Council Tax - history of payment or not?

elsien

Did she get pension credit at all, as that may have meant she had council tax reduction due to her low income? Any council tax benefit would be paid by the LA not the DWP.

ETA if she’s not well enough to make an LPA then you can apply to be her appointee to access her state pension in her behalf. 

Harry227

elsien said:

Did she get pension credit at all, as that may have meant she had council tax reduction due to her low income? Any council tax benefit would be paid by the LA not the DWP.

ETA if she’s not well enough to make an LPA then you can apply to be her appointee to access her state pension in her behalf. 

Thanks.  Yes, she does receive pension credit, but I'd be surprise if that meant she'd be accessed as having to pay no coucil tax at all.  Also, she did have some small savings at the time she moved into the property, which I imagine would have been taken into consideration for any assessment of CT payments.

Her social worker mentioend that if the LPA wasn't possible then applying for 'deputyship' (?) might be an option.

elsien

If her savings were small they won’t have affected the council tax benefit. Check out the information on your local council website. 

Deputyship has an ongoing cost and is currently taking 12 months plus to go through the Court of Protection but it is necessary to access her bank accounts/savings if she’s unlikely to regain capacity around an LPA.
https://www.gov.uk/become-deputy

I would still apply for appointeeship in the meantime otherwise she will be left with no money if she lacks capacity around her finances. It is much quicker (up to 12 weeks) and you can have her state pension paid into an account in your name. 

Harry227

elsien said:

If her savings were small they won’t have affected the council tax benefit. Check out the information on your local council website. 

Deputyship has an ongoing cost and is currently taking 12 months plus to go through the Court of Protection but it is necessary to access her bank accounts/savings if she’s unlikely to regain capacity around an LPA.
https://www.gov.uk/become-deputy

I would still apply for appointeeship in the meantime otherwise she will be left with no money if she lacks capacity around her finances. It is much quicker (up to 12 weeks) and you can have her state pension paid into an account in your name. 

Great advice- I hadn't realised that.  I'll look into appointeeship now.

Plus, quick update.  My sister, who lives near to my mother (I'm at the other end of the country), has been shifting through a mountain of mail and other correspondance, including unopened letters.  She has found a letter from the council in regard to the CT and also detailing my mother's CT discount.  It seems 25% single person deduction, plus council tax discount meant 100% discount.  So massive relief, literally and metaphorically.

I've just notified the LA of the change of circumstances and have arranged to be the new CT payee.

Thank you again for the great advice on this forum.  What a brillant collective resource.

Best wishes

Harry227

elsien

Glad you got it sorted.
Become an appointee for someone claiming benefits - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
If you need a financial capacity assessment, it is usual for the social worker to complete it. Probably worth checking if your sister might be better placed to carry out the role as she is closer although easy enough to send money via internet banking so who might your mother prefer?