Getting your housing or council tax benefit backdated

This content applies to Scotland only.

Housing laws vary between Scotland and England. This page applies to Scotland only. Get advice relating to England

If you think that you may have been entitled to housing or council tax benefit and have a really good reason for not having claimed before, you may be able to get backdated benefit.

New rules for backdating benefit

From the 6 October 2008 the rules for backdating housing and council tax benefit charged. In general, the new rules will cut the period of time that benefit can be backdated from 12 to six months for people of working age, and from 12 to three months for people who are in receipt of pension credit. This will apply to all claims, regardless if the initial claim was made before or after the 6 October.

How to ask for your benefit to be backdated

If you are of working age want to ask for your benefit to be backdated, you will need to state this when you fill in your housing or council tax benefit claim form. Your benefit can't be backdated by more than 6 months.

You will also have to include a letter or statement with your form, which states the reasons that you could not have claimed any earlier. Enclose any evidence you have to back this up. You can download a sample backdate request letter here.

Good reasons for claiming late

• You have been unwell and unable to manage your personal affairs.
• You have had mental health problems and have been unable to manage your personal affairs.
• You have experienced a personal trauma or bereavement.
• You have difficulty communicating in English.
• You have difficulty reading or writing and were not able to ask someone to help you.
• You were given information that was incorrect (this must have come from someone who should know about benefits, for example someone from the Department for Work and Pensions, the housing benefit or council tax department or an adviser, but not family or friends).

These are just examples of things that could have prevented you from claiming earlier. You might have other reasons. It is usually not enough to say you did not realise that you would have been entitled to benefit, unless there was good reason why you could not have investigated this yourself.

Evidence to back up your reasons

It is best if you can provide a letter from someone to support your reasons for claiming earlier. This could be from your:

• doctor
• health visitor
• social worker
• housing officer
• support worker.

This list only gives examples, so you could ask someone who is not on the list to write a supporting letter.

I have handed in my backdate request - what next?

If possible, hand the form into the council and get a receipt for it and any information you provide. Keep this in a safe place. You might receive a request for more information. If you do, provide this as soon as possible.

You will receive a letter notifying you of the housing/council tax benefit department's decision. If you are not happy with the decision you can challenge the decision by asking the housing / council tax benefit department to look at their decision again. You could get help to do this from an adviser at Shelter, a Citizens Advice Bureau or another advice agency. You will find contact details in our Advice Services Directory.

If you do not hear anything, you could phone or pop into the housing/council tax benefit department. Ask if they have received your request and if they have all the information they require. Take a note of the name of the person you speak to, what they say and the date. Keep this note somewhere safe.

Special rules for people who are over 60

If you are a man aged between 60 and 64, the period that your housing and council tax benefit can be backdated will vary depending on what other benefits you are claiming. If you are in receipt of income support or income based jobseeker's allowance, then your claim can be backdated up to six months if you show good cause. 

If you are claiming pension credit and your partner is not claiming income support or income based jobseeker's allowance your claim can automatically be backdated for up to three months.  You do not have to show that you have good cause for not having claimed earlier, just that you think that you would have been entitled to housing benefit.