Forthcoming Changes

October 2008 – changes to the way we treat child maintenance

At the moment we have to treat all child maintenance you receive as income apart from the first £15.00 per week.

From 27th October 2008 this will change and we will be able to ignore all of the child maintenance you receive.  This means we will not include it as part of your weekly income.  You will still need to tell us if it changes because the rules have not changed on declaring your income.

If you already receive housing/council tax benefit from us you do not need to tell us about this rule change in October because we will automatically re-calculate your entitlement using the new rules.  We will also send you a new decision letter in early November 2008 to tell you how much you are entitled to.

If you have previously applied for benefit and did not qualify because your income was too high and part of your income was from child maintenance you may want to re-apply to see if you qualify under the new rules.  Advance applications can be accepted up to thirteen weeks before so the earliest you should apply under the new rules is 28th July 2008.  Alternatively you can contact us and we will give you advice.

You can download an application form here or you can contact us as shown below.

Contact Revenue & Benefit Services at: