Additional Benefits Information

Backdated benefit payments

In exceptional circumstances you can claim backdated Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction.

It can backdated for up a 1 month (for working age claimants) or 3 months (for pension age claimants) from the date you make your claim.

 

Make a claim for backdated benefits

Contact us at benefits@welhat.gov.uk to claim. Send us as much information and evidence to support your claim as you can, this will help us to deal with your claim more quickly.

We may need to write to you for more information, or to ask you to come in for an informal interview.

 

Who can claim

In order to claim backdated benefits you must show you have good cause (for the whole period) where you did not claim.

We must be satisfied that any reasonable person of your age and experience would also have failed to claim benefit.

Some examples good cause for not being able to claim are:

  • if you did not immediately claim benefit after leaving hospital
  • if you were ill and had no-one to make a claim on your behalf
  • if you did not understand that you could claim benefit perhaps because of age, inexperience or language barriers
  • if you have suffered a recent family bereavement

 

After you have made a claim

If we decide that you did not have good cause and we cannot backdate your claim we will write to you to explain why.

You then have the right to appeal against our decision.