Student charged council Tax end of last year

speakmanrp

Hi,

My son officially finished at Uni during June this year, but had to carry on paying rent on his shared student home until the end of July. The local council have charged him from the time he finished uni to the time his rent agreement ran out, a total of over £91.
Is there any way we can appeal. My son did not start working until 1st August and he was not living at his student house from the time he finished at uni.He did not claim any benefits as he knew he would be working during August. He has contacted the council, but they did just said he had to pay.
Can anyone help?

enabledebra

No way to appeal I'm afraid. The student exemption stops when the course ends although the official course end date might be after the date he stopped attending so you could look into that? Also, once not a student he could claim council tax benefit if he had no income- did he do that at the time? If not he could try a late claim but would have to show a good reason for not applying earlier. edit just clocked he didn't claim and why

Red_dog_Sam

If he had moved out of the house he could claim an empty discount or an empty\unfurnished exemption depending on how he left it. If the property is rented furnished an empty discount should apply, If it was rented unfurnished and he moved his furniture out when he left, then he can claim exemption until the end of the tenancy. He is still liable for charge once his student staus runs out until the end of the tenancy. As above - check with the council what date they have used for that as he should be covered until the student certificate supplied by the uni runs out. These steps should help reduce if not cancel out the charge.