Calculating your Benefit
The information we
use to work out your benefit
When we work out your benefit we take account of the
following details;
- How much money you have coming in each week
- How much you have in savings and investments
- Who lives in your household and their circumstances
- How much rent and council tax you pay
Your Applicable Amount
This is the amount the government says you need to live on
each week. It is intended to represent day-to-day living expenses
for normal domestic items such as food, fuel and clothing
etc. The amounts are set by the Government annually.
An applicable amount is made up of personal allowances and
premiums.
A personal allowance is awarded to adults according to whether
they are single, one of a couple or lone parents. There are also 2
different levels of allowance according to age.
Childrens personal allowances are based solely on age. As your
child / children get older, the level of allowances increase.
Added to personal allowances, are any premiums that may apply
to you. Premiums are usually awarded to help with people with
specific circumstances for example, if you have children or
if someone in your family is elderly or disabled
The income we use to
work out your benefit
You must declare all forms of income you receive. If you or
your partner are working, the amount we take into account is your
average earnings less any Income Tax and National
Insurance. We also take off half of any money you pay into a
pension scheme.
Whilst most incomes are taken into account in full for Housing
and Council Tax Benefit, some attract a disregard i.e a specified
proportion of the income is ignored. Other incomes are disregarded
completely, for example, Disability Living Allowance. You
must tell us about all of the income you receive to ensure that
your benefit is calculated correctly.
We also have to work out how much you have in savings and
investments. If you and your partner are under 60 years of
age, we do not count the first £6000 of your savings and
investments.
If you get Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance (Income based)
or Guarantee Credit we do not count the amount of income you
get.
Your Rent
You need to send us proof of how much rent you pay, and what
services are included in your rent. Services are things like
heating, water rates and meals.
If you do not have a tenancy agreement, please fill in a
confirmation of rent form or ask your landlord or landlady to
write a letter telling us:
- His (or her) name and address
- Your name and address
- How much rent you are charged
- What services are included in your rent
- How much you pay for the services
- The date your tenancy started
- The date you moved in to your home
Other adults who live with
you
Normally we take a certain amount off your weekly benefit for
each other adult who lives with you. This amount is called a
non-dependant deduction. You can find out more information about
this on the
non-dependant page.
How we work out how much we can pay
you
If you get Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance (Income
Based) or Guarantee Credit, you will get the full amount of
your rent after any rent restrictions,
non-dependant deductions or services have
been taken off.
If you do not get Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance
(Income Based) or Guarantee Credit;
We work out your Housing Benefit by comparing the money you
get each week with your applicable amount.
The applicable amount will be higher for some people - for
example, if you are disabled or you are a one parent family.
If the money you get each week is less than, or the same as
the applicable amount, you will get the full amount of Housing
Benefit after any rent restrictions, non-dependant dedcutions or
services.
If the money you get is more than the applicable amount the
difference between the two is known as excess income.
A percentage of this excess income is taken
from your maximum eligible rent or Council Tax leaving an
amount of benefit to be awarded.