How to apply for council tax support

If you are late submitting your claim you may be able to request backdating if you have good cause for doing so. The length of time we could go back depends on how old you are.

• If you are under the pensionable age, you can request backdated benefit for a maximum of 3 calendar months from the date we receive your request.
• In exceptional circumstances the Council can treat the application as being made at any time back to the beginning of the financial year in which the application is made. Exceptional circumstances would be Universal Credit delays or failures by the local authority to act when notified by The DWP that a customer is receiving Universal Credit 
• If you are over the pensionable age, we will automatically consider whether you qualify for backdated benefit when you submit your claim for benefit. You will not need to prove a ‘good cause’ for failing to apply on time. We can only go back for a maximum of 3 months from the date your entitlement starts.
• If you recently became of pensionable age, we can only backdate to the date you became of pensionable age. If your circumstances recently changed, we can only backdate from the date you became entitled to benefit.

If you are receiving Local Housing Allowance and your request for backdating is successful, your Local Housing Allowance rate will be based on the figures that apply for the month you have asked your claim to start from. This may be different to the figures for the month you have submitted your form in. We will review your Local Housing Allowance rate every year after the start of your claim unless your circumstances change before then.

Your request for backdated benefit must be in writing to benefits@slough.gov.uk and you must give evidence in support of your request.