Carers and council tax

witts1973

Registered User
Jun 20, 2018
731
0
Leamington Spa
I just thought I would check,I live at home with my mother as I always have done,athe council tax was reduced a couple of years ago as my mother had her diagnosis,I believe the maths of it are she has been made exempt from payment and there is 25% that still has to be paid which I pay,that might not seem a lot but as a carer on carer allowance it still is a lot of money to me,is anyone else in this same situation?Is it the norm?
 
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Andrew_McP

Registered User
Mar 2, 2016
390
0
60
South Northwest
I'm in Cheshire East and moved back home to care for my mother full time a couple of years ago. Mum wasn't paying CT because she was on her own and on Pension Credit. I expected to have to pay CT even though my only income is Carer's Allowance now, but I went through the SMI (severe mental impairment) paperwork to get her disregarded on dementia grounds and they seem to think I get disregarded too, as her carer but not spouse.

I tend to work on the principle that any money the State gives us can be taken back because of errors, so I try to put a bit of money aside each month in case it all turns out to be a mistake, but for the time being I'm not paying anything. Whether this is down to Mum's Pension Credit as well as the SMI I've no idea.

I do know that the paperwork they sent showing their calculations made my head hurt though! I filed it under "life's too short". They know where we are if they change their minds. :)
 

witts1973

Registered User
Jun 20, 2018
731
0
Leamington Spa

Marnie63

Registered User
Dec 26, 2015
1,637
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Hampshire
I still don't know how they worked out our discounts. Mum got the SMI disregard, but when the council sent me the form for that, they included a form for me to fill in, to apply for a discount as her carer. I sent both off together. We were(I was?) paying only around 25% of the council tax fee. I think I was even still working at the time, though it was only a few hours week. I remember telling them my weekly salary, but they said it was OK, I was still entitled to the discount as I was caring for her. I wonder if it varies by region?

It was a real shock when it went back up after mum died, even with the 25% single person discount!
 

Just me

Registered User
Nov 17, 2013
502
0
We have 50% reduction for council tax, 25% for Mum, 25% for me as carer.
From what I hear it differs from council to Council.
 

nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,081
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Bury

Just me

Registered User
Nov 17, 2013
502
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I don’t understand why you think my figures don’t make sense nitram.

I checked on our council website when we were given the reduction and confirmed 50% is correct.
The link you provided is headed Benefits which doesn’t apply in our case. Our reduction is because of a dementia diagnosis and carer.
 

Beate

Registered User
May 21, 2014
12,179
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London
I have to admit that I find the topic difficult to get my head round sometimes but the way I think it works, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that if in a two person household one is exempt due to the SMI disregard, and one is exempt due to being their carer (who isn't a spouse), the rules for an empty property apply, and they say that 50% is still payable, which would tie in with what Just me's experience is. I'm not sure how Marnie63 gets down to just paying 25% but maybe there are other discounts I hadn't factored in.

I think the only way a household is totally exempt from paying is if all members are exempt due to a SMI disregard (or students) - whether it's one person or two, as long as it's everyone living there.
 
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Marnie63

Registered User
Dec 26, 2015
1,637
0
Hampshire
I'm looking at the last bill we had while mum was still alive. There is a 'disregard' discount, which is clearly 50% of the total payable, but then there is a 'council tax reduction scheme', which is exactly 25% of the total payable, so at that time I was paying only 25% of the total amount due. I guess this figures, with mum's disregard, but I'm not sure if the other 25% reduction is down to me being her full time carer, or due to me also being 'disregarded' and paying only what you would for an empty property? I'm pretty sure that by this time I had given up work completely.
 

witts1973

Registered User
Jun 20, 2018
731
0
Leamington Spa
I'm looking at the last bill we had while mum was still alive. There is a 'disregard' discount, which is clearly 50% of the total payable, but then there is a 'council tax reduction scheme', which is exactly 25% of the total payable, so at that time I was paying only 25% of the total amount due. I guess this figures, with mum's disregard, but I'm not sure if the other 25% reduction is down to me being her full time carer, or due to me also being 'disregarded' and paying only what you would for an empty property? I'm pretty sure that by this time I had given up work completely.
Hi that's what I pay 25% as a son that is a carer,it's different if you're a wife or husband I believe,I think I probably had misinterpreted it when I had read that persons with dementia and a carer get disregarded,that's still a lot of money if you're surviving on carers allowance though,I pay £60 a month
 

witts1973

Registered User
Jun 20, 2018
731
0
Leamington Spa