Disabled Council Tax discount

davidfx8

Hi, my wife is registered disabled (MS, higher rate PIP, consultants letters). In London she had a Council Tax disabled discount.
 In Kent where we are now, the council says that she ticks all the boxes except that without a wheelchair in the house there is no discount.
Krissie is ambulant disabled, she has a wheelchair only during an MS attack - surely this is a discriminatory ruling?

lincroft1710

I don't think it is "discriminatory", discounts are usually only given where an extra bathroom, kitchen or other room is needed for the disabled person or there is extra space inside the property for using a wheelchair. Check your council website, you may be able to appeal the council decision.

davidfx8

Thanks, but is there no consistency with councils on this? In Lambeth she got a discount before.

elsien

Lambeth may have chosen to be more generous, but the guidance is as lincroft said.  Councils don't have to be consistent as long as  they hit that minimum baseline - it's the same with housing benefit which also varies across areas. 

How Council Tax works: Discounts for disabled people - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Are you in a larger property to allow for the use of a wheelchair when it is needed? What happens at the times when she does have an attack - where does the wheelchair come from - do you have one ready and waiting? They might be appeal points. 

lincroft1710

As @elsien says Lambeth seem to be more generous. Alternatively, in their view your home there may have qualified.


The purpose of the discount is compensate CT payers who have a disabled person living with them and have thus adapted/enlarged their home which would theoretically lead to a higher CT band.


As I read the guidance, just being a wheelchair user is not in itself enough for a CT discount. 

davidfx8

Thanks for the replies. We had a visit from the council tax assessor who told us that every box was ticked except for a wheelchair being present at the time.
We appealed but the result was the same.
therefore, all the points raised about enlarged/adapted areas have been met & we are left with a (presently) ambulant person who is being discriminated against purely because she has no wheelchair at home - it’s a bit like saying if someone looks fit, then they are.

lincroft1710

I think the council may be relying on or misinterpreting Para 3 (3) of the following

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/554/made

macman

Ludicrous though it seems, can you not borrow, or buy a cheap wheelchair and request a re-inspection? If box-ticking that is what is required then it may be the best way to progress this.