Changes in circumstance for Housing & Council Tax Benefit

• You start or stop getting Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance.
• You start or stop getting Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit, or it increases/ decreases.
• You start or stop receiving any other benefit.
• Your salary or wages increase or decrease.
• There is any other change to the money you or your partner receive.
• There is any change to the income of any non-dependants in your home.

You can download a copy of the Change of Income form on the right of this page.

Changes in your home:

• You change address.
• The number of people who live with you changes.
• A partner either comes to live with you or leaves you home.

If your change of circumstance is a change of address you can download a copy from the link on the right of this page.

Any other changes:

• You or your partner either become, or stop being, a student.
• The amount of any savings or other capital you have changes.

For any other changes please use the Change of Circumstance form which can be downloaded from the right of this page.

If in any doubt please tell us of any changes.

When completing the claim forms, you must ensure that you answer every question on the form, and provide all of the evidence required to support your claim. Failure to do so will delay the payment of any benefit to which you may be entitled.

Whenever we make a change to your Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit, we will send you new notification letters which will show the changes we have made. You must check the details on these letters carefully to be sure they are correct. If any of the details we have used in assessing your claim are not correct, please tell us immediately. Failure to do so may lead to an overpayment of benefit, which you may have to pay back later.

Supporting evidence:
The documents that you give us to support your claim must be original documents. Photocopies and faxes are not acceptable.

The documents indicated below are the minimum we will need to see. Depending on your individual circumstances we may ask you to provide additional information.

Identity:
We must confirm yours, and your partner's, identity. We can usually do this from two of the following documents:

• Birth certificate
• Passport
• Driving Licence showing your address
• Utility bill for your current address, such as gas, water, electricity
• Benefit payment book or entitlement letter
• National Insurance number card
• Rent book, rent card or tenancy agreement
• Bank or guilding society statement
• Medical card with NHS number
• Marriage or adoption certificate
• Membership card of a trade union
• Divorce, annulment, or separation document
• Life assurance policy
• Credit or debit card, cheque guarantee or other bank card (these cards cannot be photocopied)
• Building industry sub-contractor's certificate

National Insurance Number:
Your National Insurance number (NINO) is made up of a series of letters and numbers. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) issues this number to you. You can usually find this number on the following documents:

• National Insurance number card
• P45 (given when you leave a job)
• P60 (annual tax statement)
• Wage or salary slips
• Benefit payment books or a letter from the DWP

Other documents:
In addition, we will need to see suitable documents as proof to confirm any income, benefits or savings that you have entered on the claim form. The form tells you what will be suitable documents.

Claim as soon as you can:
It is important that you make a claim for benefit as soon as you can. Any entitlement to benefit is usually awarded from the Monday after we receive your claim form. Please do not delay sending in your claim form if the documentary proof is not available at the moment. Send in your claim form now, but please send us the proof as soon as possible, as we cannot work out your benefit without it.

Our Customer Contact Centre staff will always be happy to advise you about any aspect of claiming Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit. Please contact them on 01952 383838.