How is my claim worked out?

What information do I need to give you for you to work out my claim for benefit?

When you make a claim for Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefit we need you to provide a number of documents to help us work out your entitlement. The information we require varies from claim to claim depending on your circumstances and we will write to you for specific documents when we receive your claim.

 
All claimants need to provide documentary proof of their and their partner's

• identity (passport, birth certificate, medical card, etc)
• national insurance number
• income and savings (entitlement to other benefits; wages; self employed profit and loss accounts; bank statements; share certificates, etc)
• and a liability to pay rent (tenancy agreement, letter from your landlord, proof of rent payments) unless you rent your home for the council.

We do not need proof of your council tax liability

We can only accept original documents.

If you need information about the types of documents we will accept please contact us.

The calculation of benefit

Housing benefit calculations are based on three things:

• eligible rent 
• household make-up
• income

These are measured against an applicable amount.

Applicable Amount

This is the minimum amount that the government has designated as the needs for the claimant, and it varies depending on the claimant's circumstances.

The applicable amount is made up of three factors:

• personal allowances
• dependents allowances 
• premiums

Personal Allowances

Below is a table of allowances based on different claimants' ages and marital status.

Claimant Type	Age Bands	Personal Allowances
Single person	Under 25	£47.95
	Over 25	£60.50
Single Parent	Under 18	£47.95
	Over 18	£60.50
Couple	Both under 18	£72.35
	One or both over 18	£94.95

Dependents Allowances

Dependents allowances are additions to personal allowances and are awarded for each dependent child in the claimant's household.

£52.59 for each child from birth to the first Monday in September following their 16th birthday and £10.50 for one or more children aged under one year.

Premiums

Premiums are also additions to the personal allowances figure and relate to any special needs the claimant may have.

The table below shows a list of premiums

Premium	Criteria	Amount
Family Premium	Dependent child in household	£16.75
Lone-parent Premium	Single parent solely responsible for child	£22.20
Pensioner Premium Single under 25	Aged 60-65	£124.05
Pensioner Premium Single 65 or over	Aged 65+	£143.80
Pensioner Couple under 65	Aged 60-65	£189.35
Pensioner Couple 65 or over	Aged 65+	£215.50
Extra Partner under 65	Aged 60-65	£65.30
Extra Partner 65 or over	Aged 65+	£71.70
Disability Premium (single)	Criteria below	£25.85
Disability Premium (couple)	Criteria below	£36.85
Disabled Child Premium	Child is blind or receives DLA	£48.72

The criteria for a disability premium is:
A. Receipt of disability living allowance, disability working allowance, attendance allowance, mobility allowance,
mobility supplement, invalidity pension, or severe disability allowance.
B. Receipt of payment through the invalid vehicle scheme or war pensioners vehicle scheme, receipt of a vehicle via
the Motability scheme or provided with a vehicle by the NHS.
C. If registered blind.
D. If incapable of work and has been continuously incapable for 52 weeks.
A couple will receive the couples rate if either of them satisfies A, B or C above, or if the claimant (not the partner)
satisfies D above.

How much of my rent will you pay?

Renting from Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council or a Housing Association

If you are renting your home from Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council or a Housing Association we will usually be able to consider all your rent when we are working out your entitlement to Housing Benefit.

There are some charges for your rented property that  we do not cover. These include: water rates; heating charges, some service charges, hot water charges and fuel charges. If you have amenities and service included in your rent and are not sure if we will cover these charges you should contact us about this.

Renting from a private landlord

If you pay rent to a private landlord, the rent we can take into account when calculating your entitlement may be restricted. We are required to ask the Rent Service to tell us how much rent we can take into consideration when looking at your claim. The Rent Service works out an average rent from records they have about how much similar accommodation has been rented out for in your area. The Rent Service is not part of the council.

We cannot tell you how much of the rent you pay will be allowed when we work out your benefit. We have to wait for this information from the Rent Service.

It may be a good idea for you to find out how much the Rent Service would allow for a specific address before you sign the tenancy agreement. To do this you can apply for a Pre-Tenancy Determination.

You need to complete the Pre-Tenancy Determination form and return it to us as soon as possible. We will then send it to the Rent Service who will write to you within five days with the decision.

If you disagree with the Rent Service's decision

If you think the Rent Service is wrong about the average rent for your type of property you can ask us to appeal for you. You need to write to us asking us to appeal against the Rent Service's decision and why you think the decision is wrong. We will forward your letter to the Rent Service along with any evidence you supply. The Rent Service will then arrange for the decision to be looked at again by a different team of Rent Officers. The new Rent Officer can either agree with the original decision or, if he disagrees, give a new decision. We have to accept the new decision even if it is less than the original decision. This means that the amount of rent we can consider in our assessment may go up or it may go down.