Moneysaving For Carers

Trix

Anyone coming here from this weeks tips email, bear in mind that this thread was started over 3 years ago!

While a lot of the information still stands, some may be out of date and some of the links may no longer work. I think I've updated all of my posts now, but let me know if I missed any!

size3shoes

Some more info about Council Tax. We get a reduction because we have to use a living room as a bedroom for my 94 year old mother-in-law as she can't walk so can't go upstairs. She has a special electric bed and hoist (provided free by the NHS). Someone from the council came to inspect it and agreed on the spot that we should have the reduction (one band lower). I managed to get it backdated to when she had to move downstairs by getting a letter from her care manager at the council. Also, as she is registered blind, she is automaticaly entitled to a blue badge and gets an additional tax allowance. You don't have to be completely blind to be registered blind, my mother-in-law can still make out shapes etc. When she needed new glasses, the lenses were free.

Jummy

Woburn Safari Park admits carer and disabled child for £6 each.
We took our son who is autistic and he loved it.

Trix

Just realised I hadn't posted about our council tax relief!

Click HERE on the Government's info about reductions in council tax and it says:

In summary, the requirements for a reduction are that the property must be the main residence of at least one disabled person and it must have at least one of:

• an additional bathroom or kitchen,
• any other room (not being a toilet) which is mainly used by the disabled person, or
• enough space for the use of a wheelchair - if the wheelchair is for outdoor use only, this will not count

The room or the wheelchair must also be essential or of major importance to the disabled person's well-being, due to the nature and extent of their disability.

'Disabled person' in this context means a person who is substantially and permanently disabled. The disabled person can be either an adult or a child and does not have to be responsible for paying the Council Tax bill.


An extra room does not need to have been specially built, but your home will not qualify for a reduction unless the 'essential or of major importance' test above is met. Simply rearranging rooms (for example, having a bedroom on the ground floor rather than the first floor) is unlikely to make your home eligible for a reduction.

My daughter is 9 now but we have had the disabled discount for a couple of years, we had it backdated as well but I'm not sure how far - I THINK the maximum was 3 years.

The people coming to assess us basically asked if she was a wheelchair user, when we said she was they said 'well there are no further questions - you are entitled to a discount'. We have had no structural adaptions made to the house (wider doorways etc) and apart from her own bedroom, she doesn't have any other room mainly used by herself. They just told us that at some stage we probably would need to make adaptations so were entitled to the discount! Seemed odd but we didn't argue!

Same seems to be for the post from size3shoes - it says that having a bedroom downstairs doesn't make you eligible, but it looks like that was what they based it on for their reduction.

Worth getting an assessment if you are, or have someone in the family that meets the 'substantially and permanently disabled' criteria even if none of the other requirements are met.

There is also a reduction available for severly mentally impaired people. Click on the same link as I first gave and scroll down for more info on that one.

mo1_2

hi everyone,i have a dining room that my dad uses as a bedroom since he broke his hip,will this count for a council tax reduction?

MandyQue

For carers in the MIDDLESBROUGH AND STOCKTON area, if you pop to either Middlesbrough or Stockton Carers centre you can register for a new scheme starting next month. It is a Carers Card which will entitle you to discounts in various places, although at the moment I don't know where exactly, and will have a chip which holds information about you and your 'caree' so that if, for instance, you were suddenly taken into hospital, they would be able to read the information on the chip to find out where your cared for person will be and who needs to be contacted in an emergency, as well as any relevant details about their disability and special needs. Hopefully it will be an absolutely brilliant scheme which will mean I won't be half as worried as I was when I had a car accident and had to beg the ambulance drivers to pick my daughter up before taking me to hospital! :eek:

michellew_2

MandyQue wrote: »

For carers in the MIDDLESBROUGH AND STOCKTON area, if you pop to either Middlesbrough or Stockton Carers centre you can register for a new scheme starting next month. It is a Carers Card which will entitle you to discounts in various places, although at the moment I don't know where exactly, and will have a chip which holds information about you and your 'caree' so that if, for instance, you were suddenly taken into hospital, they would be able to read the information on the chip to find out where your cared for person will be and who needs to be contacted in an emergency, as well as any relevant details about their disability and special needs. Hopefully it will be an absolutely brilliant scheme which will mean I won't be half as worried as I was when I had a car accident and had to beg the ambulance drivers to pick my daughter up before taking me to hospital! :eek:

Thats brill - any idea if County Durham is coming on board?

cattie

In my London borough the council now have a handyman scheme for disabled persons on qualifying benefits who are homeowners.

They will do small jobs such as taking curtains down & putting them up, changing washers on taps, putting up shelves, moving furniture, changing light bulbs etc. It's a free service, but if somebody is a heavy user of the scheme then they may make a small charge at their discretion.

This scheme doesn't seem to be advertised by my council & I only found out about it thanks to my neighbour who works for the council. May be worth checking out with your local council if there is a similar scheme in operation.

lil_me

michellew wrote: »

Thats brill - any idea if County Durham is coming on board?

There was talk a while back at Durham & Chester Le Street carer support, I haven't heard anything since. http://www.dccarers.org/ if you haven't got any info about them.

Trix

cattie wrote: »

In my London borough the council now have a handyman scheme for disabled persons on qualifying benefits who are homeowners.

They will do small jobs such as taking curtains down & putting them up, changing washers on taps, putting up shelves, moving furniture, changing light bulbs etc. It's a free service, but if somebody is a heavy user of the scheme then they may make a small charge at their discretion.

This scheme doesn't seem to be advertised by my council & I only found out about it thanks to my neighbour who works for the council. May be worth checking out with your local council if there is a similar scheme in operation.

I forgot about that - mine do too! HERE is the one for Northumberland. To qualify for that one - it doesn't matter what sort of accommodation you live in, it's available to all residents who over 60 years old or registered disabled. :T