Benefits - what's new
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit - what's new
More help for families
From 2 November 2009, child benefit is no longer counted as income when we work out how much Housing Benefit and / or Council Tax Benefit a person is entitled to receive.
If you receive child benefit and you are not already receiving Housing Benefit and / or Council Tax Benefit and you would like information as to whether you should make a claim, please contact the Benefits Team at Lancaster City Council straight away. Alternatively, you can do your own calculation by using the on-line benefits calculator.
Did you know?
- That we no longer count child maintenance when we are working out Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit awards?
- That you can claim Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit if you are working and on a low wage?
| MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE CLAIMING THE BENEFITS THAT YOU ARE ENTITLED TO |
More help for pensioners
On 2 November 2009, the government introduced more help for people of pensionable age by increasing the capital threshold for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit from £6,000 to £10,000.
This means that a person can have capital of up to £10,000 without any of it being taken into account when calculating entitlement to these benefits.
Capital over £10,000 would mean that we would take into account as income, £1.00 for each £500 over the new threshold.
For example: a person who has £12,000 in capital would have £2,000 over the threshold. This would mean that £4 per week would be taken into account as income (£500 x 4 = £2,000).
If you are not claiming Housing Benefit and / or Council Tax Benefit and you have capital under £16,000 and would like information as to whether you should make a claim, please contact the Benefits Team at Lancaster City Council straight away.
| MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE CLAIMING THE BENEFITS THAT YOU ARE ENTITLED TO. |
You can contact the Benefits Team in any of the following ways:
By writing to: The Benefits Team, P O Box 4, Lancaster, LA1 1QR
By telephoning: (01524) 582965 between the hours of 9am amd 5pm, Monday to Friday
By visiting: The Customer Service Centres at Lancaster or Morecambe Town Halls between the hours of 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Customers with hearing difficulties who have a minicom machine can contact the Benefits team through Typetalk on 18001 01524 582965