If you are getting Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based)  or Pension Guarantee Credit you will normally get all your rent and council tax paid. However, deductions may apply as detailed below.

If you are not entitled to Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based) or Pension Guarantee Credit, we will work out your benefit entitlement based on the normal weekly income you and any partner receive. This income is compared with amounts set by the Government which reflect your basic needs. This is called your Applicable Amount.

When working out your Applicable Amount we look at: 

• You and any partner's age.
• Any disabilities you and your partner may have.
• Any children you get Child Benefit for

What income do we use to work out your benefit?

The following types of income are used to work out your normal weekly income. 

• Wages less deductions for Tax and National Insurance
• Self Employed earnings
• Tax Credits (Child & Working)
• State Pensions
• Pension Credits (Savings Credit)
• Other Pensions (including occupational and  private pensions)
• Annuities 
• Incapacity Benefit
• Maintenance or Charitable payments received
• Other Social Security benefits (Job Seekers Allowance (Cont Based), Severe Disablement Allowance, Widows Pension, etc)
• Student grants/loans
• Any other money received by you or your partner on a regular basis. 

Some other benefits/allowances such as Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance are not used as income but do affect the calculation. You must tell us if you receive any of them.

Also under local rules we ignore payments for War Disablement Pensions or War Widows Pension but we must be told about these payments if you receive them.

Some expenses you and any partner may pay out can be taken off the income we use to calculate your entitlement.

We take off 50% of the contributions paid into a pension scheme either from your wages or through personal contribution schemes.

If you pay child care costs and you (including lone parents) and any partner both work over 16 hours or more per week, some of these costs can be deducted. For more information about child care costs see the linked document on the right. 

What about savings?

We must also look at the amount of savings and other capital you and any partner may have. To work out your total amount of savings we will include all money in

• Banks
• Building Societies
• Income Bonds
• National Savings Certificates
• Shares
• ISA’s
• TESSA’s 
• Cash at home

Any property (not the one you live in) or land you own or jointly own, will be valued and may be counted as well.

When we look at your savings we do not count the first £6,000. However, for every £250 or part of £250 you have in savings above £6,000, £1 will be used as income. We call this tariff income and it will be added to your other income when we work out your normal weekly income. 

For example:

if you have £8450 in savings, we disregard the first £6,000 leaving £2450

£2450 divided by £250 = £10 ( tariff income) 

If your total savings are more than £16,000 you will not qualify for any benefit. However, if you have received certain types of compensation payments (e.g. a Far East compensation payment) we do not count this money when working out your total savings. You must tell us about such payments and we will let you know if we can ignore the payment.

Working out benefit for Pensioners

If you are aged over 60 we work out your benefit in a different way. For details on how we work out benefit for pensioners see the document - Benefit for Pensioners. 

Deductions from benefit

You may not get all your rent or council tax paid in certain circumstances. The amount of benefit may be reduced because:

• if you have other adults living with you we may have to make deductions for these. We call them Non Dependant(s). For more information about Non Dependants see the document opposite.
• the amount of rent we can use to work out your Housing Benefit may be restricted by the Rent Service. 
• if your claim has been worked out under the Local Housing Allowance rules, the rate used may be lower than the actual rent charged. 

How much benefit may I get?

If you want to find out how much you may get towards your rent and council tax use our on-line Benefit Calculator opposite.

Telling you about your benefit entitlement.

Once we have worked out your benefit, we will send you notification letters showing you the way we have worked it out.

Please read these letters to make sure we are using the correct information. If we are not, then let us know straight away.

If you do not agree with the way we have worked out your benefit you can make a dispute or appeal. See the page on Disputes and Appeals.

Extra help available?

If your benefit is lower than you expected or you are having problems paying the rent or council tax, extra help may be available from the Discretionary Housing Payment scheme. Additional payments can be made by the Council to help towards any rent and council tax shortfall.

More details about Discretionary Housing Payments and a claim form are available opposite.

How often is my benefit paid?

Housing Benefit is normally paid every 4 weeks in arrears.

In most cases you can choose who it is paid to. However, if you rent from a private landlord and are making a claim under the Local Housing Allowance then your benefit will be paid to you.

We recommend you have your benefit paid direct to your bank or building society account. This is because it is:

• secure and safe
• you will have the money more quickly
• it is more convenient for you

If you do not have a bank or building society account we can pay you by cheque.

A schedule of our payment dates is shown on the right.

Council Tax Benefit will be calculated and any award is taken off your bill. You then pay any difference by monthly instalments.