Council tax discounts for ‘severe mental impairment’

CIS

FairyG wrote: »

Hi, I have a friend who has SMI, class U Exemption which was transferred to her new council when she moved house.
Except now she is regularly sent letters from her new council requesting she send "proof of ongoing entitlement" by which they mean copies of recent benefits, or they threaten to take her entitlement away. There isn't enough capacity in her support package to keep sending these back every 6 months and I am worried her SMI will be stopped simply because she is unable to do the admin. Does anyone know if a council can just withdraw an SMI? It seems obtuse to me to expect someone with an SMI to have to keep responding to letters?

If they believe that an exemption is no longer satisfied then they can withdraw it. 6 monthly reviews are more regular than most councils undertake but, ultimately, they are the party who has to be satisfied that an exemption is still applicable. Easiest way is to take a photocopy of the last form completed and then just add the new date and return it, takes only a very short time to do in that case.

FairyG

Hi CIS, thanks for replying.

So, SMI s not a permanent exemption? I thought once someone received the exemption it was permanent, ( the condition had to permanent to get it in the first place)?

Does anyone know if the regulations have changed regarding this? She had it for 8 years without any extra paperwork before she moved house last year.

Thanks

[Deleted User]

FairyG wrote: »

Hi CIS, thanks for replying.

So, SMI s not a permanent exemption? I thought once someone received the exemption it was permanent, ( the condition had to permanent to get it in the first place)?

Does anyone know if the regulations have changed regarding this? She had it for 8 years without any extra paperwork before she moved house last year.

Thanks

Along with the condition there needs to be entitlement to benefit. That benefit can be withdrawn at any time. So you will need to show she still gets it but it shouldn't be that frequent.

CIS

So, SMI s not a permanent exemption? I thought once someone received the exemption it was permanent, ( the condition had to permanent to get it in the first place)?

The key legislative words for this part are 'appears to be'.


Of course, the benefit entitlement criteria also has to be met.

CIS

FairyG wrote: »

Does anyone know if the regulations have changed regarding this? She had it for 8 years without any extra paperwork before she moved house last year.

No, they haven't. If you read the legislation as it's most literal level it should be getting reviewed at least once per year (and that's been the case since 1993). Councils however will review as and when they feel the need.

KAJ62

Wow! I read about SMI council tax discount a couple of weeks ago and 2 days after sending the completed form to my mums council they have written back to confirm she is due money back!

They did want a copy of her Attendance Allowance letter from DWP and backdated the discount to when that allowance started. I’m really pleased. Thank you! :T:T

mj1

Hi, I am acting on behalf of my Mum in trying to get a back dated SMI Council Tax Claim but the council are asking for proof a letter from the DWP for attendance allowance.


My parents would never apply for such benefit and are very independent minded so despite my Dad and Mum being eligible they refused to apply.



My Dad has been admitted finally to a care home and I am now stepping in with LPA to help get my Mum a bit of a refund as she only had dad's pension to rely on and any extra bit will help.


Based upon what I have read you only need to have been able to apply and I have a signed SMI form from my Dads doctor showing he was SMI from Jan this year. This I think is enough evidence?


Has anyone had any success in forcing a council to just take the SMI signed form and no other DWP evidence?


I am going to do some more googling to see if I can take the claim through any escalation process to progress it as I will not be able to claim a backdated DWP claim and my Dad is now in a CareHome and not at home any more.


Thanks for any advice / pointers in advance...

CIS

mj1 wrote: »

Hi, I am acting on behalf of my Mum in trying to get a back dated SMI Council Tax Claim but the council are asking for proof a letter from the DWP for attendance allowance.


My parents would never apply for such benefit and are very independent minded so despite my Dad and Mum being eligible they refused to apply.


My Dad has been admitted finally to a care home and I am now stepping in with LPA to help get my Mum a bit of a refund as she only had dad's pension to rely on and any extra bit will help.


Based upon what I have read you only need to have been able to apply and I have a signed SMI form from my Dads doctor showing he was SMI from Jan this year. This I think is enough evidence?


Has anyone had any success in forcing a council to just take the SMI signed form and no other DWP evidence?


I am going to do some more googling to see if I can take the claim through any escalation process to progress it as I will not be able to claim a backdated DWP claim and my Dad is now in a CareHome and not at home any more.


Thanks for any advice / pointers in advance...

The council will not do so as the form does not prove entitlement to the benefit - I've dealt with numerous SMI cases on backdating, including through to Tribunal, and the proof of entitlement is one thing that constantly stops claims. Evidence of the entitlement is a specific point which must be proven for the claim to go ahead.

The DWP will not confirm that there was an entitlement retrospectively. They will not put themselves in to that position as they could not then fully verify that there was an entitlement. The council themselves have no say over entitlement and cannot verify it themselves.

The 'entitlement' part of legislation is very unclear in what it was actually intended to achieve - it appears it was most likely intended to apply to those who had been assessed by DWP but, as can be the case for benefits, the particular benefit was not paid for one reason or the other. It was most likely not intended to apply where a person believed they were entitled (i..e. eligible to make a claim) but had never applied (as the entitlement could then never actually be proven).

mj1

Thanks sounds like I am scooby Doo'd



It was only a matter of a few months so not a big claim, but seems like the web page on this site needs updating!


When I get time I will highlight the text that gave me hope and perhaps needs tweaking...

mj1

CIS Many Thanks for your quick reply yesterday, I have some time at my PC this morning and reviewing the web page on the site they might need to update it as I think it gives maybe the wrong message?


"They're eligible for (but NOT necessarily actually receiving) at least one of the following benefits:"


"Remember, some councils wrongly tell people they need to be receiving these benefits. That's not correct – the law simply says you need to be eligible for them."

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/severe-mental-impairment-dementia-council-tax-rebate/


While I realise that some councils might behave differently the web page should be updated to say that if they do ask for proof you might fail to be able to provide it?



CIS I know this is not your web page so if the Admin sees this and either have advice as to how to unblock the impasse or maybe change the page to better reflect CIS real world experience. It is no good saying that they are not interpreting the law correctly if there is no way for me to challenge and get them to do properly?


Hope that makes sense?