Never received council tax discount now huge arrears?

theDon876

wilfred30 said:

theDon876 said:

Lanzarote1938 said:

Do you mean Council tax support because of low income or single occupant discount? Have you been paying any Council Tax?

Yes both of those I should get 50% discount, I filled in the forms and ticked the boxes online,y work coach double checked it yet it seems by the amount of arrears I never got the discount, so I have any grounds to appeal, I've never paid CT because I can't afford to on UC.

Maybe if you'd paid the 50% you thought you had to pay, you might have been able to appeal but, as you haven't paid anything at all, your chances are slim to none IMO.

The good news is that I believe people no longer go to prison for failure to pay their Council Tax.

How are you meant to afford CT when on UC?

Minimum CT and water is over £1k per year. On UC you get maybe £4.5k per year. And also they were deducting CT from my UC. 

oh_really

KatrinaWaves said:

means tested council tax reduction link: https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/council-tax/apply-council-tax-reduction

single person discount:  https://online.aberdeencity.gov.uk/Services/CouncilTax/HouseholdDiscount.aspx

Op may not live in Aberdeen, they said Aberdeenshire, two different councils. https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk

OP;  Council Tax discounts and exemptions - Aberdeenshire Council

KatrinaWaves

oh_really said:

KatrinaWaves said:

means tested council tax reduction link: https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/council-tax/apply-council-tax-reduction

single person discount:  https://online.aberdeencity.gov.uk/Services/CouncilTax/HouseholdDiscount.aspx

Op may not live in Aberdeen, they said Aberdeenshire, two different councils. https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk

OP;  Council Tax discounts and exemptions - Aberdeenshire Council

Ah fair enough. I’ve had a quick check and  the process is the same, although it looks like Aberdeenshire will only backdate up to one month, not 6 months like Aberdeen and appear to have an online form to fill in. 

KatrinaWaves

theDon876 said:

wilfred30 said:

theDon876 said:

Lanzarote1938 said:

Do you mean Council tax support because of low income or single occupant discount? Have you been paying any Council Tax?

Yes both of those I should get 50% discount, I filled in the forms and ticked the boxes online,y work coach double checked it yet it seems by the amount of arrears I never got the discount, so I have any grounds to appeal, I've never paid CT because I can't afford to on UC.

Maybe if you'd paid the 50% you thought you had to pay, you might have been able to appeal but, as you haven't paid anything at all, your chances are slim to none IMO.

The good news is that I believe people no longer go to prison for failure to pay their Council Tax.

How are you meant to afford CT when on UC?

Minimum CT and water is over £1k per year. On UC you get maybe £4.5k per year. And also they were deducting CT from my UC. 

The same way you were affording to go to Spain. You just used your money incorrectly. And didn’t claim the reductions you were probably entitled to and now it is too late. If you had opened some of your post you could have sorted it two years ago, but now you have a pile of unread bills and a debt you can’t reduce as much as you could because of that. Sticking your head in the sand will never help, and in this case it has probably cost you at least £2000

poppy12345

theDon876 said:

wilfred30 said:

theDon876 said:

Lanzarote1938 said:

Do you mean Council tax support because of low income or single occupant discount? Have you been paying any Council Tax?

Yes both of those I should get 50% discount, I filled in the forms and ticked the boxes online,y work coach double checked it yet it seems by the amount of arrears I never got the discount, so I have any grounds to appeal, I've never paid CT because I can't afford to on UC.

Maybe if you'd paid the 50% you thought you had to pay, you might have been able to appeal but, as you haven't paid anything at all, your chances are slim to none IMO.

The good news is that I believe people no longer go to prison for failure to pay their Council Tax.

How are you meant to afford CT when on UC?

Minimum CT and water is over £1k per year. On UC you get maybe £4.5k per year. And also they were deducting CT from my UC. 

Council tax is one essential bill that can't be avoided, as advised. You need to look at your outgoings and reduce the non esstential things, this way you'll be able to pay the bills that need to be paid.

[Deleted User]

I think we are going around in circles here. You need to engage in sorting the debt out. Moving forward you need to apply for the relevant support for future bills. Possibly post a breakdown of expenditure to get help with reducing outgoings. 

poppy12345

MarkN88 said:

 Possibly post a breakdown of expenditure to get help with reducing outgoings. 

The place to post that would be over on the debt free wannabe board.

elsien

theDon876 said:

wilfred30 said:

theDon876 said:

Lanzarote1938 said:

Do you mean Council tax support because of low income or single occupant discount? Have you been paying any Council Tax?

Yes both of those I should get 50% discount, I filled in the forms and ticked the boxes online,y work coach double checked it yet it seems by the amount of arrears I never got the discount, so I have any grounds to appeal, I've never paid CT because I can't afford to on UC.

Maybe if you'd paid the 50% you thought you had to pay, you might have been able to appeal but, as you haven't paid anything at all, your chances are slim to none IMO.

The good news is that I believe people no longer go to prison for failure to pay their Council Tax.

How are you meant to afford CT when on UC?

Minimum CT and water is over £1k per year. On UC you get maybe £4.5k per year. And also they were deducting CT from my UC. 

You’re not just getting UC though, are you? (Although that shouldn’t make a difference as CT isn’t optional either way.)

You are getting PIP as well. 

Are you on a water meter? You need to get help to prioritise the essential debts, of which CT is one then make an informed decision as to what to do about the rest. 

If it’s ends up in court, then you’ll not only end up with a CCJ but you will have the court costs added on as well. Better to sort it before then. 

[Deleted User]

poppy12345 said:

MarkN88 said:

 Possibly post a breakdown of expenditure to get help with reducing outgoings. 

The place to post that would be over on the debt free wannabe board.

Yeah sorry that’s what I had meant, should of been more specific. 

MovingForwards

Water is included in CT up here, unless the property has its own supply, so technically that's two priority bills which have been missed.

What's being taken from your UC? 

Unfortunately benefits are not a vast amount, merely enough to pay priority bills and buy some food.