Home | Living | Benefits & Council Tax | Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit - information to help you | Requesting the backdating of your Housing or Council Tax Benefit Claim

Requesting the backdating of your Housing or Council Tax Benefit Claim

A claim can only be backdated for maximum of 52 weeks from the date your request is received by Portsmouth City Council.

In order for a claim to be backdated we must be satisfied that:

• you have shown good cause for failing to claim earlier and
• that good cause existed continuously during the period for which backdating is

You will need to show continuous good cause for not claiming earlier and we must be satisfied that your circumstances during this time were such that any reasonable person of your age, experience or circumstances would also have failed to claim benefit.

You have to prove "good cause" but we must take account of all the facts of your case.

Some examples of when you may have "good cause" are:

• If you did not immediately claim benefit while in hospital or after leaving hospital
• If you were ill and had no-one to make a claim on your behalf
• If you did not understand that you could claim benefit perhaps because of age, inexperience or language difficulties
• If you have suffered a recent family bereavement

What happens when a backdated claim is made

A member of our Appeals Team will consider your request for backdated benefit. The more information and evidence you give in support of your claim the quicker a decision can be made.

Sometimes it may be necessary to write to you for more information or to ask you to come in for an informal interview.

Your claim should be looked at within 28 days and you will be sent a letter telling you of our decision.

If we have decided that you have not shown "good cause" and that we cannot backdate your claim, the reasons for this will be explained in our letter.

You will then have the right of appeal against our decision not to backdate your claim. Please see the internal link on the right of this page 'If you think the decision about your Housing or Council Tax Benefit is wrong'.