How will my benefit be paid?

Your weekly entitlement to council tax benefit will be converted to an annual amount, credited directly to your Council Tax account and be deducted from the balance that is due to be paid.

Payment of Housing Benefit will depend upon the type of your tenancy and other circumstances for example:

If you are a Council tenant then your weekly entitlement will be credited to your rent account so that the actual weekly rent that you pay will be the difference between the full rent and your housing benefit entitlement.

If you are a tenant of a private or Registered Social Landlord then your Housing Benefit entitlement may be paid either, to you, or to your landlord, by BACS (Bankers Automated Credit System) straight into a bank account or by cheque. If it is paid to you then you will be paid in arrears every 2 weeks but if it is paid to your landlord it will be paid in arrears every 4 weeks. You can sometimes decide who should receive the payment. However, if you are 8 weeks or more in arrears with your rent your landlord can insist that housing benefit be paid directly to them. Claims made now, at a new address, will be subject to the Local Housing Allowance rules which mean that, with certain exceptions, housing benefit is only paid to the tenant.