About your benefit claim - backdating a claim

I am 60 or over - when will my benefit start?

If you or your partner are over 60 years of age, and qualify for housing benefit or council tax benefit (or both), we can backdate your benefit up to three months before the date you made your claim, as long as you were entitled to benefit for that period. You will receive your backdated benefit automatically and do not need to tell us why you did not claim sooner.

I am under 60 - when will my benefit start?

If you qualify for housing benefit or council tax benefit (or both), we will normally pay your benefit on the Monday after you asked us for an application form, provided you return the application within one calendar month of contacting us.

When you make a claim for housing benefit, council tax benefit or both, over the phone to Jobcentre Plus, we will treat the date of your claim as the same date you contacted Jobcentre Plus.

If you get Income Support, JobSeekers Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, or Employment and Support Allowance, all the benefits will have the same claim date.

Sometimes we can pay benefit for a period before the date you claimed. This is called 'backdating'. The law says we can backdate your claim for up to 6 months. However, before we can do that you must have a good reason for not claiming earlier. This is known as 'good cause'.

What is good cause?

We will look at each case individually. The list below gives some examples of what we may consider good cause:

• You were ill and no-one else could claim on your behalf
• You have been in hospital
• You were given wrong advice by an official organisation who said you were not entitled to housing benefit, council tax benefit, or both.
• You did not understand you could claim, perhaps because:
  • of your age
  • you have language difficulties
  • you have difficulty understanding technical documents, or
  • some other reason

• You did not claim immediately after leaving hospital, prison or long term care
• You were not able to manage your own affairs and there was no-one to help you
• A close relative died

How do I request that my claim be backdated?

If you think your claim should be backdated you need to print off and complete this claim form or write to us at the address shown at the left hand side of this page.

When you write to us you will need to give the date that you want your claim backdating to and the reasons why you were unable to make your claim earlier.

You will need to confirm that these reasons lasted throughout the whole period you are asking for your claim to be backdated.

Whatever your reason for not claiming earlier, you may be asked for proof to support your reasons (for example medical certificates or hospital letters) and also proof of your income and savings during that period.

If you are married or live with a partner you will need to give the reasons why they were also unable to send in your claim form earlier.

To qualify for backdating you must be able to prove 'good cause'.

What happens next?

We will decide if we can backdate your benefit based on the information you give us. We will write and tell you our decision. If we decide not to backdate your benefit we will tell you why.

What if I do not agree with your decision?

We may decide that your reasons do not warrant backdating your claim. If you do not agree with this decision you should write and ask us to look at the decision again. You must write to us within one calendar month of the decision letter.

If you are still not satisfied with the decision after we have re-looked at your claim, you can appeal to us again in writing. The Tribunal Service will then decide your appeal at a tribunal hearing. They are not connected to the council in any way and are an independant service.

For further information about the appeals process please visit our Related Downloads section for a 'Guide to Revisions and Appeals'.

Where can I get more advice, or how do I contact you?

You can get more information by contacting our benefits service.  Contact details can be found at the following link:

Contact Us

Last updated 06/01/2011