council tax exemption for permanent severe mental or social impairment...

faerielight

Just found out that an exemption exists for council tax of you have a permanent mental and social impairment, I had never heard of it before.. have any of you claimed for this?Rethink says this: xemption due to severe mental impairment

The council tax rules say that a person is exempt from council tax if they have a ‘severe mental impairment’. It says that "a person is severely mentally impaired if they have a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning which appears to be permanent".

To get this you need a doctor to sign a medical certificate that says you are severely mentally impaired and get one of the following benefits:

DLA with the middle or highest rate care component
Personal Independence Payment Daily Living Component (standard or enhanced rate)
Attendance Allowance
Severe Disablement Allowance
Employment and Support Allowance
Incapacity Benefit
Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance with a disability premium
Working Tax Credit with the disability element"

What mental conditions would this criteria apply to? It doesn't specify and I can't find out any other information online.
I am hoping that BPD would fit into this criteria. especially as I've been ill for years and it's not likely that I will recover. . any thoughts?

fed_up_and_stressed

BPD is generally considered an emotional disorder not an intellectual disability.

faerielight

thank you.. the confusing bit is it says social impairment which BPD is

fed_up_and_stressed

faerielight wrote: »

thank you.. the confusing bit is it says social impairment which BPD is

Yes but the criteria is both mental intellectual impairment AND social impairment.

CIS

The definition stated in legislation is
a person is severely mentally impaired if he has a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning (however caused) which appears to be permanent

The original intention of legislation was to cover those who cannot function to manage their affairs but the wording of the legislation never adequately matched the intent. As it stands at the moment it is often quite subjective - one Dr will sign off a person as SMI whereas another Dr wouldn't sign off the same person.

Craig

System

We applied for this last November and got a letter mid January that it had gone through, I get carers for my daughter but my husband works fulltime but because we do both look after her 35+ hours a week we are both disregarded for council tax giving us a 50 % reduction.
We asked for it to be backdated to her 18th birthday which they did that meant we got over £700 back.

If you qualify its well worth it.

rebecca_p

I didn't see this post before I wrote my question on the benefit forums.

My daughter has a diagnosed learning disability and scored 67 points on a IQ test. Does she fit in the severe mental impairment criteria . She also has paranoid schizophrenia. Would she meet the criteria with the LD diagnosis alone or the paranoid schizophrenia one? Or because it's comorbid does she have more entitlement with both of them combined?

Tolly_T

This is a bit more down to luck and the subjective opinion of your GP than other exemptions and discounts are. If your Council has a form print it off and take it to your GP. If the GP will sign it you're likely to get the exemption/discount, if not you won't. The form at my Council just has a yes/no box to tick to confirm if the named person has a severe mental impairment that affects their social functioning, the date it applied from and the details of the doctor and surgery. The doctor doesn't even have to state the condition that the named person is suffering from. Your daughter would also need to be in receipt of a qualifying benefit such as mid or high rate care for DLA, Daily Living on PIP, ESA, ...... You provide evidence of the benefit and the signed form from the GP and there isn't any further assessment.

elsien

I have just had this conversation with a local council on behalf of someone very unwell and sectioned for 12 months with schizophrenia. Their take seemed to be that the person may well get an exemption while not having capacity around their finances but it may not apply on recovering and leaving hospital. There wasn't a definitive answer, just to apply and wait for the outcome.

CIS

elsien wrote: »

I have just had this conversation with a local council on behalf of someone very unwell and sectioned for 12 months with schizophrenia. Their take seemed to be that the person may well get an exemption while not having capacity around their finances but it may not apply on recovering and leaving hospital. There wasn't a definitive answer, just to apply and wait for the outcome.

The SMI disregard (and thus the exemption) can only apply where "a person is severely mentally impaired if he has a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning (however caused) which appears to be permanent" so it can never be granted unless it is expected to be a permanent situation. It requires a Dr to make the determination.

Being detained under the mental health is a different situation for Council Tax purposes and separate to the SMI disregard.

Craig

CIS

rebecca_p wrote: »

I didn't see this post before I wrote my question on the benefit forums.

My daughter has a diagnosed learning disability and scored 67 points on a IQ test. Does she fit in the severe mental impairment criteria . She also has paranoid schizophrenia. Would she meet the criteria with the LD diagnosis alone or the paranoid schizophrenia one? Or because it's comorbid does she have more entitlement with both of them combined?

As pointed out by Tolly_T it depends on their being a qualifying benefit in payment and a Dr signing off to say that she has "a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning (however caused) which appears to be permanent"

Craig