How to Report a Change of Circumstances for Lewisham Council Tax

The 21-Day Reporting Rule

If you're receiving Council Tax Reduction in Lewisham, you have a legal obligation to report any change in your personal or financial circumstances within 21 days of the change happening. Missing this deadline can trigger an excess CTR assessment, where the council claws back the overpaid credit and adjusts your bill upward.

Reporting to the DWP for Universal Credit does not count. The council and the DWP are separate systems with separate reporting obligations. Even if a change to your UC triggers an electronic data feed to the council, you still need to notify Lewisham directly.

What You Must Report

Any change that could affect how much CTR you receive, including:

• Income changes: new job, wage increase or decrease, change in working hours, new self-employment, loss of employment
• Benefit changes: Universal Credit elements changing, starting or stopping ESA/JSA/PIP/Carer's Allowance, end of a benefit claim
• Savings crossing thresholds: capital going above £6,000 (tariff income starts) or above £16,000 (CTR entitlement ends entirely)
• Household changes: someone moving in or out, birth of a child, a non-dependant's income changing, a student finishing their course
• Moving address: whether within Lewisham or out of the borough
• Relationship changes: partner moving in, separation, new civil partnership

How to Report Online

Use the "Tell us about a change of circumstances" form on lewisham.gov.uk. You'll need your council tax reference number and details of the change, including the date it happened.

Upload supporting evidence at the same time: new payslips if your income has changed, a UC breakdown showing the updated elements, proof of the new household member's income if someone has moved in. The faster you provide evidence, the faster the council recalculates your award.

Save the confirmation receipt. If there's later a dispute about when you reported, that receipt is your proof.

What Happens After You Report

The council recalculates your CTR based on the new circumstances. If your award increases, the extra credit is applied to your council tax account and your monthly instalments drop. If it decreases, the council issues a revised bill with higher instalments for the remaining months of the tax year.

You can request to spread any increase over 12 monthly instalments within the financial year rather than absorbing the full adjustment immediately.

The Consequences of Late or Non-Reporting

If you fail to report a change that reduces your entitlement, and the council discovers it later (through a UC data feed, a review, or a fraud check), you'll face an excess CTR assessment. The council recalculates your correct entitlement for the entire affected period and adjusts your council tax account. The difference becomes debt on your account.

For moving address specifically, your Lewisham CTR ends on the day you move. If you relocate within the borough, you need a fresh application at your new address. Moving out of Lewisham means applying to your new council — entitlements don't transfer between boroughs.

Periodic Reviews

Even without a change, the council may request a review of your claim. When this happens, you get one calendar month to submit updated evidence. If you don't respond within that month, your CTR is suspended. A further month of silence and the claim is terminated — you'd need to start a new application from scratch.

The Lewisham Council Tax Reduction guide includes a change-of-circumstances log for tracking what you've reported and when, so nothing slips through the 21-day deadline.

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