Hello,

The Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Amendment) Regs 2008 come into force on 1 October and, among other things, allow claimants to make a claim for HB/CTB by telephone when they are also claiming other benefits.

The news story on Rightsnet about these regs also says that the DWP will be able to receive notification of change of circumstances, eg change of address, by telephone. However, I can't find this in the new regs. Reg 2(7) of the new regs amends reg 87 of the main regs, which will allow claimants to telephone to amend or withdraw their claim before a decision is made. However reg 88 of the main regs, which concerns notification of change of circumstances after a decision is made, does not seem to be amended in the same way, so it seems as though notification of these changes will still need to be given in writing. Can anyone advise?

hi sheltersco ..

yes i think you're right .... think what it says it that, where a change of circs is being reported to the DWP by telephone, a claim for HB can be made at the same time

what do you think?

cheers - shawn

(ps - have amended our news story to reflect the above)

Yes - reg 2(4) of the new regs makes amendments to allow HB claims by phone where someone is notifying the DWP about a change of circumstances for one of the qualifying benefits, eg JSA. But it does seem as though changes of circumstances for HB purposes will still need to be given in writing.