Backdated claims

Awards of housing and/or council tax benefit usually start from the first Monday after the day you make your claim.

Sometimes benefit can be paid before the date you made your claim. This is called backdating.

Working age
If you are of working age (aged under 60) we may be able to backdate your claim for up to six months from the date of receiving your written request.

Backdating for pensioners
If you are aged 60 or over we may be able to treat your claim as if you had made a claim three months earlier.

Special rules apply to men aged 60 to 64 if they or their partner receive Income Support or Income Based Job Seekers Allowance. They are treated under the working age rules above.

For a claim to be backdated
We must be satisfied that:

you have shown 'good cause' for failing to claim earlier; and
'good cause' existed continuously during the period for which backdating is being requested

We must be satisfied that during this time there were valid reasons why it would be reasonable for you or a person of your age and experience to have failed to claim benefit earlier.

You have to prove 'good cause'’ but we must take into account all the facts of your case.

Good cause
Examples of good cause are if you:

did not immediately claim benefit after leaving hospital
were ill and had no-one to make a claim on your behalf
did not understand that you could claim benefit perhaps because of age, inexperience or language difficulties
have suffered a recent family bereavement

How to claim backdated benefit
You will need to write to us stating your reasons why you think that your claim should be backdated. You will need to supply documentary proof of your income and savings for the period you are asking to be backdated.

What happens next
We will decide if your reasons are good enough to backdate your benefit. We will notify you in writing of our decision.

Sometimes we may need to write to you for more information to help us make a decision. The more information and evidence you provide to support your claim at the time that you request backdating, the more quickly we will be able to make a decision.

What if we decide not to backdate
If we decide that you have not shown good cause and that your claim cannot be backdated, we will write to you and explain why.

If you are not satisfied with our decision you can ask us to look at your backdating request again or you can appeal against it. You must write to us within one calendar month of the date of our decision notice stating your reasons why you disagree. You can find further information on how to appeal on the appeals page.