How to apply for Housing and Council Tax Benefit

To claim Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit you must complete one of the Council's application forms. You can download a form here. If you are in receipt of Income Support (IS) or Income Based Job Seekers Allowance (JSA (IB)) you will have completed Council Tax Benefit and Housing Benefit forms with your application for IS and JSA (IB). These forms do not provide all the details required for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit so you will still have to complete one of the Council's own claim forms. The form is quite long and asks for a lot of information; please take time to read all the notes provided with the form to ensure it is completed correctly. If your application is completed correctly your claim can be processed without delay.

If you do have any problems completing the form, please contact the Benefit Section; you can either make an appointment with a officer to assist you or a Visiting Officer may be able to visit to assist you in your own home.

New Claims Visiting Service

If you require assistance completing an application form, we may be able to visit you. This will enable us to provide you with a speedier service and assess your claim faster.

Our Visiting Officer may also be able to assist you with regards to the evidence you need to provide in support of your claim and verify some of the information we require at the time of the visit.

Please contact us on (01743) 281466 if you think that this service would be useful to you.

Benefits Calculator

Verification of documents

The Council operates the Verification Framework which is designed to prevent fraud and ensure that only those entitled to benefit receive the correct benefit due.
The Verification Framework sets standards of evidence that should be provided with your application.

• All evidence must be original documents - photocopies are not acceptable.
• You will be asked to provide evidence of your identity.
• You must provide evidence of your National Insurance Number (NINO), such as P60, pay slip, NINO card or benefit book.
• The evidence provided must comply with standards set by the Verification Framework.

Evidence
Original Documents

The Verification Framework says that where you need to provide evidence of something relating to your Benefit claim, we need to see the actual document - not a photocopy. (This can be sent by post to Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council, PO Box 161, Shrewsbury SY3 8YX or taken to the Benefits Office, The Guildhall, Frankwell Quay, Shrewsbury

We must then make a copy to keep on our files. The original document(s) will be returned to you as quickly as possible (normally the day we receive them - by first class post).

We do not advise sending valuable original documents in the post unless you use recorded or special delivery.

If you send in photocopies by mistake, we will write to you and ask you to send or bring the original documents.

If you are unable to complete the claim and cannot come into the offices, a visiting officer may be able to see you in your home. Please telephone (01743) 281466 for further details.

The Claim Form

You can collect a Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit form from either the Benefit Office or the Guildhall. You can contact the Benefits Section department direct on (01743) 281466. Alternatively, either e-mail your request to benefits@shrewsbury.gov.uk and a form will be issued to you. Alternatively you can download a form from our forms library.

The application form must be completed in full. If any section of the form is not relevant to yourself, it must still be completed either by entering 'none' or 'not applicable'. Remember to send proof of the income or capital you declare using original documents only.

All applications must have supporting documentation to verify the claimant's (and partner's if they have one) National Insurance number. Without this information, your claim cannot be processed.

Therefore, supply one of the following items to verify your National Insurance number and, if you have a partner, an item to verify their's also.

The acceptable items are:-

• National Insurance card
• Payslip
• P45 or P60
• Tax letters
• DSS notifications
• Benefit books
• Bank statements for the self employed paying class 2 contributions

If you cannot provide this information, we will contact the Department of Work and Pensions who should be able to provide us with this information or you may be required to attend an interview. It would obviously be to your advantage if you could provide us with the documentation because contacting the Department of Work and Pensions will cause further delay in any payments due. As stated above, no payment of benefit can be made without this information.

With every new application you must also provide identification to support your application. The documents must be original and not photocopies. The forms of acceptable identity are listed below - they must be from the claimant (and partner's, if they have one) only and must be at least two different items.

The following items are acceptable items of identification - we ideally require two different items if available:-

• Bank statement (dated in the last four weeks prior to the application
• Benefit payment book
• Water, electricity, gas or telephone bill paid in the last quarter
• Wage slips
• Birth certificate (full or short)
• Certificate of employment in HM Forces
• Certificate of employment in Merchant Navy
• Divorce/annulment papers
• Driving License
• Home Office standard acknowledgement letter (Sal 1 or 2)
• Identity card issued by EEC member state
• Letter from Solicitor/Social Worker/Probation Officer/Inland Revenue
• Life Assurance/Insurance policies
• Marriage Certificate
• Medical Card
• National Insurance card
• Passport (current and valid)
• UK residence permit

This list is not exhaustive and other items may be acceptable.

Once you have completed and submitted your application form, whenever you contact the Council's Benefit office, you will be asked to confirm your identity each time.

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit are 'means tested' benefits and you must therefore be prepared to provide ALL DETAILS regarding income and capital to support your claim.

The form also requests information regarding other members of the household and all details of their income and capital.

Rent Officer Decisions

Housing Benefit for Private Tenants and some Housing Associations is based on figures set by the Rent Officer which is often less than the contractual rent. If you think the Rent Officer's decision is wrong (the eligible rent figure on the decision notice) then you can make an appeal as long as it is within six weeks of the date on the decision letter. The appeal should be marked Rent Officer Re-determination and we will notify the Rent Officer. He will arrange for a different Rent Officer to look at the appeal. If a new decision is made then it will be used in the Housing Benefit assessment.

Backdating

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit normally starts from the Monday following the date the form is received by the Council.