Change of Circumstances

What do I have to do if there is a change in mycircumstances?

The law says you must tell us if there is any change to the information we have used to decide whether you are entitled to Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit (or both). You should tell us immediately, in writing, of any changes in your circumstances.

You should tell us straightaway even if you're still waiting to hear from us about your claim, and even if you've already told someone else like the Department for Work and Pensions or your landlord.

In this section we tell you the type of changes you have to report, particularly about starting work or about changing address, and what happens if you don't tell us.

What kind of changes do I have to tell you about?

You need to tell us about any change that could affect your benefit.

Here are some examples:

Changes in benefit

For example, if you or your partner stop receiving:

Income Support;
Jobseeker's Allowance; or
any other benefit that you or your partner get.
Or if there is any other type of change.

Changes in income

For example, if there is any change to your or your partner's:

wages;
tax credits;
maintenance;
works pensions; or
other income.

You should always tell us whether the income starts, stops, goes up or goes down.

People who live with you

You must tell us if, for example:

anyone comes to live with you or moves out;
someone who lives with you starts or stops work;
there is any change in the income of someone who lives with you, except changes to the amount of Income Support or income based Jobseeker's Allowance; or
a child leaves school.

You can always check with us if you're not sure.

Bank accounts, savings and investments

You must tell us if there are any changes in your:

bank accounts;
savings; or
stocks, shares and so on.

You don't have to tell us about the minor changes of a current account, or of the day-to-day changes in the value on the stock market of any stocks and shares you have.

Private rents

You must tell us if:

your landlord puts your rent up or down;
the services included in your rent change; or
the part of the property you live in changes.

But if you are a council tenant, you don't need to tell us about any rent changes.

Other kinds of changes you should tell us about

You should tell us if you:

move;
live away from home;
become a student or finish your course;
go into hospital;
go into prison; or
have a change of landlord.

We cannot list all of the changes in circumstance that you should tell us about, but if you are not sure whether we need to know, tell us anyway. Don't leave it until the next time you fill in a claim form or we contact you.

When do I have to tell you about any changes?

You should tell us within one month of the change happening. If you don't, you could lose benefit.

If you tell us within one month of the change happening, we will usually work out your benefit from the Monday following the date the change happened.
If you leave it longer than a month to tell us, and the change means that you could get more benefit, we can only work out your benefit from the Monday after you tell us. This is when you would lose out on benefit, so tell us straightaway.
If a change happens which means you would get less benefit, you should still tell us within a month of the change. Even if you delay, we will still work out your benefit by going back to the Monday after the date the change happened. This means you might have been overpaid benefit, which you'll have to pay back. If you want to avoid this, tell us straightaway.

What if I change address?

You need to tell us straightaway if you move.

You will probably want to claim Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit at your new address, and you'll want to get benefit sorted out as soon as possible.

If we don't know you've moved, we may carry on paying benefit to the landlord at your last address.

If you're thinking of moving to a private property, you should apply for a pre-tenancy determination (PTD). This will help you to decide if you can afford the rent on the new property.

I'm about to start work. How will that affect my benefit?

Starting work can mean some practical problems.

Your benefit will change so you need to tell us if you:

start a new job;
increase your normal hours;
start working overtime; or
get a pay rise.

You need to tell us immediately.

Please see the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit for people who work page for further information that may be useful to you.

If my Income Support stops?

If you've been getting Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance and start a job, or increase your hours, there are rules to make things slightly easier.

Extended payments

Your Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit may carry on for up to four weeks after you start work or increase your hours. Tell your Jobcentre Plus office as soon as possible, and don't forget to tell us too. You must request an extended payment and this must be done within 28 days of your change in circumstances. Your employment must be expected to last longer than 5 weeks and must be at least 16 hours per week.

In-work benefits

Unless you're very well paid, you may still get some Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit if you apply, but we'll need all your income details in order to check. We usually ask for your last five weekly or last two monthly payslips, but if your new employer can provide details of your likely pay (before and after deductions), we can estimate your likely earnings.

If you've been on Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, you will need to make a new claim for benefit. We will send you a claim form when we find out your benefit has stopped, but you can save time by picking one up from our offices.

Please don't delay claiming or you could lose benefit.

There are other benefits for people who work.

You might be entitled to tax credits, but these will affect your Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit so we need to know as soon as you are awarded a tax credit or when the amount changes.

What happens if I don't tell you about changes?

If you don't tell us, we're likely to go on paying the same rate of benefit as before and this may be wrong. We may need to change the amount we pay you, or stop your benefit completely because of a change. If you don't tell us, or are slow to tell us, we may have paid too much. We will expect you to pay it back, and we may take it out of the benefit we're still paying you.
For Council Tax Benefit we'll take the money back out of your Council Tax account so you will get a revised bill showing that you have to pay more.
If you don't tell us about changes straightaway, we may not be able to pay you back pay. If you take more than a month to tell us about a change that would give you more benefit, we can only increase your benefit from the Monday after the date you told us. If there are good reasons that explain your delay, we may be able to pay the extra money from an earlier date, but we cannot guarantee this.
We may find out about a change in some other way and this might make us suspect fraud. You could be committing an offence if you don't tell us about changes and be subject to an investigation if we find out about the change in some other way. If you fail to notify us of a change of circumstances in order to continue to receive benefit you are committing a criminal offence that is punishable by up to seven years in prison.

How should I tell you about any changes?

Please tell us in writing and give us your benefits reference number which is on the letters we send you.
Tell us what's changed and the date it changed.
Give us all the details. For example, we need to know things like:
the new amounts of income;
the name and date of birth of someone who has come to live with you; and
the date someone moved out of your home.

We usually need proof of the change so send us things like:

new payslip;
the notice of a rent increase;
the award letter about a new benefit, or about a change to your benefit;
the award letter about a tax credit, or a change to your tax credits; or
the letter telling you your pension has increased.

For wages, if you haven't got five weeks' or two months' payslips yet, don't delay telling us about your job and wages. You can always send these in later when you have them.

Do I need to tell anyone else about my changes?

Yes, you do.

If you get Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance or any other department for work and pensions benefit, you need to tell the Jobcentre Plus office straightaway about your change. If you have moved, we always check if you are getting these benefits at your new address. If the Jobcentre Plus office don't know that you've moved, it might hold up your claim with us.

What happens if I've been paid too much benefit?

If we find we've paid you too much benefit, we have to tell you what the right amount is and how much we have overpaid you. Sometimes we will tell you that there has been an overpayment but that we have not yet decided whether to ask you to pay it back or what we are going to do about it.

Sometimes we'll tell you straightaway, and will tell you how we're going to take the money back. At other times we may write to you a few weeks later to ask you to repay the benefit or to tell you that we're not going to ask you to pay it back. Here are the main ways we get back what we've overpaid you.

If the overpayment is Council Tax Benefit, we normally take it out of your Council Tax account leaving you with more Council Tax to pay. Your instalments or direct debits will go up, and if you don't make arrangements to pay or keep to arrangements you may be taken to court.
If you still get Housing Benefit, we will often take a regular amount out of your continuing benefits. If you can't afford to repay and it's causing you difficulties, we might be able to change the amount you pay back each week. You should write to us and ask.
For council tenants, if your rent account is in credit, we may take the overpayment out of the credit. For private and housing association tenants, if we've paid your benefit to your landlord, we may ask your landlord to pay. But if the landlord wasn't to know that you were being overpaid, we're more likely to ask you to repay it instead.
If you're not still getting benefit,or if you have enough savings to repay, we may send you a bill.
We may take an overpayment out of other Housing Benefit we owe you.

What can I do if I don't agree with your decision?

If you don't agree with our decision, you can ask us to look at it again. Our letters tell you what your rights are. Please see 'What to do if you disagree with a Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit decision' for more detailed information.

Where can I get help?

The council offers free, independent, confidential advice on the following benefits:

Housing and council tax benefit(including help with appeals)
Attendance Allowance
Disability Living Allowance
Pension Credit
Tax Credits
Other social security benefits

If you need to find out whether you are eligible for any of these benefits or if you need help completing benefit forms, please get in touch with our Independent Benefit Advisor, Karen Linford.

Phone Karen on 0151 356 6607 or email karen.linford@epnbc.gov.uk

Home visits can be arranged if required.

Advice is also available from Ellesmere Port and Neston's Citizens Advice Bureau.

Back to the Benefits homepage

A breath of fresh air

Quick Links:

Change of Circumstances