Regulation 59 Time and manner in which claims are to be madeI1
England, Wales and Scotland
Every claim shall be in writing and made on a properly completed form approved for the purpose by the appropriate authority or in such written form as the appropriate authority may accept as sufficient in the circumstances of any particular case or class of cases and be accompanied by or supplemented by such certificates, documents, information and evidence as are required in accordance with regulation 61(1) (evidence and information).
Initial claims for housing benefit under these Regulations may be made at any time from 23rd November 1988.
Where—
a person is liable for a personal community charge from 1st April 1989, and
a claim for housing benefit in respect of that charge is received by the designated office of the appropriate authority either not more than 56 days after the day on which the claimant receives his first community charge demand notice issued in respect of that charge in accordance with paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 to the 1987 Act or, not more than 56 days after 1st April 1989, whichever is the later, and
in a case where there has been a delay in issuing the demand notice, the delay is not in consequence of a failure by the claimant to notify the community charges registration officer that he is liable for that charge,
the claim for housing benefit shall be treated as having been made on 1st April 1989.
The forms approved for the purpose of claiming shall be provided free of charge by the appropriate authority or such persons as they may authorise or appoint for the purpose.
Each appropriate authority shall notify the Secretary of State of the address to which claims delivered or sent to the appropriate social security office are to be forwarded.
Where a claimant for housing benefit acquires a partner or his existing partner changes in the course of a benefit period, a claim for benefit on behalf of the new partner may be made by the claimant giving notice of the change of circumstances at either of the offices referred to in paragraph (6)(b).
A claim—
may be sent or delivered to the appropriate social security office where the claimant or his partner is also claiming income support;
where it has not been sent or delivered to the appropriate social security office, shall be sent or delivered to the designated office;
sent or delivered to the appropriate social security office shall be forwarded to the appropriate authority within two working days of the date of either the date of determination of the claim for income support or the receipt of the claim at the appropriate social security office, whichever is the later, or as soon as reasonably practicable thereafter.
Subject to paragraphs (13) and (14), the date on which a claim is made shall be—
in a case where an award of income support has been made to the claimant or his partner and the claim is made within 4 weeks of the date on which the claim for that income support was received at the appropriate social security office, the first day of entitlement to that income support;
in a case where the claimant or his partner claimed income support but there is no entitlement to income support, the date on which the claim for housing benefit is received at the appropriate social security office or the designated office whichever is the earlier;
in a case where paragraph (4) applies, the date on which the notification of the change of circumstance is received by either the appropriate social security office or by the designated office;
in any other case, the date on which the claim is received at the designated office.
Where a claim received at the designated office has not been made in the manner prescribed in paragraph (1), that claim is for the purposes of these Regulations defective.
Where a claim is defective because—
it was made on the form approved for the purpose but that form is not accepted by the appropriate authority as being in a written form sufficient in the circumstances of the case, or
it was made in writing but not on the form approved for the purpose and the appropriate authority does not accept the claim as being in a written form which is sufficient in the circumstances of the case,
the appropriate authority may, in a case to which sub-paragraph (a) applies, refer the defective claim to the claimant or, in a case to which sub-paragraph (b) applies, supply the claimant with the approved form.
The appropriate authority shall treat a defective claim as if it had been made in the first instance where the approved form referred or sent to the claimant in accordance with paragraph (8) is received at the designated office properly completed within 4 weeks of it having been referred or sent to him, or such longer period as the appropriate authority may consider reasonable.
A claim which is made on an approved form for the time being is, for the purposes of this regulation, properly completed if completed in accordance with the instructions on the form.
Where, exceptionally, a levying authority has not determined its personal community charge by the beginning of the financial year, if a claim for housing benefit is properly made or treated as properly made and—
the date on which the claim is made or treated as made is in the period from the 1st April of the current year and ending 4 weeks after the date on which the authority sets or determines the charge; and
if the charge had been determined, the claimant would have been entitled to housing benefit either from—
the benefit week in which the 1st April of the current year fell, or
a benefit week falling after the date specified in head (i) but before the claim was made,
the appropriate authority shall treat the claim as made in the benefit week immediately preceding the benefit week in which such entitlement would have commenced.
Except in cases to which paragraph (14) refers, where the claimant is not entitled to housing benefit in the benefit week immediately following the date of his claim but the appropriate authority is of the opinion that unless there is a change of circumstances he will be entitled to housing benefit for a period beginning not later than the thirteenth benefit week following the date on which the claim is made, the appropriate authority may treat the claim as made on a date in the benefit week immediately preceding the first benefit week of that period of entitlement and award benefit accordingly.
Where a claim for housing benefit is received by the appropriate social security office or by the designated office on a date prior to 1st April 1989, paragraphs (6) and (12) of this regulation shall not apply in respect of that claim and the claim shall be treated as made on 1st April 1989.
Where a person becomes liable to pay the personal community charge of an appropriate authority but has yet to be shown in the authority’s community charges register as liable to pay that charge, he or his partner may nevertheless claim housing benefit in respect of that charge in advance of registration and, if the authority is of the opinion that, unless there is a change of circumstances, that person will satisfy all the conditions of entitlement for housing benefit from the day on which he is shown in the register as liable to pay that charge (the day of registration), the authority may treat that claim as having been made either on the date of claim or on the day of registration, whichever is the later, and award benefit accordingly.
Where a person—
is registered in the community charges register of two or more appropriate authorities as liable on the same day or days to pay the personal community charges of those authorities in respect of those days, and
appeals against any one or more entry,
if, within 14 days of being notified of the determination of the appeal, he claims housing benefit from the authority to which it is determined he is liable to pay a personal community charge for the days concerned and that authority is not the authority to which a charge for those days was originally due then, provided the authority to which it is determined he is liable to pay the charge is satisfied that that person was entitled to housing benefit for any of the days to which the determination applies, his claim shall be treated as made on the first day in respect of which his entitlement arose.
A person to whom housing benefit has been granted, or the partner of such a person, may make a claim to the appropriate authority for a further grant of that benefit to take effect immediately after the end of his current benefit period not more than 13 weeks before the end of that period.
A person may make a further claim not more than 4 weeks after the end of his benefit period or the benefit period of his partner or former partner for a further grant of such benefit to take effect immediately after the end of that benefit period.
The appropriate authority shall invite a person to whom housing benefit has been granted to make a claim for a further grant of that benefit where either—
the benefit period ended in circumstances to which regulation 54(a) refers (end of entitlement to income support); or
the benefit period is for a period exceeding 16 weeks and is due to end within 8 weeks in accordance with regulation 53(2) to (4) (benefit period) and no such claim has been received in accordance with paragraph (15),
and any claim received following that invitation, if made within 4 weeks of the end of the current benefit period, shall have effect immediately after the end of that benefit period in accordance with paragraph (15) or, as the case may be, paragraph (16).
Where the claimant makes a claim in respect of any period before the date on which that claim was, or was treated as, made and he proves that there was good cause for his failure to make that claim throughout the period between any date in that earlier period and the date on which the claim was or was treated as made, his claim shall, subject to section 165A of the Social Security Actf1 (52 week limit on entitlement before the date of claim), be treated as made on the first day of that earlier period from which he can prove good cause.
Annotations
Textual amendments
- F1
Reg. 59(2A) inserted (1.4.1989) by The Housing Benefit (Community Charge Rebates) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 1989 (S.I. 1989/361), regs. 1(1)(b), 14
- F2
Reg. 59(14A)(14B) inserted (10.7.1989) by The Housing Benefit (Community Charge Rebates) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 1989 (S.I. 1989/972), regs. 1(1)(a), 4
Commencement
- I1
Reg. 59 in force at 23.11.1988, see reg. 1(1)
Footnotes
- f1
-
Section 165A was substituted by paragraph 87 of Schedule 10 to the Social Security Act 1986 (c. 50) and is applied to housing benefit by paragraph 48 of Schedule 10 to that Act.