Apply for backdated benefits

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction is normally awarded from the Monday after the date we receive the claim. Sometimes we can award benefit from an earlier date if you have good reason for not applying earlier.

Your request

If you are working age, we can backdate your Housing Benefit for up to 1 month and your Council Tax Reduction for up to 1 year from the date you ask us to and you must give a good reason why this should be done. If you are pension age we can backdate your Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction for up to 3 months.

When requesting backdating you should give us as much detail as you can and provide any relevant evidence to support your claim.

You will need to provide proof of your income and circumstances for the time that you are requesting backdated benefit.

Reasons for backdated benefit 

• you had to go to another part of the country or abroad in an emergency
• you were in hospital or seriously ill and had no one else to claim on your behalf
• you could not manage your own affairs and did not have someone acting on your behalf
• a recent bereavement

What happens after I have asked for backdating?    

When you have asked for backdating we will write to you as soon as possible to let you know the outcome of your request.

If your request is refused, we will write to you to let you know why. We will also tell you how to dispute the decision.