The Council can only backdate your claim if you have a good reason for not claiming earlier and can prove this. This is known as 'good cause'. Your explanation must cover the whole period for which you are requesting backdating. Any request for backdating must be made in writing. Please phone us for more information.
If the Council decides there was a 'good cause', then a claim can be backdated for a maximum of 6 months for working age claimants, from the entitlement date. People who are over 60 and provide their capital and income details will automatically have their claim assessed for 3 months prior to their entitlement date. No backdating request is required for people over 60.
Examples of 'good cause'
- If the claimant was ill and had no-one to make the claim on their behalf.
- If the claimant could not reasonably have been expected to known their rights, e.g. if there have been detailed changes in the law.
- If the claimant did not understand that they could claim, perhaps because of age, inexperience, language difficulties, difficulty in understanding technical documents or some other reason.
- If the claimant was wrongly advised that they were not entitled to Housing/Council Tax Benefit by a council representative.
- If the claimant was unable to manage their affairs and did not have an 'appointee'.
To the right is a downloadable application form for you to complete and post or a form that you can complete online that will be sent to us straight away. Please ensure you have made a claim for Housing Benefit before you complete this form. There is space for a backdating request on the actual claim form as well.