How to Claim

You should claim as soon as possible because you may lose benefit if you delay.

If You Claim Pension Credits

The Pensions Service may give you a form for you to claim housing benefit and council tax benefit. Fill in the form and send it back to us straight away by post or in person at an area housing office so that we can work out your benefit.

If You Claim Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance or Incapacity Benefit

You will be asked about Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefit when you make your telephone claim with the Jobcentre Plus office. They will also ask you to supply evidence in support of that claim that may be used for your Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit claim. We will only receive the details of your claim when you have provided evidence to Jobcentre Plus.

If You Do Not Receive Any of These Benefits

Email us. Send us an email to tell us you want to claim, you need to tell us your name, address and telephone contact details. We will either telephone you or send you an application form and tell you if you need to provide further details. Email benefits.service@islington.gov.uk.

Phone us. When you call, you will be asked for some simple details. We will arrange an appointment for you at an Area Housing Office and tell you what documents to bring. If we have all the information to assess your claim for council tax or housing benefit your claim can be assessed on the day. Don't worry if you are unable to bring your information in we can arrange for someone to collect it or you can post it to us. Tel: 020 7527 4990. SMS: 07957 151231

Visit us. We have dedicated customer claims officers in each of our offices. When you visit us, we will help you make a claim and photocopy any paperwork you provide to support your claim. If you provide all the details on the day, in some cases we can process your claim there and then, if we cannot do that, we will tell you if you need to provide any further details to support your claim

Upper Street Area Housing Office,
257 Upper Street, London,
London, N1 1RU
Tel: 020 7527 3000

Central Street Area Housing Office,
85 Central Street,
London, EC1V 8DT
Tel: 020 7527 7480

Holland Walk Area Housing Office,
85 Holland Walk,
London, N19 3XS
Tel: 020 7527 7480

Lyon Street Area Housing Office,
1 Lyon Street,
London, N1 1DQ
Tel: 020 7527 6880

Contact Islington,
222 Upper Street,
London, N1 1DQ
Tel: 020 7527 6880

Write to Us at

Benefits Service
London Borough of Islington
PO Box 34750
London, N7 9WF

Home Visit - If your circumstances mean you are unable to visit us to make a claim or give us details, we can visit you at your home. In some cases we can make a decision about your claim on the spot when we visit you. To arrange this service telephone us on 020 7527 4990 or email benefits.service@islington.gov.uk including your contact details and a brief message.

Proof You Need to Give Us

• National Insurance number for you and your partner
• proof of income for all people living in your home
• proof of rent

If you do not receive income support, pension credit or income-based job seekers allowance you will also need to give us

• proof of capital, savings and investments

What Happens Next

When we receive your claim we may ask you to give us details you have not given to us so far, such as proof of identity, proof of rent, pay slips or bank statements. We will tell you what you need to give us in a letter. If we ask you to give us more details, you should give them to us in one month of the date on the letter we send you asking for them.

We will usually tell you how much benefit you will get within 14 days after we get all the details from you. This letter is called a decision notification letter. This letter will tell you how we have worked out your benefit. You should read this letter carefully to make sure your benefit is correct.

The decision notification letter will tell you what to do if our decision is wrong or you do not agree with our decision, you can either ask us to explain our decision, ask us to look at our decision again or you can appeal against our decision. You should contact us within one month of the date on the decision notification letter. For further details about how to disagree with our decision about your benefit, click on the link found under the main menu.

Where to Get More Information

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions can be found by clicking on the link on the right under Do it Online.

Useful websites can be found by clicking the links on the right.

Where to Get Help

You can always contact us for help and advice, our contact details are above.

For a helpful contact list, click on the link at the bottom of this page under Downloadable Documents.

How to Comment on Our Service

You should contact us. We would like to know what you think about this website, or about the service we provide to you. Our contact details can be found above or email benefits.service@islington.gov.uk