Council tax benefit entitlement
Start of entitlement
This is determined by your date of
claim. For new claims entitlement normally starts from the
first Monday after your claim is received by Tower Hamlets Benefits
Service. It is therefore important not to delay making a
claim.
If you request a claim form by telephone,
email or personal visit to any of the council's One Stop Shops and
subsequently complete and return that form to the Benefits Service
or the One Stop Shop within one calendar month, your claim will be
treated as being made on the date of your initial request.
If you claim council tax benefit (either
direct to the council or through the Department for Work and
Pensions) within one month of claiming Income Support,
income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and
Support Allowance or Pension Guarantee Credit, the date you are
awarded either one of those benefits will be treated as your date
of claim.
If you are 60 or over and claim council tax
benefit it may be possible to treat your claim as being made up to
13 weeks before the date of claim but only if you would have
otherwise been entitled and had reached the age of 60.
End of entitlement
Entitlement will continue until there is a
change of circumstances that means entitlement must end. For
example an increase in your income could mean that you no longer
qualify for any benefit, an increase in your savings to more than
£16,000 will mean you are excluded from entitlement. If you stop
being liable for council tax your council tax benefit must also
end.
How is council tax benefit paid?
Council tax benefit is shown as a rebate on
your council tax bill reducing the amount you have to pay.
Although council tax benefit is calculated using weekly amounts it
is awarded for the remainder of the current financial
year.
How much council tax benefit will I receive?
This will depend on how much your weekly
council tax liability is, your income, your applicable
amount and whether there are any other people (whom we
call non-dependants) living with you. If you share
the liability for council tax with someone who is not your partner
any entitlement will be based upon your share only.
The maximum amount that any claimant could get
help with is 100% of the council tax charge. However, not
everyone can get this much help because of the other factors that
have to be taken into account.
Applicable amount
We work out a notional amount of income that
the claimant might be able to claim from the Department for Work
and Pensions if he or she had no income whatsoever. This
notional amount is called an applicable amount.
Non-dependants
For council tax benefit purposes
non-dependants are other adults (over the age of 18) living with
the claimant for example relatives. This does not include the
partner of the claimant (unless you are separated) or any joint
owners/joint tenants with the claimant.
Extended payments
Extended payments are intended to help people
claiming benefits get back into full time work after a period of
unemployment, incapacity or reduced hours of employment or reduced
earnings.
How much are they?
They are an extra four weeks council tax
benefit paid at the same rate as you were getting before income
support, income-based jobseeker's allowance, or employment and
support allowance ended or before incapacity benefit or severe
disablement allowance ended. They start from the Monday after those
benefits ended.
How to claim extended payments
Telephone 020 736 5001 or email the Benefits
Service and tell them that you want to claim an extended payment
and how long your job/increased hours/increased pay is expected to
last.
The benefits service will check to see if you
meet the conditions and let you know.
You will need to tell us about starting work
and if your entitlement to other benefits ends straight
away.
Everyone who claims council tax benefit has a
duty to tell the Tower Hamlets Benefits Service about any changes
to their circumstances or anyone who lives with them, if those
changes could affect the amount of benefit awarded.
Further information
Download
a claim form for housing benefit and council tax
benefit (208 pdf)
How to contact us
Tower Hamlets operates as a centralised
benefit claims processing service and a dedicated benefits call
centre both based at the Town Hall where all postal, email and
telephone enquiries should be directed. Home visits can be arranged
if you are housebound and do not have anyone who can help you.
Benefits Service
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Mulberry Place
5 Clove Crescent
London E14 2BG
Tel: 020 7364 5001
Fax: 020 7364 7048
Email: benefits@towerhamlets.gov.uk
Personal callers should visit their nearest
One Stop Shop to hand in claim
forms, obtain receipts and have original evidence photocopied.