How to claim housing benefit and council tax support

One application is made for each household taking into account the income and capital of each person living in your home. With the information you provide for this claim we will work out if you are entitled to both housing benefit and council tax support.

We will also use the information in your claim to check if you are entitled to free school meals.

Claiming through Jobcentre Plus or the Pension Service

If you have made a claim with the Jobcentre Plus of the Pension Service for any of the benefits listed below you could have also made a claim for housing benefit at the same time. The person you spoke with at Jobcentre Plus or the Pension Service would confirm this with you when you making your claim.

The eligible benefits are:

• Income Support;

• Jobseeker's Allowance;

• Employment Support Allowance; or

• Pension Credit.

This claim will be forwarded onto us, and we will use the information you provided to work out your entitlement to housing benefit. We will then write to you to let you know how much benefit you are entitled to.

From 1 April 2013 we will no longer be able to accept applications for council tax support made via Jobcentre Plus or the Pension Service. Instead we will need you to complete one of our on line claim forms, please see below for details.

Making a claim direct to the Benefits Service

In all other cases you need to make a claim with us directly.

A quick and easy way to make your claim is to use our online claim form.

Once you have submitted an on line claim form we can offer a fast track processing service. Contact the Benefits Service on 0161 253 5858 to book an appointment at Whittaker Street in Radcliffe to provide all evidence in support of the claim.

At the appointment a member of staff will check through your claim and make sure you have provided the evidence we need to see.  Providing we have everything we need to pay the claim it will be assessed within 2 working days.

If you prefer to fill in a paper claim form you can pick one up at our Whittaker Street offices in Radcliffe, Bury Town Hall, or any library in the borough.

You can also e-mail us at benefits@bury.gov.uk or ring us on 0161 253 5858, to ask for a form to be sent out to you in the post.

Need help or advice with making an application?

Contact us if you need help filling in the form. Please telephone us initially in order that we can answer your queries over the phone or if necessary book an appointment at our Whittaker Street, Radcliffe offices. All our contact details can be found at the top right hand corner of this page.

If you have difficulty making an application because you are elderly or disabled, we may be able to visit you at home. Please contact us to arrange a home visit.

If you tell us that you want to apply but cannot do it immediately, perhaps because you need us to visit you, we will treat the date you first contacted us as the date of your claim as long as we receive your application within a month.

We usually need evidence to support your application but do not delay your claim for this. Get a claim to us as soon as you can and send the evidence later.

Evidence

We usually require evidence to support your claim for benefits.

We cannot pay a claim until we have received all the evidence we need to work out how much benefit you are entitled to. If you have difficulty providing evidence we will provide support where we can, for example by arranging to visit you to collect information.

Telling us about changes in your circumstances

If you are already claiming housing benefit or council tax benefit and you need to let us know if you have had a change in your circumstances.  We have shorter forms if you have moved address or if you have had a change in your income so you don't have to fill out the full claim form again.

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