Frequently asked Questions and Answers

How do I apply for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit?

You need to complete a standard claim form, which can be supplied by Peterborough City Council. You can request one by contacting us or visiting one of our offices.

Or you can download an application form for Housing and Council Tax Benefit from our download page which you can print off, complete and then hand it in or send it to our office.

Alternatively, if you are making a claim for benefit with the Department of Works and Pensions (formerly the Department of Social Security) they will give you a pack which includes with it an application form for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit called an NHB1 form. This can be treated as the date you made a claim for benefit but you may still be asked to complete one of our own claim forms and/or provide further information to complete your claim.

PLEASE NOTE BENEFIT CAN NORMALLY ONLY BE AWARDED FROM THE MONDAY FOLLOWING THE DATE AN APPLICATION FORM HAS BEEN RECEIVED BY THIS OR ANY OF OUR DESIGNATED OFFICES.

How do I know whether it is worth claiming benefit?

Try our online benefit calculator to get an estimate of benefits available to you.

Or you can contact us by telephone fax or email OR visit our Customer Services Centre where one of our staff will be able to assist you. They will be able to calculate your entitlement to benefit based on your personal circumstances and advise you of what, if any benefit, you could apply for.

How long will it take to assess my claim?

We aim to assess all claims within 14 days of the last piece of information being received.

In order to help with the speed of your claim please make sure you provide all the relevant information and evidence asked for when you complete your application form.

If your claim is not complete a delay may occur, as we may need to write to you to request the details that are necessary to complete your claim.

Please note if you do not have all the information at hand when you complete the form you should not delay sending it to this office, as this may have an effect on the date we can pay your benefit from.

We now operate a fast track service for new claims.

Normally Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit is only awarded from the Monday after the date a request in writing has been made.

How much of my savings are taken into account?

If any person's capital is more than £16000.00 they will not qualify for any assistance unless they are in receipt of Pension Credit (Guaranteed) when they may still qualify.

There are two types of savings calculations used for the assessment of benefit based on your age.

They are as follows:

If you or your partner are UNDER 60 years of age

The first £6000.00 of your savings capital is ignored.

After that for every £250.00 of your savings £1.00 per week is used as income.
For Example: -
If you have £ 6750.00 saved we will not take into account £6000.00.
We will use £750.00 and divide this by £250.00.
This is worked out as follows:
£750.00 divided by £250.00 equals 3.0
This means we will use £3.00 per week.

If you or your partner are OVER 60 years of age

The first £6000.00 of your savings capital is ignored.

After that for every £500.00 of your savings £1.00 per week is used as income.
For Example: -
If you have £ 7000.00 saved we will not take into account £6000.00.
We will use £1000.00 and divide this by 500.00.
This is worked out as follows:
£1000.00 divided by £500.00 equals 2
This means we will use £2.00 per week

Why do you reduce my benefit because I have someone who lives with me?

When assessing a claim for benefit all of your circumstances need to be taken into account. This includes if you have people living with you.

Details of the other people living with you need to be supplied by yourself and then, depending on their circumstances, a charge may apply. This is a standard amount and is the amount they need to give to you to cover this deduction.

In some cases no deduction will apply.

This is based on either your circumstances or that of the person who lives with you.

Further details concerning charges for people who live with you can be obtained by contacting us.

What can I do if I disagree with the amount of benefit I have been given?

Any one who is affected by an award of benefit can appeal if they disagree with the decision of the local authority, and can appeal if they do not agree with that decision.

A person who is affected must be either:

A claimant OR
A person appointed to act for the claimant by the Court of Protection or under the Powers of Attorney Acts OR
A person appointed by the local authority to act for the claimant OR
A person from whom the local authority decides that an overpayment is recoverable OR
The landlord or agent (limited to cases where the decision relates to circumstances in which payment is or may be made to a landlord or agent)

Any affected person can provide a written request asking for the claim to be looked at again. It needs to be requested within one calendar month of the date the original letter advising of the award was sent.

You can ask for a standard Appeals form to be posted to you or you can visit one of our offices where a member of our staff will be able to assist you.

If you wish to complete this form you must include any reason(s) why you disagree with your award.

The decision will then be looked at again, but not by the person who originally assessed it.

You will then be written to advising if your request has been successful.

If you are still not happy with the outcome you will be given a further calendar month in which you can ask for it to be looked at again.

This time it will be forwarded on to The Tribunal Service which is not part of the council. A Tribunal will look at the decision. They will look at it independently from the Council.

They will write to you to advise you when the tribunal will be held.

You have the choice to attend the appeal if you would like or allow the appeal to be heard without you.

You can also ask at any time for an explanation as to how your benefit has been worked out. This will be sent to you by letter and does not affect the time limit you have been given in which you can appeal.

If you wish to know more about The Tribunal Service (www.tribunals.gov.uk) please click here.

If you wish to talk to someone about an appeal please call our Appeals Team on Peterborough (01733) 452676 or e-mail them direct at benefits@peterborough.gov.uk

What happens if I'm paid too much benefit?

If you have been overpaid Housing Benefit you will be advised of this in writing.

This letter will detail how much of the overpayment is recoverable and from whom we will be seeking to recover it from .

We may decide to not recover an overpayment if it was caused by our error. However, if you could have reasonably known that you were being overpaid we may still seek to recover the debt.

The overpayment may be recovered from you or your landlord if it was sent directly to them.

When an overpayment is created we will confirm the cause for the overpayment and decide whether or not it is recoverable. Then we will then write to you and any other persons affected (e.g. your Landlord) to confirm the period and amount of the overpayment. The notice will confirm if the overpayment is recoverable from you or from a third party (e.g. your landlord).

There are several ways of recovering overpayments these include:

from ongoing benefit entitlement
or from other social security benefits
or by payments paid to an invoice.

There are standard amounts that are used when debts are recovered from ongoing benefit.

If you are not happy with an amount that is being used to recover a debt you can ask us to look at this again.

If you can prove that the sum being taken from your benefit is causing you to have money difficulties it may be possible to change this amount.

You will need to provide a statement confirming your reasons why the recovery amount is too much.

The financial statement form is available to be downloaded and completed.

DOCUMENTS IN PDF FORMAT TEXT

Financial Statement form

(133 KB, 2 pages)

If it is agreed that you are having difficulties with your money due to the recovery of this debt it may be possible to reduce the amount being taken from your benefit or to change the method of recovery.

If you wish to discuss an overpayment of benefit or make an arrangement to repay please call the Overpayments Team on Peterborough (01733) 452651 or e-mail them direct via recovery@peterborough.gov.uk.

Any person who is affected by a decision made regarding your claim for benefit can appeal if they disagree with it.