Council Tax & Housing Benefit
Claiming and Evidence
Introduction
This page will explain the procedure for claiming Housing &
Council Tax Benefit. It will also provide information relating to
the level of evidence needed by this section to assess your
claim.
The Claim Form
All customers are required to complete a standard Dover DC
'Housing & Council Tax Benefit'
form.
In receipt on maintenance payments/paying child care costs?
If you are on a low or middle rate income, in or out of
work, you could get benefits to help towards your rent and
Council Tax costs. All of your child maintenance will be ignored
when your income is assessed for Housing and Council Tax Benefit.
If you pay child care costs to a registered nursery/child minder
and you work over 16 hours each week, part of the costs that you
pay can also be disregarded when looking at your benefit claim.
When Should I Claim?
Generally, claim as soon as you believe you may be entitled to
Benefit. As with most other Benefits, there are strict rules in HB
& CTB 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 that they are within 13 weeks of the date you
will become entitled to Benefit.
Backdated Benefit
We can accept claims received outside of the time-limits.
However, you will need to prove that there was a very good reason
for not claiming earlier. It is not automatic that these late
claims will be accepted.
Evidence Needed to Support a Claim
As with all means-tested Benefits, you are required to send in
all documents, certificates, etc to support the information given
on your claim form. Unless stated otherwise, the following
information applies to you and your partner (if applicable). The
actual evidence required is looked at in this section:
- Working people
You are required to send in 5 weekly wage-slips or 2 monthly
wage-slips. Alternatively, you can ask your employer to complete an
'Earnings Certificate'. The Earnings Certificate will be sent to
your employer by the council. Please contact the Enquiry Line
(01304 872199) for further information. Generally, if the
wage-slips provided do not show all the details we need, then we
will ask you to provide alternative evidence.
- People on State Benefits
We will need to
see evidence of all Benefits received. This will preferably be in
the format of an 'award notice' from the agency paying you the
money. 'Order' or 'Payment' books are also usually
acceptable.
- Savings / Money Held
We need to see
evidence of all savings/capital/investments held. This can be in
the way of statements, passbooks, certificates, etc. If you own
other properties or land, then further details will be
requested.
- National Insurance Numbers
We need to see
your National Insurance number included on an official document
(e.g. wage-slip, letter from Benefits Agency, payment book,
etc)
- Bank Account details
Housing Benefit is only payable by BACS for new claimants
BACS form for Bank Payments of
Housing Benefit (Word) ,
BACS form for Bank Payments of
Housing Benefit (pdf)
The 'Verification Framework'
Dover DC, along with many other Local Authorities, have signed
up to what is known as the 'Verification Framework'. This is a
Government scheme intended to ensure all applicants receive the
correct amount of Benefit and to reduce the level of fraud within
the system. The framework does mean that we will be asking to see
extra evidence from you which you may not have supplied previously
(for example 'Proof of Identity')
Submitting The Form Without All Required Information
If you cannot obtain all the evidence needed to send in with the
form, send the form to us anyway. It is often useful to write a
covering letter explaining that you will send in the missing
information later. We will normally give you four weeks to send in
everything we need. This time-limit can be extended if there is a
very good reason why you cannot supply the information in that
time.
Further Information
Information
leaflet (available in multiple languages)
If you have any questions or would like any more information,
please contact the Helpline on (01304) 872199 or write to:
Benefits Section
Dover District Council
White Cliffs Business Park
Dover
Kent
CT16 3PJ
E-mail: revenues@dover.gov.uk
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