Moving from ESA to State Pension - Council Tax Issues

Neko1234

Hi I recently had a thread about moving from ESA to State Pension thank you for the replies and help.

My issue at the moment is I have just received a much higher council tax bill for February and March. This is because the council ( Liverpool) have got me down as receiving both ESA and pension.

Will this sort itself out as I pass my pension date 18th February?

I phoned ESA but they can't send me out a letter although I expect I will receive one as it finishes anyway. My final payment is two weeks payment tomorrow.

The council have me as finishing ESA on the 11th but then starting again on the 12th? Could this be because my first pension payment contains a small amount of ESA (I think) as it is higher than my subsequent ones.

Hope this isn't too confusing! I would welcome any advice. My feeling is to wait till it settled but then I also want to know my position as I live alone with disability.

Thank you

marcia_

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6654791/moving-from-esa-to-state-pension-council-tax-issues

I'm in Liverpool and this happened to my aunt. We had to wait to receive the letters then went to the one stop shop with all her paperwork and it was sorted out. But yes Because you received a part payment of ESA will cause you to get less council tax support.
Have you applied for pension credit as that was the main document they were after.

Neko1234

Yes I have applied for pension credit not sure how long it will take though!

I normally pay £17 monthly they are now asking for £52 so quite an increase.

Hopefully the letters will arrive soon!

huckster

So the Council should have been intelligent enough to realise that you are waiting for Pension Credit to start and ESA to close before doing their CT calculation.

I would suggest contacting the Council to advise that you are waiting for the changes to go through fully and will provide paperwork from PC and ESA when available.

Neko1234

Thanks yes it seems they don't understand you can't receive ESA and State Pension at the same time!

I've e-mailed them so will see how that goes!

Maybe it's me trying to get ahead too soon but it seems sensible to get things in place.

TimeLord1

I think regardless of what bill demand they send, pay it, and once they do their sums, they'll refund any overpayment back to the existing payment method. It's probably two different sections at the council's failure to correspond within its own department setup.

Neko1234

Thanks yes that's my plan and hope they'll sort it out with a few nudges!