How Will Housing Benefit be Paid?

Housing Benefit is normally paid

• direct to Boston Mayflower by your local Council.
• 4 weeks in arrears (in other words payments are for the previous 4 weeks)

The money will be credited to your rent account on the same day it is received.

To check that Housing Benefit is being paid please contact your Housing Team.

When Will Your Housing Benefit Start?

Normally Housing Benefit is awarded from the Monday after your claim is received. So if you hand your form in on a Monday, your claim will start from the Monday following.

Always get a receipt so that you have proof of the date when you made your claim.

The processing of your claim may take a number of weeks but benefit will be paid from the award date.

You can apply for Housing Benefit to be paid for a period before you make your claim, for example if you were unable to make a claim earlier because you were ill or away from home. However you will need to state on your claim:

• why you couldn’t make the claim before (you may be asked to provide evidence)
• what date you want the claim to start

Your local Council will decide whether your claim can be back-dated.