Tell us about changes that affect your benefits

While you are receiving Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support you must tell us straight away about any change of circumstances that could affect your benefit

You need to report a change of circumstances for you and anyone else in your house.

The quickest and easiest way to do this is to use our online form.

Tell us about a change

You can use this form to report the following changes:

  • A change of address
  • A change of income for you and other household members
  • A change to your capital, savings, or bank or building society accounts for you and other household members
  • Changes to your household
  • Changes to your rent
  • Changes to how you would like your housing benefit payments to be paid
  • If you have become a sponsor under the Homes for Ukraine scheme
  • Any other changes

Supporting documents

You may need to supply evidence to support the change. You can upload images of any supporting documents with the online form when it asks you to. If you don't have proof to send now, don't delay in submitting your change in circumstances form. You can upload the evidence later here:

Send supporting documents

We will contact you if needed to tell you of any additional evidence required, which may include the original documents.

Changes that you need to tell us about

Below are some examples of the types of changes you should tell us about:

If any benefits that you receive or anyone in your house change or stop, such as:

  • Universal Credit
  • Income Support
  • Employment Support Allowance
  • Pension Credits
  • Child Benefit
  • Child and Working Tax Credits

Any of the following:

  • Starting or stopping work, education, training or an apprenticeship
  • Wages go up or down
  • Changes to your pension, savings, investments or property
  • Capital goes up or down
  • If your capital go above £16,000
  • People moving into or out of your house (for example your partner, a child or lodger)
  • A change in the wages of someone who lives with you
  • Temporarily absent from home
  • Your rent goes up or down
  • You move house
  • Going into hospital, care home or sheltered accommodation
  • Having a baby
  • Your partner or someone you live with is dying
  • Your child turning 18

The information above does not cover all of the changes you should inform us about. If you are unsure whether we need to know about a particular change tell us anyway.

Please do not rely on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Job Centre Plus, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) or anyone else to pass any information on. You must tell us of any changes directly.

It is an offence not to tell us about any change in circumstances that may affect your benefit.

If we pay you too much benefit as a result of you not telling us about a change, you will probably have to pay it back.

If a change will mean that you receive more benefit, we will only update your payment from the Monday after you tell us about it, unless you tell us within one month of the change.

If you do tell us about the change within one month or if the change will mean that you will receive less benefit, your claim will be updated from the Monday after the change, this may mean you have been paid too much and you will be required to repay any overpayments.

Other ways to inform us

By phone

Tell us about changes over the telephone on 01263 516349.

By email

Email benefits@north-norfolk.gov.uk

To tell us about a change by post

You can tell us about any changes by post by filling in the change of details form. Please post to the following address:

Benefits Department
North Norfolk District Council
Council Offices
Holt Road
Cromer
NR27 9EN