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Who can claim Housing Benefit? Who can claim Council Tax Benefit? Who can claim Second Adult Rebate? What is the Local Housing Allowance? Where can I find the LHA Rates? What do the Rent Service (TRS)/VOA do? Can I have help getting back to work? What evidence will I need to provide? How is my claim affected by having other people living with me? How long will it be before I receive my benefit? Can my benefit be paid direct to my landlord? What if I disagree with the Council's decision? My circumstances have changed, what must I do? What happens if I have rent arrears? How do I report a suspected fraud? What happens if I am paid too much benefit? I am a MOAT tenant. Do I need to inform you when my rent has been increased? How do I make a compliment, complaint or suggestion?
How do I know what service to expect from the Council?
What is Housing Benefit? Who can claim? You can claim Housing Benefit if you are:-
Housing Benefit can not help with mortgage payments What is Council Tax Benefit? Council Tax Benefit is an income-related benefit to help people pay their Council Tax. Who can claim Council Tax Benefit? You will be able to claim Council Tax Benefit if you are: A home owner, liable to pay Council Tax for that home and resident there. What is Second Adult Rebate? Second Adult rebate is an alternative type of Council Tax Benefit. If you are the only adult (person aged18 years or over) in your home you may be entitled to a single person discount. This means your council tax bill is reduced by 25%. When a second adult moves into your home you will lose the single person discount and be liable to pay 100% of your council tax bill. If the second adult who moves in is on a low income you may be able to get Second Adult Rebate. Council Tax Benefit and Second Adult Rebate cannot be paid together. You will only be granted whichever gives you greater.
Who can claim Second Adult Rebate? You will be able to claim second adult rebate if you are: A home owner, liable to pay Council Tax for that home and resident there and your own income is too high to be eligible for main council tax benefit but a second adult who has a low income lives with you. A 'second adult' is not your partner, or a joint owner or tenant living with you. No other person must be paying rent to live in your home. This benefit is based on the total gross income of the adults living with you. Your income and savings are not counted. back to topWhat is the Local Housing Allowance? Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is the name for housing benefit for tenants in privately rented accommodation which came into effect on 7 April 2008. For more information click here What do the Rent Service (TRS)/VOA do? Where can I find the Local Housing Allowance Rates for the District? Click this link to find out the LHA rates Can I claim if I am working? You can still get Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit while you are working, if you are on a low income. In certain circumstances, you can continue to receive the same amount of Housing and Council Tax Benefit you received prior to starting work, for a maximum of four weeks. This is known as an “extended payment” or “run-on” of benefits. To qualify you must: - have been getting Income Support/Job Seekers Allowance/Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance for a continuous period of 26 weeks prior to starting work, and - you expect the job to last for more than five weeks. You must inform the Council within one month of you starting work and we will decide if you qualify for the extended payment.
Can I have help in getting back to work?
How do I make a claim? To make a claim for Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit you will need to complete an application form, which you can download (in the download area to the right of this page) or request a paper copy from our Customer Service Team. Once completed, you should send your claim to: Revenues & Benefits Section, Maldon District Council, Princes Road, Maldon, Essex, CM9 5DL or hand it, in person, to Customer Services Team, Maldon District Council, Princes Road, Maldon We can sometimes process a benefit claim with one hour of receiving it. Please click here to read more about our “1 Hour Benefit Service”. What evidence will I need to provide?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. When you make an application it is very important to provide the evidence of your identity, income and savings. Click here for detailed information about the evidence you will need to provide How is my claim worked out? 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 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. Click here to access our online calculator to see how much you may be entitled to. How is my claim affected by having other people living with me? Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit are normally reduced if you have other adults (non dependants), living in your property. Some non-dependants may pay you money to help with the cost of the household expenses. This money is not taken as income for benefit purposes. The amounts by which your benefit will be reduced are fixed sums which are set by the Government and based on the gross income of each non dependants. You must give us details of any non-dependants living with you, their income, and evidence of that income. You must still advise us of non-dependants with no income (for example a child over 18 who is a student). You must also tell us if you are receiving child benefit for a child over 18, and provide a copy of your award letter. There are some circumstances when a non-dependant deduction will not be made, for example
If the claimant or partner are aged 65 or more certain changes will not affect the Housing or Council Tax Benefit until 26 weeks after the change occurred, namely if - a non-dependant moves into the property or - there is a change in the non-dependant’s circumstances which would increase the amount of the current non-dependant deduction However, the details should still be provided to us at the date of the change occurring. When the 26 week period has finished, you should then contact us to inform of your non-dependant’s current circumstances. Other people who live in the dwelling but are not regarded as being part of the household (or family) include:
Boarder can make their own claim for benefit. The money they pay the landlord (our claimant) for rent is counted as unearned income for the landlord. Boarders pay an inclusive rent, which includes an element of food. They are not liable for Council Tax Benefit. (Sub) Tenants can also make their own claim for benefit. Again the rent they pay their landlord (our claimant) is counted as unearned income for the landlord. The rent they pay does not include food. There is no real difference between a sub tenant and a tenant. A sub tenant pays the landlord who in turn pays his landlord. A tenant pays the landlord who owns the property. Carers who are hired by voluntary or charitable organisation to look after either the claimant or partner and who make a charge for the service are ignored for Housing Benefit purposes. Joint Occupier is someone other than the claimant's partner who is jointly responsible to pay rent or council tax for the property. They must make their own claim for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. Foster Children are not included as part of the claimant's family and are ignored for Housing Benefit purposes. 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 more about our “One 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:
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 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. Can my claim be backdated? Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit is normally awarded from the Monday after the day you made your claim. Click here for information about backdating Can my benefit be paid direct to my landlord? If you have been in receipt of housing benefit continuously since before 7 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 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. What if I disagree with the Council's decision? If you are unhappy with the decision that has been made we will ensure that the decision is fully explained to you, either verbally, or in writing. If you are still unhappy please click here for information on how to appeal My circumstances have changed, what do I need to do? It is your responsibility to tell us if any of your circumstances change. For instance if:
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. What happens if I have rent arrears? Click here for information about rent arrears How do I report a suspected fraud? Our aim is to ensure that benefit only goes to those who are fully entitled to receive it by:
Anyone who believes that a person is fraudulently claiming benefit can report their suspicions in confidence. See our Fraud pages for more information. Every piece of information received is acted upon. What other help is available? If you receive Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax benefit you can request a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP). Click here for information about other benefits and organisation who might assist you. 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. 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 circumstances.
How do I make a compliment, complaint or suggestion?
You can do this by using our Feedback Form. Read more about this by clicking here.
You can also be part of our Benefits Customer Focus Group to provide opinions and feedback about our service. Click here for more information. How do I know what service to expect from the Council? We provide our Revenues & Benefits service in line with the Council’s Customer Charter. We have also published our own “Service Standards”. These explain what level of service or standards we aim to provide telling you what we will do, when we will do it and how we will achieve it. Click here to read more about our “Service Standards”. |
  
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