Notify council of annual increase to State Pension for housing benefit / council tax reduction?

fleemkt

Just wondered if you are normally required to inform the local council of your annual increase to state pension / pension credit

Does everyone in receipt of HB / CTR here notify their councils every year?

calcotti

You shouldn’t need to, Local Council should be informed by DWP.

fleemkt

Thank you calcotti.  I thought that was the case, but someone spoke to their local council who have advised that they should inform them olf the change.

However, I don't understand why the council would want the extra workload dealing with (cross-referencing) claimants' notifications every year against DWP's figures?

The same probably applies to annual changes to rent / service charges from housing associations if they get that paid by the council too?

tomtom256

To be fair, the onus is always on the customer to report any changes to the relevant benefit provider of the change. This is normally written on all award letters that get sent out.

mggftz30

The DWP share changes to your pension through Automated Transfer to Local Authority Systems so no need to inform the local council of a State Pension / Pension Credit increase. IT glitches do happen so always worth checking your notification letters and reporting any discrepancies. 

fleemkt

mggftz30 said:

The DWP share changes to your pension through Automated Transfer to Local Authority Systems so no need to inform the local council of a State Pension / Pension Credit increase. IT glitches do happen so always worth checking your notification letters and reporting any discrepancies. 

I assume you work in the sector?

This makes more sense to me as it doesn't make sense for the council to review / cross-ref notification of changes from their claimants each year around this time.  Purely from a resouce point of view?

This council also states that 'you do not need to notify the council of changes in regulations'.  I assume annual changes / increase to state pension would fall under this?

Robbie64

So long as there is an ongoing claim to Guaranteed Pension Credit (GPC) then there is no need to inform the local council of any changes to income such as the State Pension.

fleemkt

Robbie64 said:

So long as there is an ongoing claim to Guaranteed Pension Credit (GPC) then there is no need to inform the local council of any changes to income such as the State Pension.

They're in receipt of Pension Credit guarantee credit - yes.  As the council specifically stated that 'changes in regulations' do not need to be reported, I think I'll advise them of that.

They've already received their CTR assessment based on old rates; I assume their CTR will automatically be updated on or after 12th April, and a revised assessment sent out by the council?

poppasmurf_bewdley

My council tax bill from the local authority had my new pension details listed even before I received notification of my new pension from the DWP.