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Local Council Tax Support
willysmum
Posts: 14 Forumite
I wonder if anyone has any words of wisdom for me, basically my boyfriend moved to this area 2 years ago, he is a single parent to his 5 yr old daughter and has been looking after her for 3 and a half years after an 18 month battle with social services to get her out of care, social services recommended he move away from his old area.
Our Council brought in a scheme in April that you had to be resident to the area for 5 years to be entitled to Council Tax Benefit unless you had a mutual Housing Association exchange which he did when he moved here and as he claimed 2yrs ago this new rule didn't affect him.
In September he started work and unfortunately last Friday he was made redundant and has had to claim H/B, JSA and Council Tax Benefit, he has been told that as he hasn't been resident for 5 yrs he's got to pay all his Council Tax, the council have told him he doesn't have the right to appeal and if his job had lasted more than 6 months he could of claimed Council Tax Benefit.
I was under the impression that the Government say you need so much to live on per week so how can they expect him to pay £88 a month on Council Tax?
Thank you for reading and any advice will be very helpful x
Our Council brought in a scheme in April that you had to be resident to the area for 5 years to be entitled to Council Tax Benefit unless you had a mutual Housing Association exchange which he did when he moved here and as he claimed 2yrs ago this new rule didn't affect him.
In September he started work and unfortunately last Friday he was made redundant and has had to claim H/B, JSA and Council Tax Benefit, he has been told that as he hasn't been resident for 5 yrs he's got to pay all his Council Tax, the council have told him he doesn't have the right to appeal and if his job had lasted more than 6 months he could of claimed Council Tax Benefit.
I was under the impression that the Government say you need so much to live on per week so how can they expect him to pay £88 a month on Council Tax?
Thank you for reading and any advice will be very helpful x
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Comments
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Unfortunately every council has its own scheme of council tax reduction now so its hard to give advice - I would suggest your boyfriend contacts his local Citizens Advice Bureau as they will know what the scheme is locally and how to get him any help.0
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Welcome to the madness that is Local Council Tax Support - where every Local Authority has their own scheme and their own rules.These are my own views and you should seek advice from your local Benefits Department or CAB.0
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That is shocking !I wonder if anyone has any words of wisdom for me, basically my boyfriend moved to this area 2 years ago, he is a single parent to his 5 yr old daughter and has been looking after her for 3 and a half years after an 18 month battle with social services to get her out of care, social services recommended he move away from his old area.
Our Council brought in a scheme in April that you had to be resident to the area for 5 years to be entitled to Council Tax Benefit unless you had a mutual Housing Association exchange which he did when he moved here and as he claimed 2yrs ago this new rule didn't affect him.
In September he started work and unfortunately last Friday he was made redundant and has had to claim H/B, JSA and Council Tax Benefit, he has been told that as he hasn't been resident for 5 yrs he's got to pay all his Council Tax, the council have told him he doesn't have the right to appeal and if his job had lasted more than 6 months he could of claimed Council Tax Benefit.
I was under the impression that the Government say you need so much to live on per week so how can they expect him to pay £88 a month on Council Tax?
Thank you for reading and any advice will be very helpful x
That is crazy !0 -
Will be intrigued to see what happens to all these Romanians who will be coming here in their thousands!! We are the laughing stock of other countries!0
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Even though he may not be eligible for Council Tax Reduction. he can still ask the Council Tax Section to consider discretionary relief under the Local Government Finance Act.I currently manage a Housing Benefit service and have been working in Housing / council tax benefit (as was) since 2001.
All views expressed in my posts are my own opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.0 -
Go and seek an appointment with your local MP - they are there to serve you.
You should bring to his attention the way that this residency requirement is leaving him short of income to pay essential bills and how they do retrospectively honour those moving into the area on a mutual exchange scheme before the changes to CT.0 -
Our Council brought in a scheme in April that you had to be resident to the area for 5 years to be entitled to Council Tax Benefit unless you had a mutual Housing Association exchange which he did when he moved here and as he claimed 2yrs ago this new rule didn't affect him.
In September he started work and unfortunately last Friday he was made redundant and has had to claim H/B, JSA and Council Tax Benefit, he has been told that as he hasn't been resident for 5 yrs he's got to pay all his Council Tax, the council have told him he doesn't have the right to appeal and if his job had lasted more than 6 months he could of claimed Council Tax Benefit.
I was under the impression that the Government say you need so much to live on per week so how can they expect him to pay £88 a month on Council Tax?
Thank you for reading and any advice will be very helpful x
I think he needs to ask for a reconsideration based on the moving into the area being mutual exchange. Although the government sets how much you need to live on, the amount hasn't risen this year enough to take account of people having to pay Council Tax when they didn't last year. The amount the law says you need to live on has to cover difference between what HB pays & actual rent, Council Tax and anything left after that for everything else.
I would suggest your boyfriend goes on https://www.turn2us.org to check he's getting all he's entitled to. If he's the only adult in the house, then he is entitled to single persons discount which is 25% off the full bill.
He also should have let Tax Credits know of his employment ending which should mean he gets the maximum CTC each week.0 -
That is shocking !
That is crazy !
Not really. In having that qualification it will reduce the number of welfare claimants moving into the area as well as reducing the amount of money the council will be paying out in the form of CTS. That council area will in the main only be attractive to those that work and not to the itinerant benefit claimants.
Look at it this way, those that pay full council tax out of their wages are in part funding those that claim welfare - is that fair?0 -
fluffymovie wrote: »Even though he may not be eligible for Council Tax Reduction. he can still ask the Council Tax Section to consider discretionary relief under the Local Government Finance Act.
Sshhhhhhhhhhhhhh we are not allowed to let anyone know about that! That's our management instructions
These are my own views and you should seek advice from your local Benefits Department or CAB.0 -
Blimey, how clueless is that post ! :doh:Not really. In having that qualification it will reduce the number of welfare claimants moving into the area as well as reducing the amount of money the council will be paying out in the form of CTS. That council area will in the main only be attractive to those that work and not to the itinerant benefit claimants.
Look at it this way, those that pay full council tax out of their wages are in part funding those that claim welfare - is that fair?0
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