Visit re. Council Tax Benefits

Hollysan

Hello moneysavers,

My husband and I are self-employed, I work part time. During the last year our income has dropped dramatically because his business is not doing as well as we would hope. I have received a form to claim CTB and they are coming to pick it up later this week. Does anyone know why they would come to our house to pick up the form and supporting papers such as bank statements etc? Looking into the council tax info we have, I now think our house might be on a lower band than it should be - I don't know this for sure, and I don't know why that would be, if it is. But my worry is that this visit might spark a revaluation, and if we are unsuccessful in our claim we might end up with a higher bill...

Sorry if this sounds paranoid, but I am in a state of high anxiety because of the mess we are in financially, and I am finding it hard to think straight at the moment. I would really welcome any opinion on my concerns...

Thanks,

Hollysan

McKneff

They normally come to your house to check that you are who you say you are and you both live where you say you live.
Its normally as simple as that. So dont worry too much.

There must be a reason for you to think that you are in a different band to the one you are in. More details are required for anyone to help you.

You say you are both self employed, are you doing the same thing, if income has dropped could one or even both of you at least look for some other kind of work even to supplement your income.

Hollysan

Thanks for the reply, McKneff. The reason I wondered about the banding is that I read the stuff from the council for the first time ever! Usually I just look at our bill. Today I noticed that our band is one of the cheapest; I had assumed it was one of the highest, but hadn't really paid it much attention. Just got the bill, paid it. Now our circumstances have changed I paid more attention. Previous owners extended, a long time ago mind. I thought perhaps the house was valued before that. It's just me worrying, because that's the way my mind is working at the moment.

To answer your question about work, we both do different jobs. Mine is going OK, but we have children at primary school, so I am tied to the school run, children's activies, dog walks and running the household. I work as much as I can during the day and sometimes in the evening and weekends. OH is working non-stop, but all speculative; his income has been affected by the recession. We are going to talk about it all this weekend because we can't carry on like this much longer.

Thanks again for the reply.

Hollysan

EltonJohnFan

I've had this happen too and it was just so they could double check all the information given,
Nothing to worry about, just show any supporting evidence they may require and everything should be fine.

Good luck