Benefit Income Officer

Job Title: Benefit Income Officer
Location: London Borough of Harrow, Forward Drive, Harrow, HA3 8NT
Employer: Pertemps Recruitment Partnership for London Borough of Harrow
Contract Type: Temporary (3-6 months)
Hours of Work: Monday - Friday, 09:00 - 17:00
Working Arrangements: Hybrid (2-3 days per week in the office)

Overview of the Role:
Pertemps is seeking a motivated and self-driven Benefit Income Officer to join the expanding team at the London Borough of Harrow. This temporary role offers a competitive pay rate of up to £17.66 per hour, excellent training, career development support, and 21 days of holiday (excluding Bank Holidays).

Main Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with Income Recovery to identify residents needing support due to Welfare Reforms, focusing on a full range of welfare benefits (including Housing Benefit and Universal Credit) to optimize residents' financial positions.
• Identify customers experiencing extreme financial hardship and provide advice on available support, including money advice, other welfare benefits, and alternative support methods.
• Verify Housing Benefit documents to ensure compliance with statutory requirements for rent payments.
• Liaise with services to deliver completed claims, support documents, change of circumstances notifications, and other related information as required, ensuring both parties are committed to resolving outstanding issues within agreed service levels.

The Ideal Candidate for the Benefit Income Officer Role Will Possess:

• Extensive understanding of all relevant benefits legislation and Harrow's Council Tax Support policy, principles, and procedures.
• Proven experience in Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit/Support assessment work.
• Ability to explain housing policies and benefit regulations to clients, handling stressful situations with tact, sensitivity, and confidence.
• Capability to work well under pressure, manage conflicting work demands, and meet targets.

About us:
For almost 60 years, Pertemps Recruitment Partnership have been the market leader in providing permanent and temporary staffing solutions and we are one of the most established players within the recruitment industry. The Sunday Times has listed us as one of the Best 100 Companies to work for 14 years running. We are not a big scary faceless company, quite the opposite: we strongly believe in the personal touch with everything we do. We are proud to be accredited 'investor in people' which is reflected across our business in length of service and career progression of our employees.

London Borough of Harrow is the 12th largest London borough and one of the most culturally diverse local authorities in the UK, making it a great place to live, work and visit. Located 10 miles from the city centre and just 13 minutes to Euston from Harrow & Wealdstone station there are great transport links via the Metropolitan Line, Watford DC Line and national rail service. It is easily accessible to the M1, M25 and A406.
The personal information we have collected from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, any your data protection rights, can be found by visiting www.cifas.org.uk/fpn