Council Tax Discount for people over 65 with Dementia

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Browny10

Registered User
Dec 20, 2019
172
0
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
 
Weasell

Weasell

Registered User
Oct 21, 2019
1,778
0
Sometimes actions have unintended consequences.

Would the reason that they prefer AA to be approved first is to save the GPS being bullied by unscrupulous families?

I am sorry to query this but I have spent too much time ‘ on the wrong side of the tracks’ and for the very considerable amount of money we are taking about know what some people will do to obtain it?
 
B

Browny10

Registered User
Dec 20, 2019
172
0
Weasell said:
Sometimes actions have unintended consequences.

Would the reason that they prefer AA to be approved first is to save the GPS being bullied by unscrupulous families?

I am sorry to query this but I have spent too much time ‘ on the wrong side of the tracks’ and for the very considerable amount of money we are taking about know what some people will do to obtain it?
Click to expand...
Hi Weasell, No the reason is that the present Local Government Finance Act 1992 states that the person must have a signed certification from the GP but also must be entitled to one of 9 State benefits, (including AA). The problem is that the present law also says that the person must wait 6 months from them needing help with personal or safeyty needs before they can apply for AA and many interpret that as 6 months after the GP certification date. The amount we are talking about is a one off credt of between £200 and £2,600 dependent on their council tax band and the time between application for AA and the GP certification date. They receive no money only a discount on their Council Tax Bill. There are very strict regulations that must apply before the GP can sign the Council Tax Discount application form
 
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Fitzalan

Registered User
Apr 25, 2020
33
0
Signed. My mum was fortunate in that she already had attendance allowance through having Macular Degeneration, but we still had to prove it, and as the original paperwork had gone astray it took an age to get a confirmation letter from the dwp in the middle of a pandemic.
 
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Jacques

Registered User
Apr 4, 2020
51
0
Could I please ask what SMH discount is as we don't receive any discount even though my husband was awarded attendance allowance
 
nitram

nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,230
0
Bury
B

Browny10

Registered User
Dec 20, 2019
172
0
Hi Jacques, SMI discount is the Council Tax discount for people with Severe Mental Impairment. If your husband was awarded Attendance Allowance related to Dementia you can apply to your local council for Council Tax Discount SMI Disregard. The word disregard is used to mean Not Counted. So if there are just the two of you in the house and your husband is disregarded then you are entitled to a 25% discount on your Council Tax. The form is very simple but your Husband's GP needs to certify when he first became SMI. You may have to send the form to your GP but each council is different. The point of my argument is that some councils start the discount from the date of GP certification and some from the date of receipt of Attendance Allowance. In your case if he already has Attendance Allowance you should get the council tax discount backdated to the date of first receipt of Attendance Allowance (assuming your GP gives a certification date before the date of receipt of Attendance Allowance). Councils do not give money back they tend to credit the backdated discount onto your next council tax bill. They will only credit up to 6 years because of the statute of limitations.
 
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Browny10

Registered User
Dec 20, 2019
172
0
Sorry Jacques I didn't point out that in your case you should get the council tax discount backdated to at least the date of receipt of Attendance Allowance if the GP certifies SMI before that date. You may be lucky and get it backdated to the date of GP certification.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
PeteMid

PeteMid

Registered User
Jan 17, 2019
90
0
Northamptonshire, UK
www.livingwithdementia.online
Browny10 said:
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
Click to expand...
 
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