Change of circumstances

Change Of Circumstances

What if things change after I claim?

You must tell us straight away about anything that could affect your benefit entitlement.

Remember it is a criminal offence not to tell us of a change which affects your benefit claim!

You should always tell us about a change in writing. Use the linked document - "Change of Circumstance form" to tell us about any changes.

You should tell us about any changes within one calendar month of the date of change. If you do not tell us straight away and the change means that you should get more benefit, we may only award the new benefit from the Monday after you tell us.

However, if your benefit goes down because of a change in circumstances (e.g. your income increases, someone moves in with you, etc), we will always go back to the date of the change. Any benefit overpaid because you do not tell us of the change, will have to be paid back. See the Linked Document - "How we deal with overpayments"?

The following are some of the changes you should tell us about:

Changes to you and your partner's income

an award of or change to Tax Credits
if you or partner start working - see the linked document on Extended Payments
if you or your partner stop working
if Income Support/Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based) stops or starts
an increase in pension, including changes to Pension Credit and other private/employer pensions
an award of or ending of any other benefit or allowance (e.g. Incapacity Benefit, Carers Allowance, Disability Living Allowance etc)
increases or decreases in the amount of savings
if Job Seekers Allowance (Contribution Based) starts or stops
Any other changes to income you receive

Changes about your home

if your rent changes
if you move (you will need to complete a change of circumstance form for the new address)

Changes to people who live with you

if someone comes to live with you
if someone living with you moves out
if someone living with you starts or finishes work or their income changes

This list does not include everything you need to tell us about. See the linked documents on this page for more information about some changes and how we deal with them.

Remember - you will need to send original details to confirm any change.