Just had a final demand of £2150 for Council Tax owed.
Does anybody have advice about this subject as we are panicking now. I am in touch with CAB and I have contacted The District Council who are looking into it.
Between us we are both on benefits. ESA (contribution based), Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance. Our savings are around £11,000.
So we should be getting some form of discount. Last year we were totally excluded from paying then it all changed. Why?
Have you had the discount for certain disability criteria?
It can be applied if you have a room adapted for a disabled person. Ie for me it’s a wet room/2nd toilet.
But it is also available for wheelchair users.
Pollsx
Because of the benefits we are on we qualified to be exempt from paying Council Tax.
Now, out of the blue and in June ( council tax starts in April ) we get a final demand for £2150.
I`ve got some old shirt buttons they can have.
My question is, why are we exempt from paying any council tax last year and this year we get a ridiculous bill for the full amount when our conditions have worsened overall and we receive the same benefits.
You need to speak to the office which sent the bill.
Pollsx
If nothings changed Scudger sounds like a cock up to me. Poll’s right, give them a ring. We had something similar a few years back, we did pay council tax, but at a discount. They had said my hubby had earned too much, he hadn’t, & it was their mistake. Believe me, I know the fear you have not wanting to phone them, been there, but you need to asap, they have clearly got something wrong. Let us know how you get on Tracey xx
“If you have capital of between £10,000 and £16,000, the local authority will treat it as income. This is known as tariff income. The local authority will assume you have an income of £1 a week for each £500 of capital between £10,000 and £16,000. This will be added to your other income to work out whether you’re entitled to CTR and how much you’re entitled to.”
Reference CAB
I have spoken to The Council who issued the bill but they could`nt give me an answer. They are going to look into it and their final words were “there has been a glitch in the system”
My answer to that was "so why are you sending out final demands if theres a glitch in your system"? They didnt answer me.
Life is hard enough without this incompetence.
As much use as…
We had £14,000 when they removed the Council Tax bill last year. We still qualified for zero Council Tax based on our benefits. Now we only have £11,000 in savings in the bank. Should I get it below £10,000. I`m sure there is something we need.
Hopefully it will be sorted Scudger, our nice bill was a glitch as well, seems to be a council trend! My hubby was so traumatised by the experience, he has now refused the reduction (they have said we are entitled to) & pays the full monthly amount, he’s terrified of it happening again! Luckily our mortgage is very low, we just about do it. Good luck xxx
I forgot to say The Pension Credit we receive is The guaranteed part of Pension Credit.
When we were both working we paid off our mortgage. Best feeling ever.
Were nearly there Scudger, can’t wait!!! Sure it will work out, ours did in the end, not before they nearly gave my poor hubby a heart attack the b*****ds, but it did sort out. They do have welfare officers that work in the council (here anyway) can you phone 1 of them? they might put your mind at rest, they helped us, we had court papers issued!!! Turned out we didn’t owe them at all, but for a while we were convinced we did, hence hubby refusing any help now, never again. Tracey xxx
hiya
i was under the impression that everybody had to pay something towards c/tax.
am on benefits with no savings. still have to contribute more than half the care costs for my carers and some c/tax-water and bins to get emptied.
on a different note-i think everybody should pay towards travel costs. if we all paid 20p/50p towards any journey then perhaps the councils wouldnt be in such a state.
as regulars know- i am a wheelchair user so i take up more room on the bus (4 seats!) and i would happily pay towards the cost. blooming brave polititican that would suggest this i know but they would get my vote for looking at the bigger picture.
saw in the paper a suggestion re charging for non attendance at gp appt-bravo!
now of to reply to another thread thats caught my eye today…
ellie
We did have to pay some Ellie, had a reduction, can’t remember how much. Turned out they had actually put a decimal point in the wrong place, really. Had to show flipping accounts the lot. They admitted it was their mistake, but the upset it caused was so bad hubby won’t go through it again, ever. Tracey x
hiya tracey
yes of course mistakes are made-we are all humans! i suppose after several years of being in a vulnerable state i learnt/prioritised about which things warrant my precious attention. c/tax squabble or which cake to choose?! both were dealt with but in different ways!
glad u got it sorted.
ellie x
Well the correspondence about our Council Tax arrived today.
Surprise surprise we owe a big fat zero. I was right all along. I don`t make mistakes so why are they allowed to. They are a special breed who need re-training. Muppets.
My message to them is "Dont mess with the best, cos the best dont mess.
Yay!!! Knew they would be wrong Scudger!! What a load of t***s. Worry over. Tracey xx
Just had a quick glance at this post and firstly glad you got it sorted.
The bits that caught my attention though are, " ESA (contribution based), Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance. Our savings are around £11,000".
I find trying to claim a bloody mine field, it is just so confusing.
My question is how does one with MS (getting worse) be able to claim such benefits ?
I do get basic PIP, and thats it, which took forever to finalise.
I still have to go to work simply to live, it’s as simple as that !
So should I just stop working, which if I’m honest is not really something that sits well with me as I’ve never ever been out of work, but in reality the time is very very close I think !
I get no council tax reduction (I pay £188 per month), my savings, well lets just say if I had £11000 in savings I would be jumping through hoops, thats if I could actually jump.
My wife works part time on minimum wage, who has chronic osteoarthritis and fibromylagia, again she is someone who battles on, but in reality should not be working, but has done all her life.
We are both early fifties with a couple of years left on our mortgage.
People keep telling me “you should be able to claim this & that”, “you shouldn’t be working”, “do what everyone else does”, but I really cant see how to just stop working and claim all these benefits.
How is it done ?
It cant just be a simple case of not turning up for work anymore and ringing the social for money, seems to easy and actually not the right thing to do, or is that just me thinking this ?
Any way back to my query, what is the proper process for being able to genuinely claim what your entitled to.
Oh, I did manage to get a Blue badge from my council which I was very grateful for !
Hi jactac, I’m sure I read somewhere that those on a low income/wage can apply for a council tax reduction. They would take into account you and your partners incomes and savings. It might be worth contacting your local authority council tax department? You may be able to claim working tax credits depending on how many hours are worked each week.
.
CAB Web page on working tax credits.
CAB page on council tax reduction.
Thanks Lenney,
We’ll have to look into all this benefits thing because we’ve both worked since leaving school, and have NEVER EVER claimed a penny for dole or any other benefit until I managed to get PIP last year for the MS, and I genuinely believe we should be entitled to a bit more help.
However, I dont believe in giving up work just to be able to claim benefits, even if I do have MS.
I think a big part of trying to deal with MS is keeping things as normal as possible, so setting the alarm for 4.15am to get up for work on mornings and then a week later trying to stay alert when on a night shift just seems to be normal for me, it has been for the last 37 years, so I dread the day I have to give it up !