Index of frequently asked questions about council tax
benefits
There are two benefits available for people who have to pay
Council Tax. They are Council Tax Benefit and Second Adult Rebate.
Contact the Benefits section for the appropriate application
forms.
The forms tell you how to claim these benefits and it will help
you understand how we have worked out your benefit entitlement.
You must check your notification letter very carefully to make
sure we have used the correct details. If you find any mistakes let
us know straight away.
Which Benefit?
You cannot get both Council Tax Benefit and Second Adult Rebate
at the same time. If you qualify for both, we will give you the one
which will reduce your Council Tax the most.
Can I claim?
You can claim Council Tax Benefit if:
- you are on Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance,
- you are on a low income (this includes people who are self
employed).
You cannot get Council Tax Benefit if:
- you, or your partner between you, have more than £16,000 in
savings.
A partner is someone you are married to, or someone you live
with as if you are married to them.
How do I claim?
Please read the guidance notes accompanying the application form
if you are unsure which to complete
What if I earn money from work?
You must send proof of the money you earn so we can work out
your Council Tax Benefit.
If you work for an Employer, you will have to send us:-
- your last 5 payslip's, if you are paid weekly.
- your last 2 payslip's, if you are paid monthly.
If you are Self Employed
If you are self employed please send us your recent accounts. If
you cannot do this, get in touch with us for more details.
If you cannot send the information now
Do not delay sending in your claim form if the proof we ask for
is not available at the moment. But you must send this information
as soon as possible. We cannot work out your benefit without
it.
When will I be
paid?
How long it takes to work out your claim depends on:-
- how quickly you send in all the information,
- how busy we are when you make your claim.
We will send you a letter telling you how we worked out your
Council Tax Benefit. Please check the information in this letter
very carefully, if there is anything you think is wrong, you MUST
tell us straight away.
When does my Benefit start?
Your benefit usually starts from the Monday after we get your
claim form.
If you think Benefit should start earlier
If you think your benefit should start earlier, you can say so
on the form, or in an attached letter.
Please write down:-
- the date you think your benefit should start,
- the reason why you did not claim earlier.
If you get benefit from an earlier date, it is called
backdating. Your benefit can be backdated by up to 52 weeks if you
have a good reason for not claiming earlier. However, the good
reason must cover the whole period you wish the claim to be
backdated for.
How will I be
paid?
We will pay your Council Tax Benefit straight to your Council
Tax account. You will get a bill showing any amount you have to pay
after benefit has been awarded.
How much Council Tax Benefit
can I get?
You may be able to get Council Tax Benefit for the full amount
of Council Tax that you have to pay. This will depend on your
income and whether you have other people living in your house.
What happens if there are
other people living with me?
If you have friends, relatives or anyone over 18 living in your
home, you may get less Council Tax Benefit. These people are called
non-dependants. An amount may be taken out of your benefit for each
non-dependant who lives in your home.
Non-dependants do not include:-
- your partner,
- a child you get Child Benefit for,
- people under 18 years old,
- people in full-time education,
- people on Youth Training Schemes.
No money will be taken out of your benefit for non-dependants
if:-
- you get Attendance Allowance,
- you get the care part of Disability Living Allowance,
- you are registered blind.
How is my Council Tax
Benefit worked out?
If you get Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance (Income
Based)
If you get Income Support, or Job Seekers Allowance you will get
the full amount of your Council Tax as benefit after any
non-dependant deductions have been taken off.
If you do not get Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance
(Income Based)
We work out your Council Tax Benefit by comparing the money you
get each week with your 'applicable amount'. Your applicable amount
is what the government say you and your family need to live on each
week.
The applicable amount will be higher for some people - for
example, if you are disabled or you are a one parent family.
If the money you get each week is less than, or the same as the
applicable amount, you will get the full amount of Council Tax
Benefit. If this happens you should claim Income Support or Job
Seekers Allowance as you may get more help.
What money is counted
when my Benefit is worked out?
We count the money you earn from work after money has been taken
out for:-
- Tax and National Insurance,
- half of any money you pay into a pension fund.
We do not count:-
- the first £5.00 of the money you earn each week, if you are
single,
- the first £10.00 of the money you earn each week, if you are a
couple,
- the first £15.00 of the money you earn each week, if you are
disabled,
- the first £25.00 of the money you earn each week, if you are a
single parent.
We also count any other money you have coming in. This includes
most Social Security benefits, maintenance, works pensions and any
savings or capital you have.
We do not count:-
- Disability Living Allowance,
- Attendance Allowance,
- Mobility Allowance,
- War Widows Pension,
- War Disablement Pension,
- the first £15 of any maintenance payments you receive if you
have dependant children.
But we need to know if you get any of these, as you may get more
Council Tax Benefit.
What happens if I have savings
or capital?
Government rules say that if you (and your partner if you are a
couple) have savings or capital of more than £16,000, you cannot
get Council Tax Benefit. If you have £3,000 or less, it will not
affect your claim (If you, or your partner, are a pensioner this
figure increases to £6,000).
If you have between £3,000 and £16,000, it affects how much
Council Tax Benefit you will get. For every £250 (or part of £250)
you have over £3,000, we add £1.00 to the money we count each week
when working out your benefit.
How to Appeal?
You can appeal if you think your council tax benefit is
incorrect.
Am I entitled to
Second Adult Rebate?
You may be entitled to claim second adult rebate if you have
non-dependants living with you who are on low income.
I have already claimed
Council Tax Benefit, is there anything else I should know?
Yes, the next section is very important, please read it very
carefully.
What do i do If
anything changes?
If anything happens during this time which might affect how much
benefit you get, you must tell us immediately.
If you don't tell us about a change, and we pay you too much
benefit, you may have to pay it back.
You must tell us about the following changes:-
Changes to the money you get Please tell us if:-
- you start or stop getting Income Support or Job Seekers
Allowance (income based),
- you start or stop getting Working Family Tax Credits,
- the money you or your partner gets increases or decreases,
- the money non-dependants get increases or decreases,
- there are any other changes in the money people in your home
get. For example, someone starts getting Disability Living
Allowance.
Changes in your home Please tell us if:-
- you change your address,
- the number of people in your home changes - for example,
someone has a baby,
- a partner comes to live with you,
- a partner leaves.
Other changes Please tell us if:-
- you, or your partner, go into hospital for more than 6
weeks,
- you, or your partner, become a student, or stop being a
student,
- the amount of savings or capital you have changes.
You do not have to tell us about changes in age (for example, if
one your children becomes 11 years old), as we will have this
information already.
What happens if we give you
too much Benefit?
If we give you too much benefit or Second Adult rebate, we will
send you a letter. When we give you too much benefit, we call it an
'overpayment'.
The letter we send you will tell you:-
- why we gave you too much benefit,
- how much the overpayment is,
- if you have to pay back the amount,
- how you can appeal if you think this is wrong.
In most cases we will send you a revised Council Tax bill, and
you will usually have to pay more Council Tax.
Renewing your
Benefit
We will send you a claim form about 5 weeks before the review
date. If you want to carry on claiming benefit, fill in the form
and send it back to us as soon as you can.
If you do not send us the form in time, your benefit will stop
on the review date. We will send you a revised Council Tax bill.
This will usually mean you will have to pay more Council Tax.
You can contact the benefits
department as follows:
benefits@midsuffolk.gov.uk
01449 727287 or 01449 727397
Visit the Benefits Office, or
Benefits office, Mid Suffolk District Council, 131 High Street,
Needham Market, Suffolk, IP6 8DL