Do OAP's pay council tax?

kingfisherblue

Healy, thank you for that. I paid her CT this year, but will certainly check next year! I think it was £29, so it wasn't a great deal of money to some, but it is to my mum.

real1314

healy wrote: »

I assumed it was Guaranteed Credit as the OP says her Mother has no savings.

Income also affects whether guarantee credit is payable or not. Sounds to me like she gets Savings credit (which isn't quite the name it should be) and therefore has to pay some council tax.

jackieb

My parents get guaranteed pension credit. They still pay a small amount of council tax. I can't remember how much exactly but it's very little. They're in a Band A house.

Also, if your mum gets guaranteed pension credit and she has any hospital appointments she'll get some help towards travel expenses. My mum had to have chemo and radiotherapy earlier this year. She does have a free bus pass but I took her in in my car as it's a long round trip in the bus - about 3 hours. She got £10 each time she went to hospital to help with petrol costs. She just needed to take in proof that she got the guaranteeed pension credit.

healy

real1314 wrote: »

Income also affects whether guarantee credit is payable or not. Sounds to me like she gets Savings credit (which isn't quite the name it should be) and therefore has to pay some council tax.

The OP says her Mother just gets her old age pension and pension credit so I thought that was guaranteed credit?

hippy-chicy

It depends I have seen savings credit awarded where there is only a very small amount of savings E.G £200. But i agree it does sound like the GC element would be awarded in this case if only the SRP is in payment.
OP it might be worth confirming this for definate.

If GC is in payment then that entitles them to full CTB but this is still affected by any non deps in the property unless they are also in receipt of DLAC/ AA.

Kingfisher the balance for 09/10 could be due to when the date that CTB has been awarded and if your mum was up to date with her payments before hand.

AsknAnswer

notlongnow wrote: »

Hi, do oap's pay council tax? My mum is retired, claims her old age pension and a small amount of pension credit which will be reviewed in 2012.

She claims nothing else and has no savings.

Should she be paying?

No savings, therefore I think it's a safe assumption that it is gurantee credit.

OP, altogether if mum's PC is single and her total income is £130.00 per week, then yes it is very likely she is receiving guarantee credit and should be entitled to CTB. She should have had a discount applied anyway if she is a single occupant, but this is only a discount of 25%.

Has she had a visit from the Pension Service for a benefits check?

kingfisherblue

hippy-chicy wrote: »

It depends I have seen savings credit awarded where there is only a very small amount of savings E.G £200. But i agree it does sound like the GC element would be awarded in this case if only the SRP is in payment.
OP it might be worth confirming this for definate.

If GC is in payment then that entitles them to full CTB but this is still affected by any non deps in the property unless they are also in receipt of DLAC/ AA.

Kingfisher the balance for 09/10 could be due to when the date that CTB has been awarded and if your mum was up to date with her payments before hand.

My mum has had CTB for a few years now and has always paid by direct debit. So no arrears. The reason I paid it this year was that the council cancelled her DD, but couldn't explain why.

She doesn't have even a small amount of savings either. Unless you count the Morrisons stamps that she saves for Christmas :rolleyes:

notlongnow_2

Thanks all, Its looking good for her I think then. I shall pick up a form asap. Im not sure which pension credit she claims so Ill have to clarify that with her.

All I can tell you is she has always worked and paid tax/ni etc and her pension credit is reviewed in a couple of years time.

Thankyou.