Council tax benefit... how is it caluclated?

rtho782

Hi there,

I have been searching online to try to find out how council tax benefit is calculated but cannot seem to find this anywhere?

The Directgov website basically says "speak to your council", and the councils basically say "tell us how much you earn and we will get back to you if we feel like giving a discount".

There must be some hard and fast rules to this? What is the threshold for 100% discount? At what rate does it shrink?

Thanks in advance!!

sleepless_saver

There is no single answer but this chart explains it all and links to explanations of the terms used.

It depends on savings, income, who lives in the house and what other benefits you get. You can check eligibility with this benefits checker.

Also, you mentioned discounts. Council tax discounts and exemptions are not the same thing as council tax benefit. For example, usually you won't get any council tax benefit if you have more than £16k savings (the exception being if you get guarantee pension credit), but there might still be an entitlement to a discount or exemption.

real1314

rtho782 wrote: »

Hi there,

I have been searching online to try to find out how council tax benefit is calculated but cannot seem to find this anywhere?

The Directgov website basically says "speak to your council", and the councils basically say "tell us how much you earn and we will get back to you if we feel like giving a discount".

There must be some hard and fast rules to this? What is the threshold for 100% discount? At what rate does it shrink?

Thanks in advance!!

Ok, rough guide:-

1. They give an allowance for each person in your family. Rates as per Income Support. Amounts for couples, singles, kids, disabilities, carers etc.

Ignore this bit: 2. They set an allowed rent (LHA) based on the people in your household. Figures are published. Based on number of rooms "needed" and the area of the property.

3. They knock off amounts if "non dependants" live with you - based on the non-dependants income.

4. They look at your Income and Savings - some are disregarded.

5. they compare the total allowances against your income /savings. If you have less income than the allowance, you get full CTB (rent) less anything off for the non-dependants.
If you have more income than the allowances, they reduce the full (rent HB by 65p) CTB by 20p (I think it's 20p?) for each £1 you have over the allowance.

:cool:

Morglin

If you want to find out out what, if any, entitlement you may have:

http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx


CT benefit is not discretionary, and the council, any council, have to abide by the rules.

Lin

patricia50

Hi everyone. Just recently started claiming JSA. Have been waiting for claim for housing benefit and council tax benefit to come through. Situation is this, my daughter came to stay with me because her marriage broke down and she had nowhere to go. As I live in a small 2 bedroom flat she had to leave the children with their father and they come and stay every other weekend. Took all my documents to be copied for benefits claim. These included my daughters wage slips. On paper she appears to have a reasonably good wage but she is paying part of the mortgage on their house and child support plus she has to get back and forth to work so she has very little money. I knew this would have some affect on my benefits but was not prepared for the letter which came back saying I was to get £6.33 pw towards my council tax and no housing benefit at all. I have a small occupational pension of £197.00 per month. My rent comes to £97.00 per week. The pension will pay my council tax and there will be some left but don't know how I am going to pay the rent. Don't know when if at all in the near future their house will be sold or he will buy her out. Also she cannot get social housing unless she gets documents to say she will have shared residency which means she would have the children from fri to mon one week and thurs to mon following week (she works shifts) I cant tell her to leave as she needs a roof over her head and somewhere to bring the children but I cant cope with this financially. Help!!!!!

real1314

patricia50 wrote: »

Hi everyone. Just recently started claiming JSA. Have been waiting for claim for housing benefit and council tax benefit to come through. Situation is this, my daughter came to stay with me because her marriage broke down and she had nowhere to go. As I live in a small 2 bedroom flat she had to leave the children with their father and they come and stay every other weekend. Took all my documents to be copied for benefits claim. These included my daughters wage slips. On paper she appears to have a reasonably good wage but she is paying part of the mortgage on their house and child support plus she has to get back and forth to work so she has very little money. I knew this would have some affect on my benefits but was not prepared for the letter which came back saying I was to get £6.33 pw towards my council tax and no housing benefit at all. I have a small occupational pension of £197.00 per month. My rent comes to £97.00 per week. The pension will pay my council tax and there will be some left but don't know how I am going to pay the rent. Don't know when if at all in the near future their house will be sold or he will buy her out. Also she cannot get social housing unless she gets documents to say she will have shared residency which means she would have the children from fri to mon one week and thurs to mon following week (she works shifts) I cant tell her to leave as she needs a roof over her head and somewhere to bring the children but I cant cope with this financially. Help!!!!!

It would probably be better to start a new thread rather than posting on here.

However, think of what's happened from another angle:-

What if your daughter had found her own place to live and had rent to pay herself. How much would she have to pay then?
There's no justification in expecting her to be able to stay with you at a low rent whilst the taxpayer picks up the HB cost.

There's no allowance in HB rules for the payment of maintenance. Same as for fathers who have moved out of the marital home.

patricia50

real1314 wrote: »

It would probably be better to start a new thread rather than posting on here.

However, think of what's happened from another angle:-

What if your daughter had found her own place to live and had rent to pay herself. How much would she have to pay then?
There's no justification in expecting her to be able to stay with you at a low rent whilst the taxpayer picks up the HB cost.

There's no allowance in HB rules for the payment of maintenance. Same as for fathers who have moved out of the marital home.

You're missing the point, she cannot afford to be renting anywhere unless she gets her share from the marital home, or she is able to get shared residency and the council would then rehouse her. She would not then be paying towards the mortgage and would be able to pay rent. I took her in because she is my daughter and I would not want to see her without a roof over her head. They take her wage as part of the income coming into the house when I claimed housing benefit but that is not the case. Her wage pays for part of the mortgage, child support, petrol to go backwards and forwards to work and anything the children need when they come every other weekend to stay. She is struggling herself and now I am in a dire situation because I am not the sort of mother to say "sorry you'll have to get on with it" She was in a terrible state when she came to stay with me and it breaks her heart each time she takes the children back. Oh -by the way she goes to see them twice a week in the morning also after doing a 12 hour night shift which is in the opposite direction to coming home, so unhelpful comments really are not appreciated. :mad::(

real1314

patricia50 wrote: »

You're missing the point, she cannot afford to be renting anywhere unless she gets her share from the marital home, or she is able to get shared residency and the council would then rehouse her. She would not then be paying towards the mortgage and would be able to pay rent. I took her in because she is my daughter and I would not want to see her without a roof over her head. They take her wage as part of the income coming into the house when I claimed housing benefit but that is not the case. Her wage pays for part of the mortgage, child support, petrol to go backwards and forwards to work and anything the children need when they come every other weekend to stay. She is struggling herself and now I am in a dire situation because I am not the sort of mother to say "sorry you'll have to get on with it" She was in a terrible state when she came to stay with me and it breaks her heart each time she takes the children back. Oh -by the way she goes to see them twice a week in the morning also after doing a 12 hour night shift which is in the opposite direction to coming home, so unhelpful comments really are not appreciated. :mad::(

You only see it as unhelpful because it's not what you want to hear.

I could have said "oh what a shame, appeal against it and they'll change it" - you'd probably have thanked me for it, but it would have been a load of nonsense.

Her payments to the mortgage are not disregarded as part of her income. No-one has payments to another property disregarded.

Same with her petrol costs, same with Child Support, same with buying stuff for the kids.

She'd be in the same situation if she got Social Housing.


I'm not sure what question you actually want answering? :cool:

Macro_3

patricia50 wrote: »

You're missing the point, she cannot afford to be renting anywhere unless she gets her share from the marital home, or she is able to get shared residency and the council would then rehouse her. She would not then be paying towards the mortgage and would be able to pay rent. I took her in because she is my daughter and I would not want to see her without a roof over her head. They take her wage as part of the income coming into the house when I claimed housing benefit but that is not the case. Her wage pays for part of the mortgage, child support, petrol to go backwards and forwards to work and anything the children need when they come every other weekend to stay. She is struggling herself and now I am in a dire situation because I am not the sort of mother to say "sorry you'll have to get on with it" She was in a terrible state when she came to stay with me and it breaks her heart each time she takes the children back. Oh -by the way she goes to see them twice a week in the morning also after doing a 12 hour night shift which is in the opposite direction to coming home, so unhelpful comments really are not appreciated. :mad::(

Although you feel that the comment is unhelpful, it is realistic. The maximum non-dependent deduction for someone earning more than £387/week is £60.60 - whilst that seems a lot, she would probably struggle to accomodate herself elsewhere for the same amount.

She has three options, really. To accomodate herself independently (perhaps with a private let, with or without the children). To stay with you and pay the non-dependent deduction (perhaps renegotiating the maintenence or proportion of the mortgage she is paying). Or, to return to the marital home, uncomfortable as that might be, until the financial situation can be resolved.

There is no room within benefit legislation to take into account your daughter's mortgage/travel/maintenance expenses when calculating the deduction, so the benefits situation will not change.

Macro_3

Just to add, your daughter could probably do with some decent legal advice regarding the mortage/home/custody etc. She could have made her prospects for regaining custody of the children/rehousing herself/realising the equity in the property etc much worse by leaving the marital home - she should tread very carefully.

patricia50

Macro wrote: »

Although you feel that the comment is unhelpful, it is realistic. The maximum non-dependent deduction for someone earning more than £387/week is £60.60 - whilst that seems a lot, she would probably struggle to accomodate herself elsewhere for the same amount.

She has three options, really. To accomodate herself independently (perhaps with a private let, with or without the children). To stay with you and pay the non-dependent deduction (perhaps renegotiating the maintenence or proportion of the mortgage she is paying). Or, to return to the marital home, uncomfortable as that might be, until the financial situation can be resolved.

There is no room within benefit legislation to take into account your daughter's mortgage/travel/maintenance expenses when calculating the deduction, so the benefits situation will not change.

In answer to your three options remark. Do you realise that to have a private let she would be hard pushed to rent a one bedroom. The children are a boy and girl aged 9 and fifteen and should not be sharing a room. If she paid the non dependant deduction of £60.60 that would leave £37.00 from my jobseekers £60.00 to pay. Yes maybe if I dont eat I may manage! As for returning to the marital homethat is not even an option!!! And what do you mean "with or without the children"