Housing and Council Tax Benefits - Service
Standards
The Benefits Service helps the council meet its corporate
priority around improving access to and satisfaction with services.
This information explains how we respond to your
calls/applications/enquiries regarding Housing and Council Tax
Benefits, what services we can offer and what standards you can
expect from us.
What we do
- The Benefits Service is part of the Financial Services
Division. Housing and Council Tax Benefit is provided to help meet
rent and/or Council Tax payments and may be available to people who
live in the area and who are on low incomes. We pay in excess of
£25 million benefit to approximately 10,000 claimants.
- Our Benefits Contact Centre handles over 60,000 incoming
telephone calls and processes over 100,000 documents every
year.
- Help and advice is available Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 5.00pm
via our Benefits Contact Centre on 01695 585080 or by calling into
the council offices at 52 Derby Street, Ormskirk. Alternatively,
appointments are available at the Council's Customer Service Point
in the Concourse, Skelmersdale, by giving us prior notice.
Fees and payment
- When making an application for Housing Benefit and/or Council
Tax Benefit, you must provide the necessary evidence of your
identity, income and capital in accordance with the verification
framework and benefit regulations. Details of required
documentation you will have to provide are available by contacting
the Benefits Section as stated in this leaflet.
- If you qualify for benefit, payment is made directly to your
Council Tax and/or Rent Account or, if you are a private tenant,
cheques are issued to you or your landlord.
Our service promise
- When you initially contact the council about entitlements,
Benefits Contact Centre staff will answer your query. If it is a
more complex issue, it will be passed through to our Benefits
Assessment Team who will respond as quickly as possible. If you
make an appointment to see a member of the Benefits Team at the
Customer Service Point in the Concourse, Skelmersdale, they will
arrange to see you within a week and will have all your papers on
hand to ensure you get the best possible service.
- We aim to achieve the highest standards, but there may be
occasions where delays will be experienced. This is because of the
high volume of applications and enquiries we receive, so you must
expect to wait in certain circumstances. If there are any possible
delays, you will be advised by the member of staff dealing with
your enquiry what the expected delay may be. If you consider your
query or application to be an emergency, you should explain this
and the reasons why to the member of benefits staff dealing with
your enquiry.
How you can help us
- Please ensure that when you submit your application for
benefit, you fill in all the relevant information on the form and
include the necessary original documentary proof of identification,
income and capital that may be required. This will definitely speed
up the time taken to process your claim. If you are unsure about
what evidence to provide, please ring the Benefits Section or call
in to see us.
- We are happy to assist all our customers with special needs.
Please mention this to our staff when you contact the council
(describe any special arrangements).
Our general standards
We have a number of general standards, which apply to all services
across West Lancashire District Council. You may find these useful
to note:
- We aim to answer letters and emails within 10 working
days.
- If you request a fuller reply, or the matter requires detailed
investigation, we will send you an acknowledgment within 10 days,
which will set out what action is being taken and when you are
likely to receive a detailed response.
- We aim to answer your phone calls within 10 seconds.
- You can make an appointment to see a manager or speak to staff
in confidence.
- At all times our staff will show courtesy, respect and
sensitivity.
- To view our general standards in full see Corporate
Standards.
Give us your feedback
We want to provide services that delight our customers and which
are second to none. We monitor the standards we set but also value
feedback from our customers and residents on how we can further
improve services. If you have any comments, compliments or
complaints, there is a form on which you can make any suggestions.
These are available by downloading a copy from our website or by
visiting our main offices. Alternatively you can call Customer
Services and one of our advisers will complete a form with you over
the phone.
If you do make a complaint about our services, please note that we
have a formal process for dealing with these. These should
initially be addressed to the service manager whose details can be
found on our website or by calling one of the contact number below.
Our promise to you is that any complaint will be answered within 10
working days.
Contacting us
Click: Housing and Council Tax Benefits
Email: housing.benefits@westlancsdc.gov.uk
Call: 01695 577177 or 01695 585080
Come in: 52 Derby Street, Ormskirk or the CSP at the Concourse,
Skelmersdale
Our offices are open from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Thursday, and
9.00am to 4.45pm on Friday.
Our Customer Contact Centre is open from 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to
Friday for telephone calls.
We can provide this information upon request on audiotape, in large
print, in Braille and in other languages.