The information on this page will help you understand the information in your benefit letters. It should also explain some of the words that we have to use, for example, Applicable Amount, Non-Dependant deduction, Notional Income from Capital etc.

Please read your benefit letters carefuly. They tell you how your claim has been worked out. We are required by law to send them to you.

Your benefit award letter will tell you:

• When your benefit starts and ends
• How much benefit you are going to get
• How your benefit has been worked out
• How your benefit will be paid

If there is something your do not understand, please contact us straight away (see contact us). We will be happy to explain the letters to you.

This is the amount of money the Government says that you (and your partner and dependant children, if they live with you) need to live on. It is made up of a personal allowance for you and your partner, allowances for dependant children, and extra amounts (usually called Premiums) for disability, age, single parents and families.

If your total income is below the applicable amount then maximum Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit can be paid. You may also qualify for Income support, Income Based Jobseekers Allowance or Guaranteed Pension Credit.

This is the average weekly amount you earn after deductions for Income Tax, National Insurance and half of any Pension Contributions. We have to include any overtime and bonuses you receive with your pay. If you are paid weekly, the average weekly amount you earn is calculated from your last 5 weeks earnings. If you are paid monthly it is from your last 2 months earnings and if you are paid fornightly it is from your last 3 fortnightly earnings.

There are 2 rules regarding this, depending on how old you are:

If you are of working age (between 18 - 59), we will calculate this using £1.00 for every £250.00 of capital that you have that is over £6000.00.
For example, if you have £6500.00 in your bank account, we will use £2.00 per week notional income. This is calculated by disregarding the first £6000.00 and taking £1.00 per week for every £250.00 remaining (i.e. £500.00). 

If you are aged 60 or over, we will calculate this using £1.00 for every £500.00 of capital that you have that is over £6000.00.
Therefore if you use the above example, then we would only use £1.00 per week notional income into account in the calculation.

These amounts are set by the Government and are not at our discretion. We have to take all your capital into account, including cash you may have at home, and current accounts, even if they do not pay any interest.

Depending on the type of income or benefits you are getting, some of the money can be ignored when your benefit is worked out (e.g. in 2009/2010, £5.00 of a single person's earnings, £10.00 of a couple's earnings, £20.00 for a disabled person and £25.00 for a single parent are disregarded in the benefit calculation).
Some of your Working Tax Credit or earnings will also be disregarded if you work more than 30 hours per week (e.g. in 2009/2010 £16.85 per week is disregarded in the calculation).
Child Maintenance is fully disregarded from the benefit calculation (this has been the case since 27.10.08).
Any Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance that you receive is also disregarded.

If you pay for Childcare, we will take that into account when calculating your income, (e.g. in 2009/2010 if you have one child we will disregard upto £175.00 from your overall income and if you have two or more children we will disregard upto £300.00 from your overall income.)

This is the actual amount of rent that you would have to pay to your landlord each week if you did not qualify for Housing Benefit. If your tenancy agreement says that you have to pay your rent every calendar month, this will be converted to a weekly equivalent.

This is the amount of rent you pay after we have deducted any services that cannot be paid for by Housing Benefit. It is the amount on which we base the benefit calculation.

If you are jointly liable for the rent with someone who is not your partner, your share of the rent (e.g. 50%) will be used in the calculation of your Housing Benefit.

If this appears on your letters (it will only apply to those customers who are not on the Local Housing Allowance Scheme), it means that the Rent Officer has restricted the amount we are allowed to use when we calculate your Housing Benefit, or that we have used a temporary amount because the Rent Officer has not yet made an assessment.

This is the amount of Council Tax on which we can base the calculation, and if the maximum amount of Council Tax Benefit that you can receive if there are no non-dependant deductions. It is usually the amount of Council Tax that you are liable to pay for a full year after any discounts/exemptions have been applied and is converted to a weekly amount. 
Council Tax Benefit is subject to a restriction for properties in Bands F,G and H. If your property is in one of these bands, your benefit will be calculated using the amount of Council Tax that would be payable if the property was in Band E.

If you are jointly liable for Council Tax with someone who is not your partner, your share of the Council Tax (e.g. 50%) will be used in the calculation of your Council Tax Benefit.

If there is an amount for this stated on your benefit award letter, it means that we have made a deduction because you have another adult living in the property who is 18 or over and not your partner. For more information about Non-dependants, please click here.

This is the amount you have left after your Applicable amount has been taken away from your total income less any disregards. If you have Excess Income, your maximum Housing Benefit will be reduced by 65% of your excess income, and your maximum Council Tax Benefit will be reduced by 20% of your excess income.

For Example:
Total Income (after disregards) £150.00 per week
Applicable amount                      £120.00 per week
Excess Income                            £30.00 per week

65% of excess income                     £19.50
20% of excess income                     £6.00

If the Eligible rent was £70.00 per week, £50.50 would be awarded as Housing Benefit (£70.00 rent minus £19.50 excess income).

If the Eligible Council Tax was £8.00 per week, £2.00 would be awarded as Council Tax Benefit (£8.00 Council Tax minus £6.00 excess income).        

It is important that if there is something on your benefit letters you do not agree with, or if you think we have not worked out your benefit correctly, that you write and tell us. Your letter must be received within one month of the date on the top of your benefit letter. If you think you are not getting enough benefit and you do not tell us within one calendar month of our original decision, we will only be able to amend your benefit from the Monday following the date we receive your letter.

Please remember if there is anything that you do not understand in your benefit award letters, please contact us and we will be happy to explain them to you.