You can however claim Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit for a past period - called backdating.

A claim can only be backdated for maximum of 52 weeks from the date of your claim for backdated benefit.

In order for a claim to be backdated we must be satisfied that

• you have shown good cause for failing to claim earlier and
• that good cause existed continuously during the period for which backdating is being requested

You will need to show continuous good cause for not claiming earlier and we must be satisfied that your circumstances, during this time were such that any reasonable person of your age and experience would also have failed to claim benefit.

You have to prove "good cause" but we must take account of all the facts of your case.

Some examples of when you may have "good cause" are:

• If you did not immediately claim benefit after leaving hospital
• If you were ill and had no-one to make a claim on your behalf
• If you did not understand that you could claim benefit perhaps because of age, inexperience or language difficulties.
• If you have suffered a recent family bereavement.

Your claim will be considered by a Benefits Officer. The more information and evidence you give in support of your claim the quicker a decision can be made.

Sometimes it may be necessary to write to you for more information or to ask you to come in for an informal interview.

Your claim will be looked at within 14 days and you will be sent a letter telling you of our decision.
If we have decided that you have not shown "good cause" and that we cannot backdate your claim, the reasons for this will be explained in our letter.

You will then have the right of appeal against our decision not to backdate your claim. A separate leaflet called "How to Appeal" is available from the Benefit Section.

Simply fill in our online form or use the paper form in the "Request for Backdated Benefit" leaflet and send it to:
The Benefit Section
St Albans District Council
Civic Centre
St Albans
AL1 3JE

Request for Backdated Benefit

See our online form

• You must prove to the Council that there was "good cause" for not having made an earlier claim.
• You must give the period that you want backdated benefit for.
• You must show that there was "good cause" for not making an earlier claim throughout the whole period you want backdated benefit for.
• You should give as much information as possible on the reasons for not having claimed earlier, including evidence to support your claim.
• The more information you can give us, the better the chance of your claim being agreed.
• Should you run out of space please continue on a separate sheet of paper.

For help or independent advice on this and any other benefit matter you can contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

To check if a decision has been made on your request for backdated Housing and/or Council Tax benefit email us at info@stalbanslsp.org.uk