Make a benefit claim

You can now claim Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction or report changes in your circumstances online.

Only residents in East Dunbartonshire Council Area can apply. If you are unsure which local authority area you are under please use this link to the Government website - find your local  council 

If you are of working age you may not be able to claim Housing Benefit due to the introduction of Universal Credit. For more information, please see the ‘Who will be able to claim’ section of the Universal Credit page. 

To apply for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction, please make sure you have details of your income, bank accounts, savings, rent that you would pay and any other personal information to hand.

When you have finished completing the form you must select 'submit' at the end of the claim process. If you do not select 'submit' your claim will not reach us and you may lose benefit. If you do not submit your claim within 14 days of starting it will be automatically deleted and you will need to restart the process.

Once we have received your claim, we'll contact you for any additional documentation to process your claim. If you have not heard from us within 10 days please contact us.

Other ways to claim:

• Download and print our Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction claim form or Housing Benefit and or Council Tax Reduction Application Form – Pension Age 
• Visit us at our at any Council Hub where you can use our computers to make a claim online or complete a paper application.

Send completed forms to: Revenues & Benefits, William Patrick Library, 2 – 4 West High Street, Kirkintilloch, G66 1AD.

It's important that you apply without delay, even if you don't have all of the documents we may need. As well as completing the form we will need to see other documents. If you live with a partner, we'll also need to see their information. All documents must be originals we cannot accept photocopies.

These are the most common documents we may need:

• National Insurance number. You can still make a claim if you or your partner don't have a National Insurance number or can't find your National Insurance card, or a document such as a P60, P45, benefit entitlement letter. We can contact the Department of Work and Pensions to get this information - but it may delay the processing of your application. 
• Proof of ID. Your passport, driving licence, or birth certificate (two per person).
• Evidence of income. Earned income or other benefits 
  • State benefits. A letter of your entitlement. 
  • Earned income. The most recent consecutive payslips - five weekly, three if paid fortnightly or two if paid monthly. 
  • Self-employed. Detailed accounts to show your income and expenditure. 
  • Any other income. Official documents confirming date payment started how much you will receive and frequency you are paid.
• Proof of rent and tenancy. Tenancy agreement or rent book.
• Proof of capital. This includes all bank accounts, even the ones that may be outside of the UK or not in use. 

Benefits cannot normally be backdated, so it's important that you send your completed form and documents to us as soon as possible.

If you've claimed benefits, but think you should have done this from an earlier date, you'll need to write to us asking us to backdate your claim. You'll need to give a good reason why your claim is late. This is known as 'good cause' and must be continuous for the period you want benefit backdated. 

Each backdating claim is considered on individual circumstances. We'll consider other things which may have affected your ability to claim such as your age, health and other circumstances. Benefits can only be backdated for up to one month for Housing Benefit, and up to six months for Council Tax Reduction.

If we turn down your claim for backdating, or you disagree with the decision, you can query, review or appeal your benefit decision.

Additional help

Let us know immediately if you're under threat of eviction as we can work with landlords and prioritise claims.

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are extra payments which may be able to help if you are not getting your full rent paid by housing benefit or the housing costs in Universal Credit do not cover your rent charges.

Note: Claims made online may be made without a signature.