General Information
f there has been a reason which stopped or delayed you applying for Housing or Council Tax Benefit you can ask for your claim
to be ‘backdated’ so that it starts from an earlier date.
The Start Date of Your Benefit Claim
Under Housing and Council Tax Benefit law your claim for benefit must be made in writing. Normally we will start your claim form the Monday after we receive your application form. It is therefore very important that you can get your application form to us as soon as possible because it affects the date your benefit claim will start from. If you take longer than 4 weeks to return the form you might lose your entitlement to some benefits.
The Rules of 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. Look at more information on how to appeal.
In order for a backdate of Housing Benefit or 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.
If you want us to consider backdating your claim you can indicate this as part of your application or write to us. We will need to know your name, address, claim reference and the date you want your claim to start from, as well as the reason you were late in applying for benefit.