How to claim Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit
If you want to claim Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit, you can do one of the following:
- |complete an on-line claim form
- |download a printable claim form
- request a claim form by phone on 01372 474060 or |by email
If you would like to see someone face to face but are unable to visit the civic offices because you are unwell, elderly or disabled, and you do not have anyone who can help you, we may be able to visit you. Please call the customer service section on 01372 474060.
Please read the form thoroughly before completing it and send your claim to us as quickly as possible as your claim will usually start from the Monday following receipt of your claim.
Filling in the form
Before you return the form, please make sure that you have fully answered all the questions for you, your partner and all the people in your household, and enclosed all the proof we need. Please note, we need original documents, photocopies are not acceptable. Check the form carefully and then sign the declaration. At the back of the form there is a checklist that you should complete before sending or submitting. There are also some help notes that you may wish to refer to.
Please do not delay in sending us your claim form. Housing and Council Tax Benefit usually starts from the Monday following the date we receive your claim form, so it is important that you send this to us straight away, even if you cannot supply all the| information we need; however you must supply all of this information within one month. If you have any problems in supplying the information, please make sure you call us for advice.
If you have difficulty with any of the questions, please call us on 01372 474060 or come and see us at the Civic Centre in Esher, from Monday to Friday between 8.45am and 5pm. You can also get free, independent advice and help from the Citizens' Advice Bureau at Walton on 01932 248660 and at Esher on 01372 464770 (website: |Citizens Advice).
Returning the form
You can either:
Submit your claim form via the internet and provide the documents required to support your claim by post or preferably at the civic offices. In this case we will send you acknowledgement of receipt of your form electronically and we will send you a declaration for you to sign.
or
Print your claim form, sign it and provide it together with the documents required to support your claim by post or preferably at the civic offices. In this case we will send you an acknowledgement of receipt of your form by post
or
Complete your paper claim form, sign it and provide it together with the documents required to support your claim by post or preferably at the civic offices. In this case we will send you an acknowledgement of receipt of your form by post.
What we will do when we receive your form
When we receive your form we will check to see if you have provided all the information we need. If we need any other proof or have any questions, we will phone you (if you have given us a contact number) or write to you.
When we have all the information we need, we will work out your claim. We will write to you to tell you if you can get any Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit. We will also tell you what information we have used to work out your claim.
