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Understanding your benefit decision notice

We know that benefit decision notices can be difficult to understand.

By law, these notices must include a lot of detailed information about our decisions.

To help, use the guide below for an explanation of common terms we use.

Common terms

  • Claim reference or claim number: Your unique reference number, found at the top of the notice. You'll need this if you contact us about your claim.
  • Reason for calculation: Explains why we calculated your benefit award and sent the notice to you.
  • Weekly benefit award: The amount of benefit you'll get each week before any deductions.
  • Overpayment recovery: If you've been overpaid Housing Benefit, we may recover this by deducting from your entitlement. The notice shows the weekly deduction amount.
  • Net benefit payable: The actual amount of benefit you'll receive each week.
  • Weekly gross rent or Council Tax: The total amount of rent or Council Tax your benefit is based on.
  • The benefit starts on: The date your benefit starts, covering the period stated in the notice.
  • Weekly eligible rent: The amount of your rent we use when calculating your benefit.
  • Weekly ineligible service charges: Costs included in your rent, such as fuel and water rates, which are not covered by your benefit.

Page Last Updated: Thursday, 21 November 2024 at 11:20 AM