Housing Benefit - Backdated Claims

Overview

If you haven’t made your claim for housing benefit on time, you can write to ask us to consider backdating it to when you first needed it.

We will always give consideration to the effect that missing housing benefit would have in terms of creating hardship.

If you are of a pensionable age you could have your claim backdated for up to 3 months. If you are of working age your claim could be backdated up to 6 months. You must have a good reason for not claiming earlier and you must have been entitled to housing benefit for the period the backdating will cover. You will also need to provide original proofs relating to the backdated period.

Essential Information

There could be many good reasons for you not having made your claim earlier. This is not a full list, but it gives you an idea of some things we can consider:

You may not have been able to claim because:
- You were ill
- You were in hospital
- You had a family crisis
- You were unavoidably away from home
- You thought you didn’t need to claim. please tell us why
- You were advised not to claim. please tell us who advised you
- You thought you were not allowed to claim or would not get benefit. please tell us why
- You didn’t understand you could claim, for example, because of
  - Your age
  - Your experience of the system
  - Language difficulties
  - Difficulty in understanding documents, or
  - Another reason – please tell us what
There are special rules and regulations which apply to backdating your benefit. Please view and complete the form at the bottom of this page to apply.

Frequently Asked Questions

- Yes. You can ask for a Discretionary Housing Payment to help pay your rent. Please complete the Discretionary Housing Payments form which is located at the bottom of this page.
  
  You can also apply for a Council Tax Support Discretionary Fund payment to help towards your Council Tax. You will need to complete the appropriate claim form found on our Council Tax Support page.
- Please email us at ptmailbox@birmingham.gov.uk, giving details of the letter you require.
  
  Please note that this email address cannot accept email with attachments - if you need to provide further information, please copy and paste it into the body of your email.
- Housing Benefit (including Local Housing Allowance) is a means tested benefit and your tenant may not be entitled to benefit covering the full contractual weekly or monthly rent. If the rent level stated on the benefit notification letter does not match the contractual rent you charge, you can make further enquiries by emailing us at ptmailbox@birmingham.gov.uk.
- If you are awaiting notification of an award of housing benefit following a new application you should receive this within 14 days. This is providing that you:
  - Answered all the questions on the claim form;
  - Signed the claim form in all places you were asked to; and
  - Have supplied all of the proofs required.
  If you have previously received a payment and payments have now stopped without an explanation, then please contact us at ptmailbox@birmingham.gov.uk so that we can investigate. .
- Please note that it can take up to 5 working days from the date the payment is issued to when it is credited to your account. If you have still not received the payment at this time please contact us at ptmailbox@birmingham.gov.uk.
- You will need to tell us immediately as it could affect your eligibility or the amount you receive. You can do this by using the online change in circumstances facility.
- If your tenant is receiving housing benefit payments direct and falls in arrears, please report it to us straight away. We will then usually send any further housing benefit payments directly to you or the agent.
  
  If we do not feel that you should receive these payments direct, we can refuse to make them or withhold benefits while an investigation takes place. To recover the arrears you would have to pursue the tenant. This may involve taking enforcement action against them.
  
  If you are considering taking enforcement action against your tenant, please contact us at ptmailbox@birmingham.gov.uk.
  
  Or write to:
  
  Benefit Service
  Birmingham City Council
  PO Box 8267
  Birmingham
  B4 7XF
- The decision has been made on your tenant's claim, so as a landlord you are unable to appeal. However, you may ask for the claim to be looked at again.
  
  Please either write to us at:
  
  Benefit Service
  Birmingham City Council
  PO Box 8267
  Birmingham
  B4 7XF
  
  or email us at ptmailbox@birmingham.gov, giving full details.
  
  Please note that this email address cannot accept email with attachments - if you need to provide further information, please copy and paste it into the body of your email.
- An Overpayment is when we have paid you benefit which you are not entitled to receive.
  
  The majority of overpayments are usually caused when people do not notify us of a change in circumstance immediately, including a change of address.
  
  We could reduce your benefit by £10.65 each week to recover the overpayment.
  You will need to make up the shortfall in your rent.
  
  If you are experiencing financial difficulties you can write and ask us to reconsider the amount by which we reduce your benefit.
  
  Our address is
  
  Benefit Service
  Birmingham City Council
  PO Box 8267
  Birmingham
  B4 7XF
- Yes, as long as the claimant has either
  
  • Signed Part 16 of the housing benefit claim form; or
  • Completed Section 11 of an electronic benefit claim form; or
  • Written to us giving us permission to allow you access to their benefit claim.
  
  Also, as the landlord you must be able to provide us with the following information when contacting us about your tenant's claim:
  
  • Your name and/or company name;
  • Your address and/or company address;
  • Your tenant's name and address;
  • Your landlord code, if you have one.
  
  You can find more detailed information on the Landlord Advice pages.
- Yes. You can ask for a discretionary housing payment. Please complete discretionary housing form attached below.
- Please call us on 0121 464 8248 to make a suitable payment arrangement.