What you should tell us about
You must tell us about a change of circumstances if you receive Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support.
This change could be for you, your partner or grown-up children. Examples include changes to:
- Tax Credits
- your address
- someone moving in or out of your home
- Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance if it has stopped
- income or savings
- private rent charges
- if you are going to be away from home for more than 4 weeks
Even small changes can affect the amount of Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support that you’re entitled to.
When you should tell us
Tell us about a change of circumstances as quickly as you can. This is because:
- a delay could lead to a benefits overpayment which you may need to pay back
- we can usually only increase your benefit from the week after the date you tell us about the change
- it is a criminal offence to not report a change that you know will affect your benefit without a good reason
Supporting documents
We will need evidence of the change to your circumstances. You can upload scans or photographs of documents as part of the online form. Please make sure that:
- the information you provide is easy to read as unclear information will cause delays
- you provide evidence within one month of submitting the change of circumstances form
How to tell us
Complete the change of circumstances form.
You can save the form and continue it later if you need to find supporting evidence. You can either take a note of the reference number and password which is displayed when you click ‘save’, or provide your email address and we will send you these details.