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You can claim up to 13 weeks before you become entitled to Housing Benefit. So claim now if you know you will be moving to a new address soon or you know your circumstances are going to change - for example you may be retiring soon or going on maternity leave.
You will not get any benefit paid until the Monday after you make a claim. To get backdated benefits you have to have good reasons - so don't delay.
Claim forms
You can get a claim form:-
- from Manchester City Council's Revenues and Benefits service. You can ask them to post you a form or you can print a form from their website.
- from any Willow Park Office
Completing the form
When you make a claim for Housing Benefit you will need to give the Revenue & Benefits Unit some information before they decide if they can help or not. They will need:
- Proof of identification (ID), eg. Passport, birth certificate or driving licence
- Your National Insurance number, which can be found on a payslip, P45 or P60
- Examples of evidence if income and capital. Payslips, benefit award letter from Job Centre Plus, Child Benefit award letter, bank statements or building society account passbooks
- Evidence of rent charged. Your tenancy agreement or a letter from us
- Proof of landlord. Our full name and address, your tenancy start date, current rent and how often you pay it
The Manchester Revenue & Benefits Unit may need proof that these documents are real, this is called validation. We can validate these documents for you at any Willow Park office.
Don’t forget to sign your declaration after you have completed your claim form.
For help with completing your Housing Benefit claim form you can speak to your Rents Officer.
Alternatively, you can complete a claim form online.
Revenue & Benefits Unit
For more information contact the Revenue & Benefits Unit:
The Revenue & Benefits Unit
PO Box 3
Manchester
M15 5BA
Tel: 0161 2196100
Monday to Friday 8:45am – 5:00pm
Textphone for customers with hearing difficulties: 0161 9538301
Fax: 0161 4551130
Email: benefit.enquiries@manchester.gov.uk
Website: http://www.manchester.gov.uk/benefits/contact/
Processing claims
Once your claim has been received by the Revenues and Benefits service they will write to you if they need any further information to process your claim. Do not ignore any requests for additional information. If you do not reply your claim may be cancelled.
Written confirmation of decision
You will receive a letter from the Revenues and Benefits service telling you how much Housing Benefit you are entitled to. Contact us if you have any queries or don’t understand any letter you receive.
For help appealing a Housing Benefit decision or over payment make an appointment with our Welfare Rights Officer, Ammah Adu.
Changing circumstances
If there is a change in your circumstances you must tell the Revenues and Benefits service immediately. Examples of a change in circumstance are:-
- pay cut - you could receive more Housing Benefit
- pay rise - you could be getting too much Housing Benefit
- if someone moves in with you who is working you could be getting too much Housing Benefit.
If you have been receiving too much Housing Benefit the longer you leave it the more money you will have to pay back. You could also end up with rent arrears.
