If you are a Council Tenant...
If you rent your home privately or if you live in social accomodation...
Paying your Housing Benefit to a bank account is the best and safest method.
Please let us know if you would like us to send you our leaflet about Direct payments. You will have to give us your bank details, or your landlords bank details, so we can pay your Housing Benefit. Our leaflet includes a form to fill in or, you can click here to print a Direct Payments form to fill in and send to us. If you don't have a bank account, it is really easy to set one up. There are lots of bank and building societies wanting to help you. Ask us for a leaflet which explains all you need to know. The leaflet is written by the FSA (Financial Services Authority). Click here to go the FSA website. Or alternatively, click here to see a copy of the FSA leaflet about basic bank accounts. Please let us know if you have any questions or need any help about arranging a bank account. A small number of people may be unable to have a bank account. Wherever possible, we will try to help you to arrange one. This is the best way to avoid you losing your money or falling in to arrears. However, if it is not possible for you to arrange a bank account, we will pay you by cheque, which are more costly and more difficult to administer.
Date Published: 11 February 2008
We pay Council Tax Benefit into the Council Tax account, and this is shown as a reduction on your Council Tax bill.
Date Published: 11 February 2008
We can take account of your childcare costs for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. This could mean that your benefit might increase. If you pay childcare costs for one child, we could ignore up to £175 of your weekly earnings. This amount may increase to £300 a week if you pay childcare costs for two or more children. This does not mean that you would get £175 or £300 a week extra benefit. We would simply ignore the amount from your weekly income when we work out your benefit. The child must be under 15 (16 if a disabled child). The care must be provided by:
Date Published: 11 February 2008
You must tell us straight away if any circumstances which may affect your entitlement to benefit change. For example, changes in income, capital, a dependant child leaving school, or someone moving in or out of your property. Click here to read our leaflet about reporting changes. Click here to to find out the different ways you can tell us about your change in circumstances. You may lose benefit if you do not tell us within one month of the change. We may prosecute you if you give us false information. Remember - Don't delay, do it today.
Date Published: 11 February 2008
An overpayment is an amount of benefit that has been paid for which there was no entitlement. An example would be if a person failed to tell us that their income or savings had changed, and a recalculation of their entitlement shows they had been paid too much benefit. Entitlement also stops when a person moves out of their home. Overpayments have to be repaid. Click here for more Overpayments information
Date Published: 11 February 2008
Yes. If you are thinking of moving to a privately rented property you can find out about the maximum amount of rent that will be used to calculate your Housing Benefit before you commit to a tenancy agreement. You can apply for a Pre-Tenancy Determination (PTD) by completing a form, which must be signed by you and the landlord you are thinking of renting from. You can also ask for a PTD if you are already renting from a private landlord, your tenancy started at least 11 months before and you are negotiating a new agreement. Please click here for a PTD application form. From 7 April 2008, people who come under the Local Housing Allowance will be able to see the standard rates for the number of rooms you are entitled to. Click here for more information on Local Housing Allowance.
Date Published: 12 February 2008
Yes. You may be entitled to extra help to make up all or some of the difference. This is called a Discretionary Housing Payment. This is not a payment of benefit. We make it where it seems that you need extra help. There are conditions that must apply to your situation. You must qualify for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit, and the amount you apply for cannot be more than your full rent or Council Tax, or include certain support or service charges. Click here to print off a form to fill in and send to us to apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment. See the back of the form for more information and contact details.
Date Published: 19 March 2008
If you want us to consider paying you from an earlier date from when your application was received (this is called backdating), you must either tell us your reason on the application form or write to us giving your reasons. Click here for contact information.
Date Published: 11 February 2008
Whilst we pay you Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit, we may send you a short form to complete or arrange to visit you in your home to make sure our records are correct.
Date Published: 11 February 2008
Please click here to learn more about reporting benefit fraud. You can now notify us if you suspect benefit fraud by SMS text message. Text the word TELL followed by the word FRAUD and then the message you want to send to 82010. This service is anonymous, so we won't know any details of the sender. You will be charged for the SMS at your standard rate.
Date Published: 11 February 2008
We will write to you to tell you about each decision we make about your benefit. If you are not sure about the decision you can ask for an explanation. If you don't think it is correct you can challenge our decision in two ways. You can ask for us to look at it again or you can appeal to an Independent Tribunal. You must ask for either of these in writing within one month of the decision you disagree with (unless you have special reasons for making the request late). We will check our decision and let you know if there is any change. We will then pass your appeal to the Appeals Tribunal f you have asked for this. If you ask for us to look at it again and are still not happy with our decision you still have the option to go to the Appeals Tribunal. Click here to see our appeals leaflet including an appeals form to fill in.
Date Published: 11 February 2008
You can get an application form by calling into the Customer Service Centre in Angel Court in Colchester High Street. Or you can write to Financial Services, PO Box 886, Town Hall, Colchester CO1 1FP. You can ask for a form by phoning 01206 282300 or e-mailing revenues.enquiries@colchester.gov.uk . You can click here to download a Benefit Claim form We operate an appointment system for people applying for Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit. If you wish to hand in your completed application form or need help filling it in please phone 01206 282300 or visit the Customer Service Centre in the High Street to book an appointment. We are open from 8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. You are still able to post your application form directly if you do not need any assistance. The date we receive your form will normally be the basis of when your claim will start. We also need to see proof of your identity (National Insurance number), your income and savings, some money you may pay out, and your rent. We must see original documents. We cannot accept photocopies.
Date Published: 11 February 2008
You can contact us by phone on 01206 282300 or use our textphone service by phoning 18001 01206 282300. You can also call in to see us at our Customer Service Centre at Angel Court in Colchester High Street. We are open between 8.30am and 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. Or email us at revenues.enquiries@colchester.gov.uk You can fax us on 01206 282319.
If you are already getting benefit from us and want to report a change in your circumstances, you can also email us at benefit.change@colchester.gov.uk If you feel someone is acting dishonestly and getting benefit they shouldn't, phone our free hotline on 0800 731 1004 or text us using the word TELL followed by the word FRAUD and then the message you want to send to 82010 or email us at benefit.fraud@colchester.gov.uk
Date Published: 11 February 2008
The Citizens Advice Bureau Open to visitors from 9.30am to 12.30pm, Monday to Friday. Age Concern Colchester
Date Published: 11 February 2008
Colchester Borough Council's Benefits Team will strive to provide a continuously improving customer focused Benefits Service by ensuring that we:
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