Frequently Asked Questions

Q1 How do you deal with enquiries?
Q2 How do you deal with appeals?
Q3 How do I report a suspected fraudulent claim?
Q4 How long will it be before I receive my benefit?
Q5 In what areas does the Benefit dept. have responsibility?
Q6 My circumstances have changed. What do I do?
Q7 I want to make a direct payment to a landlord.
Q8 Can I have help in getting back to work?
Q9 How can I backdate my claim?
Q10 What is a discretionary housing payment?
Q11 What happens if I am paid too much benefit?
Q12 I am a MOAT tenant. Do I need to inform you when my rent has been increased?

Q13 What do I do if I disagree with your decision about my benefit?

Q14 How is my benefit worked out?

Q1 How do you deal with enquiries?
All visitors will be greeted at the Council's main reception. Details of the customers name, address, and query will be recorded and passed on to the customer services staff.

Customers will be directed to a waiting area, and will be seen by a customer services officer as quickly as possible. A private interview room is available should the customer require a more confidential meeting.

Wherever possible, the customer's query will be dealt with by the customer services officer before the customer leaves.

All claim forms will be checked for completeness, and a written request given to the customer for any missing information. All customers will be dealt with politely, courteously and with respect.

If a customer is unhappy with the outcome of his enquiry, he will be given details of the formal appeal procedure, and where appropriate details of the Council's complaints procedure.
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Q2 How do you deal with appeals?
If a customer is unhappy with the decision that has been made about his benefit claim the benefit section will

Ensure that the decision is fully explained to the customer, either verbally, or in writing.
Advise them of their rights to ask for the claim to be looked at again
Advise them of their right to appeal to the Appeals Service.

Should you wish to contact the Appeals officer, please feel free to email the officer benefit.appeals@maldon.gov.uk.

If you feel that your benefits are incorrect please download, complete and return the 'Housing/Council Tax Benefit Appeals Leaflet' from the download area.
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Q3 How do I report a suspected fraudulent claim?
Our aim is to ensure that benefit only goes to those who are fully entitled to receive it by:

Deterring fraudulent claims from entering the system
Detecting those already in payment
Prosecuting any person fraudulently claiming benefit
Publicising information where fraudsters have been successfully prosecuted
We also aim to recover all overpaid benefit and reclaim court costs where appropriate.

Anyone who believes that a person is fraudulently claiming benefit can confidentially report their suspicions. See our Fraud pages for more information. Every piece of information received is acted upon.
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Q4 How long will it be before I receive my benefit? We can sometimes process a benefit claim with one hour of receiving it. Please click here to read moreabout our “1 Hour Benefit Service”.

However, one of the main obstacles which prevents us from being able to process claims quickly is that claim forms are sometimes submitted without all the necessary documents.

Customers can help the council improve the time taken to process claims, and receive their benefit much sooner if they ensure:

The claim forms are fully completed, and all questions are answered
All necessary documentation required is provided at the time the claim is submitted i.e. proof of ID, evidence of income and savings, evidence of rent etc…
That original documents are provided
That any letters requesting further information are responded to straight away

We normally aim to process benefit claims as quickly, and accurately as possible. Our target is to process all claims within 14 days of receipt of the original claim form and within 7 days of receipt of all documentary evidence that is needed to support the claim.

Unless you have been on benefit continuously prior to 7^th April 2008, your benefit will normally be paid every four weeks in arrears directly into your nominated bank account.

Maldon District Council is committed to reducing homeless and rent arrears. To avoid getting into rent arrears you should ensure that your Housing Benefit is used to pay your rent. We therefore recommend that you set up a standing order to pay your landlord the rent according to the condition of your tenancy agreement. Click here to read more about rent arrears.

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Q5 In what areas does the Benefit dept. have responsibility?
We have responsibility in the following areas:

Dealing with queries from the public
Checking claims for benefit
Verifying original documentation to support the claim
Processing benefit applications
Referring private tenant claims to the rent officer service
Dealing with requests for a reconsideration of a benefit claim
Preparing cases for submission to the Appeals service where a customer remains dissatisfied with the outcome of their claim.
Carrying out routine visits to all benefit customers
Investigating potential fraud and taking appropriate action, including prosecution
Recovering overpayments of housing benefit.

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Q6 My circumstances have changed. What do I do? It is your responsibility to tell us if any of your circumstances change. For instance if:

you move house
someone moves in or out
your income, or the income of anyone in your household changes including your wages or any other benefits you receive
your rent changes
you, or anyone in your household, qualify for another benefit
you or your partner, stop getting Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance.

You should not rely on anyone else us to tell us about your situation. Any delay in telling us could directly affect the amount of benefit you receive and you may have to repay any overpaid benefits. Click here to read more about changes in circumstance and how to notify us.

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Q7 I want to make a direct payment to a landlord.
If you have been in receipt of housing benefit continuously since before 7^th April 2008, you are able to have your benefit paid directly to your landlord, regardless of who you rent your property from. You can confirm this request in writing or via email to customer.services@maldon.gov.uk

You and your landlord will have to fully complete the landlord’s form – we need your landlord’s permission to send the payment. A copy of this can be found in the benefit application form on pages 25 and 26. Click here to access the form on our website.

If you rent your property from a private landlord and claim benefit after 7^th April 2008, unfortunately you are not able to have your benefit paid directly to your landlord. This can only be done is certain situations. Please click here to read more about Local Housing Allowance and also how our direct payment policy works.

If you or your landlord currently receive benefit via a cheque you can complete our direct payment form which means we can normally pay the money straight into a nominated bank account. See the direct payment form in the download area.
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Q8 Can I have help in getting back to work?
If you return to work after being on benefit, some of your benefits will stop automatically straight away. Some will carry on for a short while after you start work to tide you over. You may be able to get other benefits once you're working. Click here to read more information about help when going back to work. back to top

Q9 How can I backdate my claim?
Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit is normally awarded from the Monday after the day you made your claim.

You may feel that you should have had benefit before. The law says that we can backdate your benefit up to six months but only IF you can give a good reason why you did not apply sooner. You have to have had a "good reason" for the whole period otherwise we will not be able to award your backdated benefit. Good reason does not include things like forgetting to send us your claim, being away on holiday or not knowing you could claim.

For more information about backdating please click here. back to top

Q10 What is a discretionary housing payment?
If you receive Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax benefit you can request a Discretionary Housing Payment.

From 2 July 2001 a new scheme has been introduced to provide additional financial assistance with the payments of your Council Tax or Rent. You cannot get additional help if you are already receiving full benefit.

Payments are not part of your Housing benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit. They are a stand-alone payment made by the authority. The authority has a limited amount of money from which to make payments.

Click here to read more about DHPs.

Q11 What happens if I am paid too much benefit?
For more information about what to do if you are paid too much benefit please download the "Overpayment strategy" from the download area.
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Q12 I am a MOAT tenant. Do I need to inform you when my rent has been increased?
MOAT will normally notify the Council of your rent increases meaning that usually you do not have to tell us about any changes in rent. However you should always check your entitlement letters and tell us if you think anything is incorrect.

You should also always make sure you tell us about any other changes in your circumstance.

Q13 What do I do if I disagree with your decision about my benefit?

If you think we have made a mistake then you can ask us to look at the decision again

You can also appeal against the decision we have made.

Q14 How is my benefit worked out?

If you are on Income Support, income based jobseekers Allowance or Guarantee Pension Credit, you should receive maximum Housing and Council Tax Benefit depending on your household circumstances

If you are not in receipt of one of the above benefits, we will then compare your income and savings with the minimum amount the Government says you need to live on each week, based on your age and situation and who else lives with you. If your income is less than this amount, you will normally receive maximum Housing and Council Tax Benefit.

If your income is more than the Government says you need to live on, we will reduce your Housing Benefit by 65p for each £1 you have over the Government figure and for Council Tax Benefit we will reduce by 20p for every £1 you have over.

Once we have worked out your benefit entitlement, you must remember to tell us about any changes in circumstances to make sure you pay the correct amount.

Please click here to read more about appealing. back to top