Change in Circumstances
What is a change in circumstances?
Anything which could change the amount of benefit you get.
When we worked out how much housing benefit and/or council tax benefit you were entitled to get, we used the information you gave us on your application form. The information included details of:
• your income
• your capital, and
• the people who live with you
Any of this information may change from time to time and it is very important that you let us know as soon as possible if there are any changes in your family or financial circumstances.
If you are not sure whether you need to let us know about something or not, please tell us anyway.
Why do I need to tell you about any changes in my circumstances?
If your circumstances change, it may lead to either an increase or a reduction in your benefit. You must tell us within one month of the change to make sure that any increase in your benefit entitlement is paid from the date that the change happened.
For example, if your rent increases or your income goes down and you do not let us know within one calendar month of this happening, you may not get the additional benefit due from the date of the change. Unless there is a good reason for failing to tell us of your change in circumstances, your benefit will only be increased from the Monday following the date that you do let us know.
A change in your circumstances could also result in a reduction to your benefit entitlement. If you do not tell us promptly, and we find out later that we have paid you too much benefit, you will normally have to pay it back to the Council. The reduction will go back to date of the actual change, not to the date we found out about it. So, to avoid a large bill later, please tell us about any changes in circumstances as soon as they happen. We have special forms you can use to tell us about 
a change of address (145KB - PDF Help) or a change in income (181KB - PDF Help).
What happens after I have told you about a change?
We will write to you and tell you whether, and by how much, the change has affected your housing benefit and/or council tax benefit. If we have not written to you within two weeks of your telling us about a change, please contact our Customer Services Helpline on (01395) 517446.
