Good News - Council Tax Disregard - We Got It !

germain

Registered User
Jul 7, 2007
342
0
Good morning all,

Some time ago Margaret W started a thread that talked about Council Tax Disregard for the severely mentally impaired. We'd never, ever, heard of this and Mum, who has been living alone with visiting care, had been paying single persons council tax all along.

We got all the forms off the LA website and applied - GP signed the certificate etc.

Just heard today that we have got the disregard AND its backdated to 2004 (when Attendance Allowance was first paid )
That means a cheque for around £2500 is on its way and no future payments required !

Would like to send everyone a huge virtual hug and a virtual mega massive chocolate bar and wine to Margaret W.
Wow - what a result - will help enormously with care charges etc.

Love to all and thanks again
Germain

ps still haven't been awarded overnight full rate attendance allowance - and they are visiting next week. That'll be fun when Mum tells them how she spends her days doing shopping and housework and office work and looking after the family and dogs (not forgetting the parrots and the bear who lives in the garden )
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
Well done Germain. Excellent news.

Let us know how the AA evaluation goes.

Jennifer
 

Nebiroth

Registered User
Aug 20, 2006
3,510
0
Great news! I considered doing this but held off because at the moment Dad is the registered person for paying the tax and I had no doubt that they would send a letter addressed to him saying "So you have applied to be disregarded due to severe mental impairment"...

Anyway, as there are three of us, it wouldn;t work. Although Dad could be exempted, due to his dementia, or mum could be due to her Parkinsons, and I could be, as a live in carer, you can only have one exemption per household...that would only reduce us to two, which doesn;t give you any discount...
 

sparkle

Registered User
Aug 15, 2007
14
0
Spain
Can I ask, I live in Spain now,.... so am not totally up on the CT rulings any more... but is this valid for a couple when one is caring for the other?
If he can apply for anything then that'd be great as his bill each month is horrendous. I'm not sure on the details of when he started to get attendance allowance for her..perhaps not too long ago as he used to put off claiming things because it was admitting she was ill.

Mums just gone into care but I'd not thought about the now valid reduction for a single person at the address for Dad, so will mention it carefully to him when I see him, when the time is right.... anything he can save on the horrendous council Tax bill he has is a bonus.

Kathy
Edited as I've been and searched out documents on the LA website etc....
Can I ask how you get it back dated?
What documents do you need to provide as the form I downloaded hasn't got a backdated section (surprise surprise!!)
 
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Nebiroth

Registered User
Aug 20, 2006
3,510
0
You should be able to get one person exempted - your mum - who would fall under the "mental impairment" criteria. Youd have to fill in some forms and get one signed by the GP to confirm it.

Unfortunately, although carers who live in the house and provide at least 35 hours care can be disregarded, that does not apply if they are caring for a spouse or partner.

In any case, AFAIK, you can only get one disregard per household.

Which is why in our case, although we qualify in various ways, there is no point, because we can have one disregard - reduces us to two for taxable purposes, and there's no discount for that.

If it were just dad and I we could get it reduced to the single person rate...
 

germain

Registered User
Jul 7, 2007
342
0
Hello to Sparkle

I couldn't find anything on the LA website about backdating so I just wrote a very strong letter saying I wanted it backdating and sent it off with the forms - and also complained that it was only by chance on the AZ forum that I'd heard about this.....

When the LA sent me the form to take to the GP for him to actually certificate Mum it contained a question asking when AA was first awarded. (I sent the certificate off with another strongly worded letter) This is how we got our backdate to April 2004.

I don't really know about couples but it would appear to me - that if one person is severely mentally impaired and has been for some time - then the other person should be able to claim for single rate once the disregard is applied.

Worth trying anyway - our refund will pay for 3-4 months care costs.

All the best
Germain
 

Skye

Registered User
Aug 29, 2006
17,000
0
SW Scotland
sparkle said:
Can I ask how you get it back dated?
What documents do you need to provide as the form I downloaded hasn't got a backdated section (surprise surprise!!)

Hi Kathy, your dad should have been eligible for the 25% reduction from the date AA was agreed, (lower rate is OK), so if you can find a record of this, you should ask for a refund from then.

He will now be eligible for the same discount because he is the only person living in the house.

Good luck,
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
I have to say, much will depend on your GP and his/her willingness to sign the form. My mother first got her AA (full rate) very soon after her stokes, then she moved to another place, and the GP there was very unwilling to sign the form until this year. In fact I found TP while researching this issue. So, although the council might be willing to back-date to the award of the AA, it's also based on what the doctor is prepared to sign. Much will depend on the reason for the AA itself: my mother's was based on her age, her arthritis and her strokes, less on her diminshed mental capacity.

Jennifer