Housing benefit -limits?

smiler34

Hi all, my partner has recently been made redundant and according to the entitledto.com we should get all our rent and council tax payed, thing is I was looking and when my partner was working he was earning just under 20,000 a year before tax and going through the form with this amount in and our previous tax credits amount it says we should have been entitled to £53 p/w in housing benefit. This can't be right can it? I always thought he was earning too much to claim anything like that. We have 3 children, one under one. We live in a 3 bed house and our LHA is 120 p/w. Our child tax credits was 134 p/w. Can anyone advise me if this sounds right? Cause if we could be claiming that then the money would come in useful when he gets a new job. Thanks for your help.

fluffymovie

Hi

I think this may be an academic question really as housing benefit has to be claimed at the time it is needed and you won't be able to ask for what you should have had whilst your oh was working unless you are able to show Good Cause for not claiming earlier.

you should make a claim without delay now that he isn't working but if you do ask for a backdate, the maximum they will go back is 6 months for working age claimants and only then if you are able to show that you have continuous good cause for not claiming at the appropriate time.

Good Cause isn't specified in regs but things like misadvice by an official agency such as LA, illness which prevented you from contacting etc. Unfortunately, not being aware of the scheme is not classed as good cause and so wouldn't get you a backdate.