Question re: tax credits and housing benefit.

Twister17

Do tax credits inform housing benefit of any changes. I.e when tax credits get renewed and they go up or down, do HB get informed of this and adjust the claim accordingly?

A friend renewed tax credits a few months ago, around the same time she got her award letter she received a letter from the council saying that due to a change in circumstances her HB was going down, she assumed this was because tax credits had informed the council of the changes and left it at that. Anyway now she's worried that she's been claiming an incorrect amount of housing benefit. I'm sure I've read somewhere that tax credits now inform HB if a claim changes but I can't seem to find any info online to confirm this.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

We get informed via ATLAS of changes in Tax Credits. We do not see any details of the earnings being used. Claimants will still need to inform their local Housing Benefits Office of any changes in financial or household circumstances and check their benefit notifications that the details being used are correct. The system isn't foolproof and errors occasionally occur.

Twister17

Thanks, that's very helpful. I'll inform my friend and get her to contact her housing benefit office ASAP, if only as a precautionary measure. I think I remember her saying she informed HB at the time when her household income went down and they adjusted her claim accordingly, so hopefully it's all fine.