If you are responsible for paying the Council Tax and you are on a low income, you may be able to get help with some or all of your Council Tax bill.

Who is eligible?

You may get Council Tax Reduction if you pay Council Tax and your income and capital (savings and investments) are below a certain level.

To work out your Council Tax Reduction, we will look at:

• money you and your partner or civil partner have coming in, including earnings, some certain benefits and tax credits and things like occupational pensions
• your savings and your partner's or civil partner's savings
• your circumstances: for example your age, the size of your family and their ages, if you or any of your family are disabled, and if anyone who lives with you could help with the Council Tax

The most Council Tax Reduction you can get is 100 per cent reduction on your bill.

If you're entitled to Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income related Employment Support Allowance or the 'guarantee credit' of Pension Credit you could get maximum help with your Council Tax.

You can also make a claim for Council Tax Reduction if you are in receipt of Universal Credit.

Who isn't eligible?

• If you have savings of over £16,000 you can't normally get Council Tax Reduction, unless you're aged 60 or over and getting the 'guarantee credit' of Pension Credit.
• Most asylum seekers and people sponsored to be in the UK won't get Council Tax Reduction.

To see if you can get any help and for an estimate of your entitlement you can use our benefits calculator.  (Please note - all our forms are compatible with Internet Explorer and Safari, you may experience issues when using other browsers).

There is one claim form to complete and you are assessed for both Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction at the same time.

If you are claiming for an address in Flintshire, then the form, together with any evidence to support your claim will need to be returned to us.  As benefit cannot normally be backdated, you should make your claim as quickly as possible.

We know that benefit forms can be quite long and complicated, so we have used new internet forms technology to make our on-line application as easy as possible:

• You can fill in the whole form off-line.  It doesn't matter if there are any problems with the internet, you can carry on with the form regardless.  You don't even have to fill it in all in one go.  You can save the form on your computer, and come back to it later
• The form will help and guide you as you work through it, ensuring that you only fill in parts that are relevant to your claim.  This makes the form much simpler to complete
• The form checks itself for errors and highlights anything you have missed.  When your form is free of errors it is easier for us to process
• When completed, you can submit the form directly to our server so we can begin processing your claim without delay
• Where we need to see evidence from you to support your claim, the form will give you a customised list of exactly what we need to see.  This information must be provided within one month of your claim being submitted
• To protect your privacy, all information you enter on the form is encrypted.  

Apply Online

Council Tax Reduction is paid straight to your Council Tax account.  You'll get a new bill showing the reduced amount of Council Tax you have to pay.

Council Tax Reduction won't affect other benefits you get.

What is E-Notifications?

E-Notifications is the new way to receive your Housing Benefit/Council Tax Reduction notifications instead of getting a traditional notification letter we will send your notification by e-mail.  We can also send your landlord their notifications by email if they request.

What are the benefits of E-Notifications?

E-Notifications will provide a faster, more efficient and convenient way to receive and check your notifications.  Here are some of the advantages:

• You can view your Housing Benefit/Council Tax Reduction notifications as soon as they are available and keep a copy on file
• You still have the choice to download and print your notifications
• You can redistribute copies of your notifications quickly and electronically
• Notifications are issued direct to the intended recipient and are not delayed by post
• It helps the Council to reduce printing and postage costs
• It helps protect the environment by saving paper.

How do I register for E-Notifications?

To register to receive E-Notifications, simply complete the short application form.  (Please note - all our forms are compatible with Internet Explorer and Safari, you may experience issues when using other browsers).

Claimant Form

Important information on subscribing to E-Notifications

• It is your responsibility for maintaining a valid email account to use the E-Notifications service
• The accuracy and validity of the email address that you provide is entirely your responsibility
• Should your email account ever become invalid or ceased to be used or should you want the notifications sent to a different email account it is your responsibility to contact the Benefits Service straight away
• You can contact us by email to housingbenefits@flintshire.gov.uk
• If an incorrect email address is provided or is no longer operational resulting in the notification being delivered and returned to the Council, you will be automatically unsubscribed from the E-Notifications service and the Council will revert to delivering paper based notifications instead.

What do I do if my circumstances change?

You must tell us straightaway about any change in your circumstances.  It is your responsibility to let us know of any changes that may affect the amount of benefit you get.

If you do not tell us straight away we may pay you too much benefit, and you will have to pay back the overpayment.  Even if you have told another agency, such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or Pension Service, you must still tell us.

If the change means that you are entitled to more benefit and you do not tell us within one month of the change happening, you may lose benefit.

You may be prosecuted if you deliberately give us false information or fail to tell us of a change in your circumstances in order to get more benefit than you have a right to receive.

What type of changes must I tell you about?

Here are some examples of changes affecting you, your partner or a member of your household which you need to tell us about:

• Wages, pensions or benefits go up or down
• Any other change in your income
• Start or stop work
• Change jobs
• Start to get or no longer get any State Benefit
• Savings going up or down, unless they remain less than £6,000 (or less than £10,000 for pensioners aged 60+)
• If the amount of your savings goes over £16,000
• How many people live with you
• Any of your children leaving school
• If you stop receiving Child Benefit for a child
• Moving home (even if you move to another flat or room at the same address)
• Birth of a baby
• Going into hospital or a residential / nursing home
• A change in the amount of rent your landlord charges you

Please note
This is not a full list and if you are unsure whether a change in your circumstances will affect your benefit please contact us for further advice.

Remember - If in doubt, tell us about it!

How do I report a change?

Please complete the Change in Circumstances form.  (Please note, all our forms are compatible with Internet Explorer and Safari, however you may experience issues when using other browsers).

If you are self employed and do not have an accountant please complete the following form to provide proof of your income.  Self Employed Income form.  (Please note, all our forms are compatible with Internet Explorer and Safari, however you may experience issues when using other browsers).

What happens next?

Once we have been told about the change we will let you know whether a new application form or any further proof is required.

If you have provided us with everything we need, we will recalculate your benefit and notify you of your new award. 

While most people claim benefits honestly, a small number abuse the system. Nationally, millions of pounds are stolen this way every year. You can help by reporting anyone who you suspect is committing Benefit Fraud. Any information provided will be treated in strict confidence and you do not have to give your name. 

How do I report benefit fraud?

There has to be a good reason for investigating someone for benefit fraud, so you’ll need to give as much information as possible. There are a number of ways that you can report a suspected benefit thief:

Report Benefit Fraud Online

Or you can call the National Benefit Fraud Hotline (NBFH), Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm on 0800 854 440 (Welsh Telephone: 0800 678 3722) or write to NBFH, PO Box 224, Preston, PR1 1GP.

After you have reported someone

The relevant service will look at the information you give and check the person’s benefit claim. For confidentiality reasons, you will not be told the result of any investigations.

More information

You can find out more information about benefit fraud at www.gov.uk/benefit-fraud

You can contact us in the following ways:

By e-mail

benefits@flintshire.gov.uk

By phone

You can ring us between 8.30am - 5.00pm Monday to Friday.

Our telephone number is 01352 704848

By post

Benefits Team, Flintshire County Council, County Hall, Mold, CH7 6NA

The local Connects Offices are located in the following areas.

Buckley Library, The Precinct, Buckley, CH7 2EF

Connah’s Quay Library,Wepre Drive,Connah’s Quay,CH5 4HA

Flint, Church Street,Flint,CH6 5DB

Holywell,Old Town Hall,High Street,Holywell,CH8 7TD,

Mold Library,Earl Road,CH7 1AP