Need Help with Your Rent Or Council Tax?

Need help with your rent or Council Tax?

Making a claim for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction in Sandwell.

If you need help with your rent or Council Tax, or want to know if you might be entitled to benefits for these, it’s really important to act quickly and follow a few simple rules. We often see people lose benefit because they have not made aclaim at the right time or have missed something out when putting their claim in.

Here are some of the things you need to know about making a claim for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction in Sandwell.

• CLAIM IMMEDIATELY:If you want to claim either benefit – make your claim immediately. Backdating is only awarded if there is a very good reason why the claim could not be made at the right time. In the exceptional cases where backdating is awarded – the maximum period is one calendar month for Housing Benefit and 6 months for Council Tax Reduction. Don’t delay – make your claim immediately.
• DON’T FORGET COUNCIL TAX:If you don’t want to claim Housing Benefit, because you are getting help with your rent through Universal Credit, but you have to pay Council Tax– or if you own your own home, youcan still apply to us for Council Tax Reduction. You should do this as soon as you think you might need help.
• CLAIM ONLINE:All Housing Benefit or Council Tax reduction claims in Sandwell must be made online. Just search for ‘Claim Housing Benefit Sandwell.’
• ON ANY DEVICE:You can make a claim 24/7. Our form works on PCs, tablets or smart-phones. You can claim wherever you are, whenever you want.
• NO INTERNET ACCESS?If you don’t have internet access – you can use a computer in any Sandwell library. If you can’t use a computer, contact our call centre for advice.
• SAVE YOUR ANSWERS:When you are using our online application form – you can save your answers and come back if you can’t complete the form in one go. You can do this from any page of the application. Just make sure you keep the reference number you are given and make a note of the password you will be asked to create.
• REFERENCE NUMBER: Your reference number will be in this format -
• NATIONAL INSURANCE NUMBER: Have your National Insurance number handy when you start the form – this is essential to complete your application.
• CALCULATOR:The application form is combined with a calculator which works out how much benefit you might get. It also tells you how much you might need to pay towards your rent or Council Tax yourself if you don’t get full benefit. You can use the calculator just to check whether you might get help without actually making a claim if you don’t want to.
• CHANGE OF ADDRESS WITHIN SANDWELL: If you are moving home within Sandwell and are already claiming benefit – you don’t need to complete our full application form. Instead, youshould complete our ‘moving within area’ form. (Please copy and paste this address into your browser -
• INFORMATION AND PROOF YOU NEED TO GIVE US: Our online application form can work out from your answers, what extra information or proof you need to send us.
• YOU ONLY GET ASKED ONCE: If we ask you for something, you must provide this within the time limit you are given. (Usually, one month). We don’t send reminders so don’t leave it or your claim could be cancelled. You will then have to reapply and your claim will only start from the date we get the new form.
• IF WE CONTACT YOU LATER: We will sometimes contact customers by phone or by letter if realise that extra information is needed. Again, it is essential that you give us the information we need straight away. If there is problem that might make this difficult, talk to us about it.
• IF WE CAN CHECK IT OURSELVES – WE WILL: We can often process benefit claims without asking the claimant for supporting evidence. If we can get what we need from agencies like the Department of Work and Pensions or from your landlord if you are a council or housing association tenant, we will. If we don’t ask you for something you think we might need – we have probably been able to check it already.
• HIT SUBMIT:Sometimes, people start to fill in our form online, but don’t finish it. If you don’t go through a form, right to the end and submit it, it doesn’t count as a claim for benefit. You must make sure you finish the application and submit it, for it to count. If you don’t press submit – you haven’t made a claim. It’s that simple.

• PROVING YOU HAVE MADE A CLAIM. (Full application form) When you submit our full application form online, you are automatically sent an email receipt. Make sure you keep this. It’s your proof that you have made a claim.
• PROVING YOUR CLAIM ON A CHANGE OF ADDRESS: At the moment – our change of address form does not automatically generate an email receipt. However you can screen-shot or print the final page. You can use this as proof that you have made a claim.

• IF SOMETHING CHANGES: If anything you have told us on your form changes, after you send it in – for example, your income changes or someone moves in or out of your home, you must tell us straightaway. If you are not sure whether we need to know about a change, check with us. If you don’t it might cause an overpayment you have to pay back. Sometimes, it could even be benefit fraud.
• YOUR RENT – YOUR COUNCIL TAX: Remember – if there is any part of your rent or Council Tax that we can’t help you with, its up to you to make sure it gets paid. If you are worried about rent arrears, talk to your landlord as soon as you can and try and make a suitable arrangement to pay them. If you are worried about Council Tax arrears – talk to the Revenues and Benefits Service straight away.