back dating of council tax reduction

number9

Hi,

I'm supporting someone who has a query regarding council tax reduction.

They moved from legacy benefits to Universal Credit in November 2017 when they moved into their first property at the age of 43 after living with their parents previously. This was their first time living alone.

They were unaware that they had to apply for the council tax support and assumed this was a given due to their benefits/low income situation. Like several other people I've worked with who are new to UC, they have been told by DWP/work coach that they won't pay council tax and don't realise they have to apply. This person has learning difficulties and suffers from depression and anxiety.

This person ignored the council tax reminders and I helped them apply for council tax reduction. The council have said they will only backdate it a maximum of six months, leaving almost 3 months/£290 of arrears to pay. They have agreed that this person is a "vulnerable person". I am considering lodging an appeal via the valuation tribunal service. Had the person not been disadvantaged via their health and poor education/learning difficulties, they would've been entitled to full CTR from the date they moved. They have no disposable income to pay the £290 charged.

Has anyone had experience of appealing via the valuation tribunal and what experience have people had with any similar backdating claims? It seems unfair that a disadvantaged person is being asked to pay something they should have had full support with from day one. thanks.

marliepanda

As CTR is locally administered I dont believe there is any legal rulings on backdating. 6 months is quite generous based on what Ive seen from other councils (anything from 1-3 months seems common)

Who was supporting this person with their move, I'm assuming they ahve support due to the way you have described them? Why didnt they pick up on the fact that their CTR claim was not put in?

Would their disability class them as severely mentally impaired? Do they have the single person'd discount applied to the account if they live alone? Does the house have adaptations?

The valuation tribunal is probably not a good way to go as the CTR is being applied now. You are not questioning the award but the backdating policy, and I can't find anything saying they have to backdate at all. I would be questionning who is providing the support for the transition as they dont seem to have done their job. It is also worth noting that not all council's have to offer a 100% CTR for low income.

pmlindyloo

I am not sure that this can be appealed, Have you asked the local council?

Some other options:

1. As already said, does the person have severe mental impairment and should not be counted for council tax purposes at all? Backdating for this has no time limit as far as I am aware.

2. Have you applied for a Housing & Council Tax Discretionary payment to meet the arrears? It may be called something different at the claimant's local council.

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/helpwithyourcounciltaxbill

3. Have you looked for a local charity who could help?

If all else fails then you can ask the council to set up a third party reduction from the claimant's benefits?

Have you checked that claimant is receiving all the benefits they are entitled to? PIP for example?

CIS

A SMI disregard has no time limit on backdating - you may however hit problems if you try to go back more than 6 years.


If CTR won't cover a charge then a Section 13A(1)(c) discretionary relief can be applied for.


The valuation tribunal cannot override the council's decision on how far back their scheme will backdate. Arguments over the validity of a scheme would have to be by way of judicial review, as the tribunal clarify "The Tribunal cannot hear appeals about what is in the council’s scheme, only about the way the scheme has been applied in your case.".

number9

Thank you all for your comments, questions and pointers. The supported person has learning difficulties but I wouldn't describe them as severely disabled. The disappointment with this and other recent cases is that their lack of understanding or ignorance of the system seems to discriminate against themselves. I feel that these new uc claimants are coming away from DWP thinking that help with full ctr is a given. When they realise it isn't and turn for help they're not always getting it. Many cases will end up as bad debts or long term payment arrangements when the resident shouldn't be paying anything from day 1.

tboo

When you apply for UC with the DWP the claim does go to the council for CTR as well (if asked for at the time) - has it been asked if the LA have the changes to UC info as you can argue that a claim form should have been issued to claim at that time.


But saying that you are on an uphill struggle to get a backdate that far back as ignorance etc isnt good cause especially if they or you are aware they have a council tax liability.

poppy12345

number9 wrote: »

Many cases will end up as bad debts or long term payment arrangements when the resident shouldn't be paying anything from day 1.

That's not always true with CTR these days. Most people claiming any sort of benefits will have to pay a small amount of council tax each month. If they live alone they will receive the single person discount of course. Gone are the days when those claiming benefits would get 100% CTR. I claim ESA and PIP and i have to pay £12 per month for mine.

CIS

number9 wrote: »

Thank you all for your comments, questions and pointers. The supported person has learning difficulties but I wouldn't describe them as severely disabled. The disappointment with this and other recent cases is that their lack of understanding or ignorance of the system seems to discriminate against themselves. I feel that these new uc claimants are coming away from DWP thinking that help with full ctr is a given. When they realise it isn't and turn for help they're not always getting it. Many cases will end up as bad debts or long term payment arrangements when the resident shouldn't be paying anything from day 1.

They don't have to be severely disabled, they just have to meet the relevant criteria.

Apart from receiving a qualifying benefit a person needs a Dr to certify that the "person is severely mentally impaired if he has a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning (however caused) which appears to be permanent"

calcotti

tboo wrote: »

When you apply for UC with the DWP the claim does go to the council for CTR as well.

I have never seen any advice suggesting this, all the advice I have seen says CTR must be claimed separately.

Local authority has access to UC data for calculating CTR.

CIS

It's a little while since I dealt with anything on the CTR side but when my local authority were implementing CTR under UC DWP were not passing on any claims, any information from DWP was only after a claim had been made direct to the council.

tboo

We deal with the changes from the DWP via their COC form or the CTR form itself via online, verbally asked for or a paper one as there is no idea if they have a liability.
Checks are made and we telephone if need be.
we then ask for the UC breakdown or wait for the DWP COC to be passed on