Welcome To Wirral

If you receive direct payments on behalf of your tenant, you can access some information on Line.  See E-Citizen Homepage for further details in the related links section.

Rent Allowance Payments

The tenant has the choice of the following methods of payment

• direct into bank account
• direct to landlord

Payment will only be paid to the landlord at the tenant’s request – clauses included in the tenancy agreements regarding direct to landlord payments are not binding.

Changes in methods of payment can only be carried out with the agreement of the tenant unless the landlord has requested the change because the tenant has fallen 8 weeks in arrears.

Rent Increases

It is the claimant’s duty to notify us in writing of any changes in rent. We will accept notification of a change from the landlord as evidence.

It will not be necessary for the tenant to complete a new application form when there is a rent increase.

Rent charges will only be adjusted by Housing Benefit once a year even if the landlord increases the rent more than once.

Please note levels of rent may be restricted in accordance with the Housing Benefit General Regulations 1987 Regulation 12.

What information can be given to landlords?

We will provide details of the payments and the dates that they cover only if the landlord is being paid direct.

As the Local Authority is governed by the 1998 Data Protection Act, any other information concerning tenants is confidential. This means Housing Benefit cannot divulge any details regarding the tenants financial circumstances, whether a claim has been made and reasons for stopping benefit.

Change of address

It is the responsibility of the claimant to inform us of a change of address, however, if the landlord is aware that the tenant is moving and direct payments are being made, it is in their interest to tell us in order to prevent possible overpayments.

When the Local Authority is informed of a vacation, it is assumed that the landlord is aware of the tenants’ move. It is not the duty of the Local Authority to contact a landlord to verify the information.

Overpayments

Any benefit received, to which the tenant is not entitled is an overpayment and this will be recovered by the Local Authority. Landlords who have received payments of rent allowance direct will be responsible for repaying any overpayment deemed recoverable.

All overpayments will be recovered, as long as the tenant could have reasonably been expected to know that the benefit should have either reduced or ended.

The Local Authority can reclaim an overpayment as far back as six years.

Landlords will only receive a notification informing them of an overpayment when receiving payments direct.

An overpayment to a tenant for a previous address will always be reclaimed from the new address if there is future entitlement to benefit unless the payments were made direct to landlord and the landlord had changed. If there is no future entitlement to benefit, overpayments will be repaid in full unless arrangements have been made to pay by instalments.

As the person affected the landlord has the right to appeal against an overpayment. See Appealing in the related links section.

Arrears of Rent

The Local Authority cannot prosecute the claimant for non-payment of rent to a private landlord. It is in the landlord’s interest to ensure the rent is collected from the tenant (see section 1 for when a tenant falls 8 weeks in arrears).

If the tenant is withholding rent payments for any reason, the Local Authority will suspend rent allowance payments until the dispute is sorted out between the tenant and landlord.

End of benefit

When a claimant dies the benefit ends during that benefit week even if the tenancy has not ended for example because relatives are sorting out the tenant’s personal affairs.

What if I have a query?

You can telephone 0151 606 2002 or you can call at any of the council offices.  See Council Offices in the related links section.