Our Income Collection Team is a specialist team who can offer advice on Housing and Council Tax Benefits. We work with local Housing Benefit Departments to improve the service they provide and to simplify the process of claiming benefit. You do not automatically get benefit because you are on a low income – you have to make a claim.
It is important that you claim benefit at the right time to ensure you don’t miss out. As soon as there is a change in your circumstances, such as losing a job or additions to your family, you should complete a claim form.
Contact us
If you think you may qualify for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit please contact Harvest Response on LoCall 0345 345 0272 and ask for the Income Collection Team or visit one of our Neighbourhood Offices. We can do a benefit calculation for you to see if you are entitled to claim or if you are claiming the right amount.
Or click on the benefits calculator on the right to see what you can receive.
What are Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit?
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefits are national welfare benefits, that help people on low income.
- Housing Benefit is paid to people with a low income who pay rent.
- Council Tax Benefit is paid to people with a low income who pay Council Tax.
Council Tax.
There are two types of Council Tax Benefit:
- Main Council Tax Benefit
- Second Adult Rebate.
Both Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit are provided by local councils and are means-tested. This means that when your benefit is worked out, your income, investments and savings are taken into account.
Who can claim?
You can claim Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit for you and your family, which includes you, your partner and your dependent children. A partner is someone you are married to or someone you live with as if you are married to them.
You can claim if:
- you pay rent to a private landlord, housing association, or Council for your home
- you pay council Tax on your home
- your savings or investments are less than £16,000:
• If you or your partner have £6,000 or less, it will not affect your claim.
• If you or your partner have between £6,000 and £16,000, the following rules apply:
• If you or your partner are under 60 and have between £6,000 and £16,000, it will affect how much benefit you will get. For every £250 (or part of £250) you have over £6,000, £1 is added to the money counted each week as income when working out your benefit.
• If you or your partner are aged 60 or over it will affect how much benefit you get. For every £500 (or part of £500) you have over £6,000, £1 is added to the money counted each week as income when working out your benefit.
- you are on a low income. You may be on a low income if you and your partner get:
• a low wage, whether working full-time or part-time
• state benefits, for example: Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Statutory Sick Pay
• State Retirement Pension
• Pension Credit.
Special rules apply to the following people who claim Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit:
- students
- people who have to go through immigration control
- people in hospital
- prisoners
- people in residential care and nursing homes
- young people aged 16 or 17
- people who have to maintain two homes.
Please speak to us for more details.
Benefits Calculator
To find out what benefits are available to you use our
Web Benefits Calculator - simply fill out the form for an instant on-line Benefits estimate.
Remember this calculation is an estimate based on the information you supply. For a full evaluation make a formal claim.
If you need any further help please speak to Harvest Response.
For D&S customers we are working with the Cumbria Initiative who can provide further help with your benefit enquiries. You can call them on freephone 0845 300 5023 or visit the
Cumbria Initiative website.
For more information about benefits, view or download or leaflet on the right.