council tax benefit from last two years ?

poppyred

Hi, I was wondering if anyone on her could help, I work part time and my husband is a self employed builder, a couple of years ago he had a dry spell at work and we applied for CT benefit due to low income coming in, a few months later he got some work and so we signed off the benefit as per t&c.

Since then he has had a couple of years with very low income (2010/2011 just £8k income) and (2011/2012 just £9k income). I earn approx £9k per year, I was wondering if we can claim CT Discount for the last two years that we didn't apply for benefit. any help would be great x

CIS

You would not be able to claim it back for 2 years as ignorance of any entitlement is not a valid reason for backdating.

The fact that you had previously claimed council tax benefit would show that you were aware of the system and how it worked and you would be regarded as being knowledgeable enough to be able to claim at the time.

poppyred

CIS wrote: »

You would not be able to claim it back for 2 years as ignorance of any entitlement is not a valid reason for backdating.

The fact that you had previously claimed council tax benefit would show that you were aware of the system and how it worked and you would be regarded as being knowledgeable enough to be able to claim at the time.

Thanks for your help, it was not ignorance as such more, one week he's working the next couple of weeks he's not so to fill out a claim form every couple of weeks and then cancel it was not an option, would i be able to claim back for this year once the accountant has finalised the figures as we are still paying a full allowence for a low income couple, thanks for your help x

CIS

would i be able to claim back for this year

They would pay any ongoing claim from the date of claim, anything before that would have to be requested as a backdating request.

poppyred

CIS wrote: »

They would pay any ongoing claim from the date of claim, anything before that would have to be requested as a backdating request.

Thank you, i ended my last claim 18 months ago as work picked up a little, i'll enquiry about the backdating request for this year,do you happen to know what the low income amount is per couple with no dependants. Thanks again

elmer

Six months is the maximum backdate considered, as long as you have a good reason to show why you couldnt have applied earlier.

elmer

poppyred

thamks elmer, would a good reason be because some weeks my husband was working and other weeks he wasn't ?

miduck

poppyred wrote: »

thamks elmer, would a good reason be because some weeks my husband was working and other weeks he wasn't ?

No, it would not. You need to demonstrate why you could not apply at the time, and having an irregular income would not be sufficient reason.

poppyred

miduck wrote: »

No, it would not. You need to demonstrate why you could not apply at the time, and having an irregular income would not be sufficient reason.

thank miduck, it's just hard because he can't claim while he's working but can claim if he's not earning, i'd be filing in forms every few weeks, maybe i should just claim and then pay extra for the weeks he works, surley i'm not the only one in this boat there must be loads of self employed people who have irregular work ?

miduck

poppyred wrote: »

thank miduck, it's just hard because he can't claim while he's working but can claim if he's not earning, i'd be filing in forms every few weeks, maybe i should just claim and then pay extra for the weeks he works, surley i'm not the only one in this boat there must be loads of self employed people who have irregular work ?

Self employed claimants do have to regularly update the LA with their income, yes, but it would only be a small form each time, not a new application. This is why I doubt a backdating request would be successful, as you could have had an ongoing claim that reflected your fluctuating income.