Since my wife was diagnosed with dementia I have been trying to get our council to start giving Council Tax SMI Discount from the date the GP certifies they have Severe Mental Impairment rather than waiting until they are in receipt of a "Qualifying Benefit" usually Attendance Allowance.
I have been to a Tribunal in January 2020 and then in December I took the council to the High Court.
What I established was that the laws relating to Council Tax Discount and Attendance Allowance are so ambiguous that councils vary in the treatment of the applications.
In preparation to going to the tribunal I did a Freedom of Information request to all 382 UK councils, of which 379 have replied.
66% of councils start the discount when the person is in receipt of Attendance Allowance and only 33% start when the GP certifies the have Dementia (SMI). that means that 150,000 families out of the 176,000 families receiving council tax discount in the UK have to wait between 6 months and 6 years before they start to receive the discount. losing out on between a £200 and £2,600 reduction in their Council Tax
Having been to the High Court I have established that the only way to rectify the situation is to get the Laws changed and I have received permission from the government's petition committee to start a petition which requires 100.000 signatures within 6 months (by September the 9th).
I am working on this alone as I did when I faced two Barrister and a Solicitor in the High Court, therefore I need every ounce of help I can muster to reach the 100,000 signatures for the petition to be tabled in parliament please sign and publicize the petition at every opportunity https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/572993
I have been to a Tribunal in January 2020 and then in December I took the council to the High Court.
What I established was that the laws relating to Council Tax Discount and Attendance Allowance are so ambiguous that councils vary in the treatment of the applications.
In preparation to going to the tribunal I did a Freedom of Information request to all 382 UK councils, of which 379 have replied.
66% of councils start the discount when the person is in receipt of Attendance Allowance and only 33% start when the GP certifies the have Dementia (SMI). that means that 150,000 families out of the 176,000 families receiving council tax discount in the UK have to wait between 6 months and 6 years before they start to receive the discount. losing out on between a £200 and £2,600 reduction in their Council Tax
Having been to the High Court I have established that the only way to rectify the situation is to get the Laws changed and I have received permission from the government's petition committee to start a petition which requires 100.000 signatures within 6 months (by September the 9th).
I am working on this alone as I did when I faced two Barrister and a Solicitor in the High Court, therefore I need every ounce of help I can muster to reach the 100,000 signatures for the petition to be tabled in parliament please sign and publicize the petition at every opportunity https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/572993