Single person council tax reduction

Protestandcare25

My vulnerable disabled adult son has his own flat and has had a series of lodgers which have helped him pay his bills over the last 8 years. A couple of years ago when his last lodger left he decided he would not rent his spare room out again as he could manage without the extra money. He applied for a council tax reduction as he was now living on his own, but the replies from the council  asked for the exact date and forwarding address for a lodger who had left 5 years before. He could not provide this and was so stressed about being in a catch 22 situation that he did not pursue it. Money is now much tighter so he went onto his account and found his claim was still open from 2 years ago and so he replied again saying again that he didn’t have this information.. they just replied with a ‘we need this information ‘ and although he keeps telling them his predicament they keep asking the same questions. I recently became aware of this situation and helped him write a couple more replies.. each with a 15 wd. Response time and no success . Short of a formal complaint is there anything he can do? Is there any legal basis behind asking for such historic detailed information I am struggling to find the legislation and good practice that the council has to follow. Also as his claim is still open from 2 years ago does anybody know if he can expect to have back payments to this original claim. 

Any advice or insight would be appreciated. 

Voyager2002

Ask an elected councillor to resolve this.

TimeLord1

If your son was indeed eligible for a council tax reduction from the date he first claimed (two years ago when his last lodger left), and the delay in processing his claim is due to the council's unreasonable requests, he should be entitled to back payments.

The fact that the claim has remained "open" suggests that the council hasn't formally rejected it. Once they finally process the claim and acknowledge his sole occupancy, the reduction should be applied retrospectively to the date of his initial application.

I would be inclined to speak to Citizens Advice; your son isn't responsible for a lodger's whereabouts from two years ago. He could be deceased or left the country.

Emmia

TimeLord1 said:

If your son was indeed eligible for a council tax reduction from the date he first claimed (two years ago when his last lodger left), and the delay in processing his claim is due to the council's unreasonable requests, he should be entitled to back payments.

The fact that the claim has remained "open" suggests that the council hasn't formally rejected it. Once they finally process the claim and acknowledge his sole occupancy, the reduction should be applied retrospectively to the date of his initial application.

I would be inclined to speak to Citizens Advice; your son isn't responsible for a lodger's whereabouts from two years ago. He could be deceased or left the country.

I think the lodger causing the difficulties left five years ago, not two - it's not the last lodger, it's one prior to that.

But the point that the son isn't responsible for knowing the whereabouts of past lodgers is valid, I'd ask a local councillor to look into the matter 

FlorayG

NO that's rubbish. I have lodgers all the time, between lodgers I claim single person discount. They always ASK for the new address of the departed lodger but I don't have it - why would I want it? and then they say that's fine then, leave that line blank. I've never had a problem claiming single person discount this way. Your son needs to speak with his local councillor