Pension Credits

[Butterfly58]

Hi can anybody advise me, my mother at last has been given pension credits after waiting eleven weeks, l am going to take her to the local council offices, is there any documentation she requires to take with her to get council tax reduction.
Somebody who has had to do this recently would be a great help with there. Any guidance l would be grateful for.

 

[Cat27]

I think she will heed proof of all her income & savings ie letters from the DWP, bank statements etc.

 

[Beate]

Usually there is a form to fill in, either in paper form or online, which you then send off. I've never heard of anyone actually visiting the council offices for that.

Check out this link and put your post code in - it should give you a link to your council's website.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-council-tax-reduction

 

[Oh Knickers]

The other thing to consider applying for is Attendance allowance. You just need to write down all the things you do for your mum - however small. It adds up surprisingly. Such as - mother unable to get her own breakfast organised so I make her her tea, give her her breakfast, reminded her to drink her tea and eat her breakfast. Mother needs constant reminding to take her tablets prescribed for.... Mother is unable to remember medical appointments. I keep a note of her appointments and get her to these appointments. etc etc. It comes to around £57.80 a week

Should your mum have a diagnosis you can then approach the consultant who gave the diagnosis a form (print off from your Council website) for Severely Mentally Impaired Council Tax exemption. She should then not have to pay any Council Tax. Just remind the consultant of the date of the original diagnosis as it should be backdated. However, you need the AA in place first to be able to apply.

Other benefits are to be found on this link:

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/informatio...gCCsT93nOPO30_TFAzhoC_a0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Baker17]

I think she will heed proof of all her income & savings ie letters from the DWP, bank statements etc.

They don’t ask for any proof of savings or income, you can collect the form from the council offices and then take to the doctor to get it signed and then return it, that’s what I did

 

[Oh Knickers]

The other thing to consider applying for is Attendance allowance. You just need to write down all the things you do for your mum - however small. It adds up surprisingly. Such as - mother unable to get her own breakfast organised so I make her her tea, give her her breakfast, reminded her to drink her tea and eat her breakfast. Mother needs constant reminding to take her tablets prescribed for. . . Mother is unable to remember medical appointments. I keep a note of her appointments and get her to these appointments. etc etc. It comes to around £ 57.80 pw.

Should your mum have a diagnosis you can then approach the consultant who gave the diagnosis a form (print off from your Council website) for Severely Mentally Impaired Council Tax exemption. She should then not have to pay any Council Tax.

 

[Cat27]

They don’t ask for any proof of savings or income, you can collect the form from the council offices and then take to the doctor to get it signed and then return it, that’s what I did

I thought the OP was asking about Council Tax Benefit which has nothing to do with the Dr.
Proof income us required for benefits.

 

[Izzy]

This is a link to the Alzheimer's Society's information on Council Tax disregards and expemptions. I had to get my husbands's memory clinic doctor to write a brief letter to say he had a severe mental impairment.

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-s...sregards-exemptions-council-tax#content-start

 

[Beate]

The OP mentioned Pension Credit and asked about council tax reduction not exemption, so that's what I based my answer on. For a SMI council tax disregard it is necessary that the person is on Attendance Allowance or equivalent. There is a form that needs to be filled in and given to the GP for signature then sent off to the council - no personal visit or any other documents are required for that.

 

[Butterfly58]

I think l haven’t explained myself properly sorry for any confusion caused.
My mother hasn’t got dementia but her husband has.
He has recently been placed in full time care leaving my mother unable to take on the bills as she was only getting £75 a week, l was told she could get some reduction on council tax when her pension credits arrive.
This is what my query was about.

Many thanks to all that took the trouble to reply.

 

[Izzy]

If your mother lives alone she should get a single occupancy discount - I think it's 25%. As Beate said earlier if you put your postcode into the box in this link you'll get taken to the information for your area -

https://www.gov.uk/apply-council-tax-reduction

 

[nitram]

, l was told she could get some reduction on council tax when her pension credits arrive.

It does not look as if she has to wait for the pension credit to arrive.

Pensioners
If you're a pensioner, you should be able to get CTR if you've got less than £16,000 worth of capital. However, unless you get the guarantee part of Pension Credit (in which case your capital is ignored) you won't be able to get CTR if you've got capital of over £16,000.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/b...lication/council-tax-reduction-who-can-apply/

Contact the council and see what they say.

 

[Butterfly58]

M

It does not look as if she has to wait for the pension credit to arrive.

Pensioners
If you're a pensioner, you should be able to get CTR if you've got less than £16,000 worth of capital. However, unless you get the guarantee part of Pension Credit (in which case your capital is ignored) you won't be able to get CTR if you've got capital of over £16,000.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/b...lication/council-tax-reduction-who-can-apply/

Contact the council and see what they say.

Many thanks this has made interesting reading, l feel my mother could have had help a lot sooner than the eleven weeks she has had to wait.
We did have a benefit adviser from DWP come out to assess her, you would have thought he would have said she could have had help sooner.

 

[nitram]

As LAs all have different rules, it's probably best to go to a local CAB or AgeUK for advice

@Butterfly58

 

[Butterfly58]

As LAs all have different rules, it's probably best to go to a local CAB or AgeUK for advice

@Butterfly58

I will remember that in future.