Council tax benefit (CTB) helps people pay their council tax.

There are two types of CTB, but you can only get one type at a time.

1. 'Main Council Tax Benefit' (Main CTB) is the more common type and is described below.
2. 'Second Adult Rebate' is much less common.

WHO CAN GET MAIN CTB?

You can get Main CTB if you satisfy all the following conditions:

• You are not excluded from getting Main CTB - see below
• You are liable to pay council tax on your normal home
• You claim and provide the information requested
• You are on income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance, the guarantee credit of pension credit, or you have a fairly low income
• Your capital is no more than £16,000 (with the exception of some pensioners)

PEOPLE WHO CANNOT GET MAIN CTB.

The following groups are excluded altogether from getting Main CTB.

• 'Persons from abroad' or 'subject to immigration control' (This does not include every non-UK national, but it does cover some UK nationals who do not habitually reside in the UK).
• Many full-time students - Full-time students cannot get Main CTB unless they fall within certain groups (although they can get second adult rebate). Many students with disabilities do, however, fall within one of those groups. If you are in a couple and only one of you is a full-time student, the other can get Main CTB for you both.

HOW MUCH OF YOUR COUNCIL TAX IS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT?

The CTB calculation is based on your weekly 'eligible council tax'. For Main CTB purposes, this means whatever you are liable to pay after you have been awarded any reduction for disabilities, discount or transitional reduction.

CTB is worked out on a weekly basis, so your council tax liability has to be converted. Divide the annual figure by 365 (giving a daily figure), then multiply by 7. If your bill is not for a full year, divide it by the number of days it covers, then multiply by 7.

ASKING THE AUTHORITY TO REVISE THEIR DECISION

You have the right to ask your local authority to revise their decision on almost all matters relating to your CTB claim (for example, how much you qualify for, whether you should have to repay an overpayment, and so on).

If your letter arrives within the 'dispute period' (see below), your local authority must reconsider their decision, taking account of what you say. They should give you a written notice saying whether they are changing or sticking to their original decision, and giving their reasons.

APPEALS TO A TRIBUNAL

Either instead of, or after, asking your local authority to revise their decision (see above), you can appeal to an independent appeal tribunal.

EXCEPTIONS

There is no right of appeal to a tribunal about:

• Most administrative decisions about claims and payments of CTB, although you can appeal to a tribunal about when your CTB should begin and whether your claim should be backdated.

In each case, though, you can ask the local authority to revise their decsion.

THE DISPUTE PERIOD

Whether you are asking the local authority to revise a decision or asking for an appeal, your letter should reach your local authority within one calendar month of the day they sent out the notice about the decision.

If you have asked for a written statement, the time they took to deal with that is ignored in adding up the month. For example, if you asked for a written statement in late July, 10 days after your local authority's notice was sent out, you have 21 days left from the date they reply to write requesting a revision.

Also, your local authority (or the tribunal, in the case of an appeal) can agree to extend the one-month time limit if you have a good reason for your delay. If you do have a good reason for delaying more than a month, explain this when you write in, as otherwise this may not be taken into account.

In all cases, 13 months is the absolute limit for asking for the decision to be changed.

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