Backdated benefit claims

How to claim backdated benefits

You can claim backdated Housing Benefit if you have a good reason for failing to make your claim on time. Anyone can ask for a backdate of Housing Benefit but only people of Pension age can ask for Council Tax Reduction to be backdated.

To claim backdated Housing Benefit you will need to:

• Make your backdate request on the Housing Benefit claim form (PDF document) and
• Explain the reason for the delay in making your claim

How far back can I claim from?

You can request a backdate of 1 month (or up to 3 months for people of state pension age.)

Reasons for backdating your claim

Examples of good reasons for failing to claim your benefits on time include

• You were seriously ill and couldn't claim (and no-one else could claim it for you)
• You were wrongly advised by a legitimate agency such as the council or job centre that you were not entitled to make a claim

We may ask for more information to support your request, such as a doctor’s letter.

What happens next?

Once we have received your request, your case will be looked at and you will be sent a letter explaining the decision and why it has been made. If you don't agree with the decision that has been made, you can write to us and ask us to look at it again. If the decision can be changed we will send you a new decision. If we can't change the decision we will tell you why. If you still disagree, you have 1 more month to appeal, from the date of the new decision. This will then be dealt with by the independent Tribunal Service. Visit the Justice website for more details.