Council Tax Benefit - New Claim

Working out Council Tax Benefit

We will need to see details of your income, savings, personal and family circumstances.  This is then used to work out your benefit according to the amounts the government considers you need to live on.

Council Tax Benefit can be any amount up to the full amount of your Council Tax liability.

Please note that from 2nd November 2009 there has been some important changes to the way Housing and Council Tax Benefit are calculated. Child Benefit has been completely disregarded and for people over 60 the lower limit for capital has increased to £10,000. If you previously failed to qualify by a small amount you may now qualify.

If you receive Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance (Income Based), Employment Support Allowance (Income Related) or Guaranteed Credit:

You will normally get full Council Tax Benefit which means that all of your council tax will be paid to you.

If you have any other people living with you, your benefit may be reduced.  This is explained later in the section Additional people in the property

If you do not receive Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance (Income Based), Employment Support Allowance (Income Related) or Guaranteed Credit:

The Council will need to know your income and your needs as explained below:

• If your income is less than the government says you need, you will normally get full Council Tax Benefit
• If your income is more than the government says you need, your benefit amount will be reduced 

Applicable ammount

This is the amount the government considers you need to live on and includes personal allowances and premiums.

The personal allowances depend on:

• your age
• whether you are single or have a partner
• how many dependant children you have and their ages

The premiums are extra amounts for some people who have special needs.  Different premiums take into account the special needs of:

• families
• people over 60
• disabled people (including disabled children)
• people who care for a disabled person

Income

To work out your income, the Council adds together your earnings and any unearned income you have.

Earnings - money you get from employment.

Only your net earnings are counted - that is your pay (or profit if self-employed) less tax, national insurance and half of any pension contributions.

The following amounts will be disregarded from your net weekly earnings:

• The first £5 for single people
• The first £10 for couples
• The first £25 for lone parents

There are additional disregards in certain circumstances, for example if you or a partner is disabled.

Childcare disregards - Childcare expenses of up to £175 for one child and £300 for two or more, can be disregarded from your income when paid to a registered childcare provider.  This applies to families where children are under 15 years of age (or 16 years if disabled) and where either:

• a lone parent or both parents work 16 hours or more a week, or
• one parent of a couple works 16 hours or more a week and the other partner gets disability benefits

Unearned income - this is any other money you have coming in and can include state benefits, private pensions, maintenance payments, charitable/voluntary payments, tax credits etc.  Some unearned income is disregarded, either in part or in full.  You must still tell the council about this income.  The main ones are shown as follows.

Amount disregarded

Disability Living Allowance

Attendance and Constant Attendance Allowance

War disablement and war widows pensions - Havering Council, as part of its local scheme, will disregard, in full, any war disablement or war widows pension you receive.

Prisoner of war payments - payments to both far eastern prisoners of war and victims of atrocities during the Second World War will be disregarded in full when assessing income.  This applies to each payment received and the total sum will be disregarded when working out entitlement to benefit.

Savings and capital - This includes all bank and building society accounts, stocks and shares and any other property you may own.  Your savings and capital are taken into account only if you have over £6,000.

If you are aged under 60, the first £6,000 is ignored and then an amount (called tariff income) of £1 for every £250 over £6,000 is added to your weekly income.

For example:

• under £6,250 = is assumed to be an income of £1 per week
• under £6,500 = is assumed to be an income of £2 per week
• under £6,750 = is assumed to be an income of £3 per week

If you have a partner, your savings are added together before working out the tariff income.

If you are aged over 60, the first £10,000 is ignored, and then tariff income of £1 for every £500 over £6,000 is added to your weekly income.

For example:

• under £10,500 = is assumed to be an income of £1 per week
• under £11,000 = is assumed to be an income of £2 per week
• under £11,500 = is assumed to be an income of £3 per week

If you have a partner, your savings are added together before working out the tariff income.

If your savings and capital exceed £16,000, you will not qualify for Council Tax Benefit except for people who are over 60 and are in receipt of guarantee credit.

Additional people in the property

If you have other people over eighteen (called non-dependants) sharing your home, there may be a deduction made from your benefit.  Only one deduction is made for each non-dependant couple.

There will be no deduction, regardless of your non-dependants circumstances, if you or your partner is:

• registered blind
• receiving the care component of disability living allowance
• receiving attendance allowance

A deduction will be made from your weekly Council Tax Benefit if the non dependant:

No deduction will be made if the non-dependant:

• receives income support or job seekers allowance (income based)
• is on a youth training scheme
• is in hospital for more than six weeks
• is in legal custody
• is a full time student during the period of study
• is disregarded for council tax purposes
• receiving pension credit
• receiving Employment Support Allowance (Income Related)

Second Adult Rebate - Council Tax only

If you live with another adult (not a partner) who is in receipt of a low income a second adult rebate of up to 25% may apply.

If you do not have a partner and:

• you are liable for council tax but do not qualify for benefit, or
• you get benefit of less than 25% of your council tax bill

You may be entitled to a rebate based solely on the low income of any other adults living in your property.  This is called second adult rebate.

The other adults must be aged 18 or over and not be liable to pay rent or council tax and have a low income.

The amount of rebate is:

• not affected by the Council Tax payer's income and savings
• based on the total gross income of the other adults
• assessed as a percentage of your Council Tax liability

Some types of income are not counted, such as disability living allowance and attendance allowance.

Payment of Council Tax Benefit

Council tax benefit is credited directly to your Council Tax account.  The Council will send you a bill showing your council tax liability less any Council Tax benefit.  You will only need to pay the reduced amount. If you have already paid some of the bill that you are getting benefit for you will be able to request your credit from Council Tax.

Making a claim

If you have read the above and feel you may be entitled to Housing Benefit you can check your entitlement using our online calculator (link is on the right hand side of this page). If you wish to make a claim please print out the downloadable form or contact us to request a form.

Below is a list of everything you must provide

• Your fully completed and signed claim form, this means you must answer every question.
• Proof of identity for you and, if you have a partner, for them too.
• Proof of National Insurance number for you and, if you have a partner, for them too.
• Proof of income for you and, if you have a partner, for them too.
• Proof of all income for anyone else who lives with you, (including your children or for example a grown up son or daughter or other relative or friend).
• Proof of any savings, investments, stocks, shares, property or any other capital held by you, your partner including any bank or building society current accounts.

If you return your form with all the proof listed above we will assess your claim straight away to ensure that you get paid in as short a time as possible.

Benefit is normally paid from the Monday after the form is received so it is important that your get your form in as soon as possible. If you return your claim form within one calendar month of the date of issue we will be able to pay benefit from the Monday after the form was issued. Please note that we may be able to pay benefit from an earlier date. For more information please read Backdating Benefit.

Where you are required to provide information to the Council and fail to do so or knowingly provide information which is inaccurate, a penalty of £70 may be imposed. Continued failure to provide the Council with accurate information may result in a further penalty of £280 being imposed on each occasion. Deliberately providing false information to obtain a financial benefit can lead to prosecution.

Return to top of page