MSE News: Revealed: Councils overcharging 10,000s who are severely mentally impaired

CIS

Having said that, the council staff were next to useless, I phoned them 3 times and only the third person knew what I was talking about. It’s so secret a loophole that their own staff don’t know about it.

There's no secrecy or loophole - just badly trained staff,

Mersey_2

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

...and how would a Council Tax Department know someone had dementia or suffered a stroke or an NHS Certificate for care had been issued?

Because the council's social services depts - who clearly know as they eventually arrange the care package on discharge - have a duty to inform them.


But as Martin Lewis' research proved, some councils are just useless administratively.


Another FOI request showed that one NW council (on receipt of death cert) stops the council tax bills, bin collection, removes them from the Electoral Roll and so on. Another neighbouring NW council does none of this!

Mersey_2

CIS wrote: »

There's no secrecy or loophole - just badly trained staff,

True, but the Senior Officers are at fault as Martin Lewis showed that most Councils don't even list SMI on their websites.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Mersey wrote: »

Because the council's social services depts - who clearly know as they eventually arrange the care package on discharge - have a duty to inform them.


But as Martin Lewis' research proved, some councils are just useless administratively.


Another FOI request showed that one NW council (on receipt of death cert) stops the council tax bills, bin collection, removes them from the Electoral Roll and so on. Another neighbouring NW council does none of this!

Social Services are administered by the County Council (unless administered by a Unitary Authority) - not by the Borough Council that administers Council Tax. They have no duty in the legislation to pass on someones private and confidential medical details to another local authority.

Mersey_2

Most of the FOI requests which showed failing Councils were Mets - unsurprisingly as most people live in urban areas - such as the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and the London boroughs.


But yes what you say is true for 25% of the population in mostly rural areas who have county cllrs.

tasty_snacks

Can MSE release the full list of councils contacted and their respective uptake rates?

comments_occasionally

Hi,
After reading here about this last year, I phoned Brent (london) council for form. It came next day!
Don't be deflected when they won't talk to you because you're not the council tax account holder!! You can get a form sent to their address.
My father has Parkinson's and is not eligible for any benefit which is means tested. He lives with my mother and needs 24 hour carers on account of mobility problems. He doesn't have Alzheimer's type mental impairment but Parkinsons diagnosis qualifies him.
His doctor signed form but ticked "not mentally impaired" box. Added that he has Parkinson's.
He got reply within few months, quick for councils! And received discount backdated to include last year.
Not sure how backdate worked out, may be all they offer.
Brent's website lists disregarded adult categories but, although it lists severe mental impairment as a criteria, it doesn't mention Parkinsons in particular and neither does the form. So ring them up and ask for form.
The woman I spoke to when requesting form, apologised for this wording.
If people are in this position, they should also apply for attendance allowance which is not means tested and every little they give you helps. Carers can also claim carers allowance if doing 35 hours a week. You don't have to live there.
Sounds to me quite a few of your readers posting could claim both.
Remember the council tax discount is applied to the household, so doesn't help if you have two other adults in the house. The disabled adult offspring living with two parents, won't qualify you for this one, though carers and attendance allowance have different criteria.
It's all ridiculously complicated and shouldn't rely on supporters chancing to find out what help is available.
As the lady said, when you're looking after people you can't always take in information sent out with bills. Also conditions like Parkinsons aren't always specified.
My father possibly could have claimed this years ago when diagnosed!
I've been trying to spread the word but don't know many eligible people.
Was delighted to see it on TV news the other day.
Keep up the good word, Martin and team...

Greenforgo

Wrong. Bipolar is classed as SMI. It is the sixth leading cause of disability in the world and the third most debilitating mental illness worldwide. Also, your tone seems to suggest that everyone who seeks state help is "taking the urine". Can I ask if you yourself suffer with any type of MH issues?

A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »

And before anyone jumps on this bandwaggon, depression, panic attacks, agoraphobia and anxiety are not severe mental impairments.

Think severe Autism, severe learning difficulties for this concession. Being nervous on a bus or an inability to use public transport or go to the supermarket isn't really in the scope of this.


This will be another thing milked to death by MSE readers, sanctioned by over worked GPS, leading to a clampdown making it hard for genuine cases. I suspect this wil end up needing independent medicals like the Blue Badge does due to people taking the urine.

BorisThomson

Greenforgo wrote: »

Wrong. Bipolar is classed as SMI. It is the sixth leading cause of disability in the world and the third most debilitating mental illness worldwide. Also, your tone seems to suggest that everyone who seeks state help is "taking the urine". Can I ask if you yourself suffer with any type of MH issues?

The term severe mental impairment refers to a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning which appears to be permanent. It would be unusual for someone with BD alone to have a severe impairment of intelligence - it's certainly not part of the diagnostic criteria.

Greenforgo

BorisThomson wrote: »

The term severe mental impairment refers to a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning which appears to be permanent. It would be unusual for someone with BD alone to have a severe impairment of intelligence - it's certainly not part of the diagnostic criteria.

I have Bipolar 2, rapid cycle, mixed episode. Regardless of the term BP "2" which makes it sound like a lesser form of BP1, this is not what it actually signifies. Generally with BP2, regardless of the fact that the manic episodes are not quite as elevated, hence the term hypomanic, the depressions are just as severe. People with BP2 experience shorter spells of "highs" ("high" being another misnomer) and lows with shorter spells in-between. Because I have rapid cycle BP2 this means that the nature of my episodes can change on a monthly, weekly or, when it is extreme, daily basis. On top of that, I experience mixed episodes which means that I can be experiencing high and low symptoms simultaneously or in very rapid succession. Anyone who has experienced this will tell you just how confusing, frightening and debilitating this is. A lot of the time I can't make out just where I am on the bipolar mood scale. I find it difficult to maintain work (and believe me, I am far from a lazy person), A lot of the time I find it difficult to be around people, whether it be because I am fearful when in a hypomanic state of upsetting or alienating people or, when in a depressive state just not wanting to be a burden on those around me, consequently I spend an unhealthy amount of time on my own. The more people take the time to understand just how debilitating Bipolar actually is the more it will be accepted as falling under the category of SMI which according to every government endorsed mental health organisation it is. Under British law Bipolar Disorder is considered to be a high risk serious mental impairment illness. That is the fact of the matter.