Backdated Benefit
If there has been a reason which stopped or delayed you applying
for Housing Benefit or Council tax Benefit, you can ask for
your claim to be 'backdated' so that it starts from an earlier
date.
The Start Date of Your Benefit Claim
Under Housing and Council Tax Benefit law your
claim for benefit must be made in writing, either on a benefits
application form or by letter. Normally we will start your claim
from the Monday after the first point of contact,even if this is a
letter or phone call via the Jobcentre Plus office. It is therefore
very important that you get your application form or letter to us
as soon as possible because it affects the date your benefit claim
will start from. If we send you an application form we will allow
you 4 weeks to complete and return it. If you take longer than 4
weeks to return the form you might lose your entitlement to some of
your benefits.
There are other special rules about Housing
Benefit on two homes and overlapping liability to pay rent. If you
are not sure whether you qualify, put down the circumstances
on the claim form and we will write to you if we need more
information.
The Rules on Backdating Benefit
You can only ask for a backdate
of benefits if there is a reason why you were unable to apply for
your benefit earlier. If you disagree with the date your claim
starts from for any other reason you can appeal against the
decision. For information on how to appeal go to our "How to Appeal" page.
In order for a backdate of Council Tax Benefit to
be allowed you will have to show 'good cause' why you did not apply
earlier. There is no formal definition of 'good cause', each case
will be decided according to its own individual situation. There
are no formal time limits on making a backdate request, but the
maximum period that a benefit claim can be backdated is 52 weeks
from the date we receive the backdate request.
You can download leaflets about backdating. These leaflets
are also available in other languages and large
print.