Reporting a Change in Your Circumstances

You must tell Stratford-on-Avon District Council about any changes in your circumstances immediately. If the change means that you would get more benefit and you do not tell the Benefits department within one month of the change occurring, then your benefit claim will only be amended from the following Monday to when you report the change.

If the change means you will receive less benefit, then the change will be taken back to the date it occurred and you will be responsible to repay any overpaid benefit.

Please remember that to deliberately fail to report a change in your circumstances may mean that you are committing an offence and you may face further proceedings or sanctions.

Examples of changes you need to report (this is not an exhaustive list):

• changes to your income
• changes to your partner's income
• qualifying for or ending a state-paid benefit such as Jobseeker's Allowance
• changes to your Child Benefit
• changes to Tax Credits
• changes to any Occupational Pension
• someone moves into or out of your property
• changes in your rent
• changes to your non-dependants' circumstances
• you are absent from your property for 13 weeks or more

Reporting changes is easy:

• Print off a change in circumstance form to send in
• Write to the council with details of the change
• Email benefits.sdc@stratford-dc.gov.uk
• Call the council on 01789 260991
• Visit the council's offices at Elizabeth House to report the change in person

The council will consider the application of a civil penalty of £50 if you fail to disclose information or report changes in your circumstances without reasonable reasons.

How your information is used

Stratford-on-Avon District Council will use your personal data, which may include special data about you, to assess and administer your Housing Benefit and/or Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme claim under the Housing Benefit Regulations and the council's Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

We may share your information with other council departments etc. We do this in the performance of the tasks that we carry out in the public interest, in the exercise of our official authority and because it is in the substantial public interest.

Your personal data will be held in accordance with our Retention and Destruction Policy, which is available on our website.

For further information, or to access your information rights, please see our Data Protection policy, contact our Data Protection Officer by post at our Elizabeth House address, email data.protection@stratford-dc.gov.uk or call 01789 267575.