Backdating Benefit

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Find out here when and how you can ask us to backdate your claim for benefit, and what we need from you to help us make a decision.

Here are answers to the following questions:

• What is backdated housing benefit and council tax benefit?
• What do I need to show in order to have my benefit backdated?
• How do I claim backdated benefit?
• What do I do if I disagree with your decision?

What is backdated housing benefit and council tax benefit?
This is benefit paid to you for a period in the past when you were unable to claim because of certain personal circumstances. We can backdate a claim for up to 52 weeks for you, counting back from the date we receive a request from you in writing.

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What do I need to show in order to have my benefit backdated?
We can only backdate your benefit if you are able to show us a good reason why you did not claim the money at the time. You must show us:

• There was a good reason or reasons why you did not claim sooner.
• These reasons cover the whole period you are asking us to pay up to the date you make the backdate request.
• You would have qualified for benefit for this whole period.

We treat each claim on its own merits, but in general we will take into account any factors that would have caused any reasonable person of your age, health and experience not to have claimed earlier. These might include:

• not being able to understand the regulations because of your age, level of literacy or language abilities
• being unable to deal with your affairs because of illness

We will not backdate your benefit if your only reason for not claiming sooner is that you didn’t know you could, or didn’t know about any time limit for claiming. It is your responsibility to contact us or the Department for Work and Pensions if you are unsure about your rights or duties.

If you had an official appointee acting on your behalf during the period you want your benefit backdated to, we make a judgement based on their actions and not yours. In other words, it is your appointee who would have to show “good cause” for failing to make an earlier claim.

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How do I claim backdated benefit?
You must apply to us in writing if you want your benefit backdated. Depending on what you tell us we may ask for supporting evidence, such as a letter from your doctor if you are ill.

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What do I do if I disagree with your decision?
If you disagree with our decision you can ask us to look at it again, and if you are still not happy after we have done this, you can appeal. You can find out more by linking to the section on how to appeal on this page.

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