Our client was made redundant some months ago, but didn't send off his claim for housing benefit because the claim form says claimants must produce an original tenancy agreement. The client's landlord wouldn't give him one. We have now helped him make a claim using other means of proving he is liable to pay housing costs, and have asked for backdating on the basis that the information on the claim form is incorrect (there is nothing we can find in the regs or the guidance that says an original tenancy agreement is compulsory to verify your claim)but any reasonable claimant would have relied on it.

We are confident we will get his HB claim accepted. But it has been more than 3 months since he would have qualified for HB and, as far as we can figure out, the HB rules only allow backdating for 3 months in these circumstances.

Does anybody have any ideas about how he can get the rest of his HB backdated (apart from suing the local authority)? As far as we know, he was not given misinformation personally by any of the HB department staff, he went on the misleading information on the claim form.

Local government ombudsman.

Wed 12-May-10 03:46 PM by stainsby

The time limit for backdaing for claimants under the quualifying age for state pension credit is 6 months. HB Reg 83(12) provides:

(12) Where the claimant makes a claim in respect of a past period (a “claim for backdating”) and, from a day in that period up to the date of the claim for backdating, he had continuous good cause for his failure to make a claim, his claim in respect of
that period shall be treated as made on–
(a) the first day from which he had continuous good cause; or
(b) the day 6 months before the date of the claim for backdating,

I think the misleading information in the claim form would amount to good cause for a late claim by almost anyone who did not have professional experience in HB