Council tax benefit - backdating

If there has been a reason which stopped or delayed you applying for Council Tax Benefit you can ask for your claim to be 'backdated' so that it starts from an earlier date.

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The Start Date of Your Benefit Claim

Under Housing and Council Tax Benefit law your claim for benefit must be made in writing, either on a benefits application form or by letter. Normally we will start your claim from the Monday after we receive your application form or letter. It is therefore very important that you get your application form or letter to us as soon as possible because it affects the date your benefit claim will start from. If we send you an application form we will allow you 4 weeks to complete and return it. If you take longer than 4 weeks to return the form you might lose your entitlement to some of your benefits.

The Rules on Backdating Benefit

You can only ask for a backdate of benefits if there is a reason why you were unable to apply for your benefit earlier. If you disagree with the date your claim starts from for any other reason you can appeal against the decision. For information on how to appeal click here

In order for a backdate of Council Tax Benefit to be allowed you will have to show 'good cause' why you did not apply earlier. There is no formal definition of 'good cause', each case will be decided according to its own individual situation. There are no formal time limits on making a backdate request, but the maximum period that a benefit claim can be backdated is 52 weeks from the date we receive the backdate request.

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