Council Tax...have I missed out on the discount?

NoDinero

I recently realised that I could have got a discounted council tax rate for 2006/07 as I was earning under £16k.

I was straight out of uni and took a job on £13k - I really struggled to pay all my bills and council tax and now I'm in debt.

Is there any way I can get this money back?

It says on the Edinburgh City Council wesbsite: "You can get your Council Tax Benefit backdated if you have a good reason for not claiming sooner."

What would a good reason be? Has anyone had any success with this before? I could really do with the cash.

Any suggestions or advice would be great!

anandp

A good reason would be something like if you were in hospital or abroad for a large chunk of that year.

But my advice would be to give them a call and explain your circumstances as best you can. Be courteous to the person on the other end, and I'm sure you'll get a straight answer.

Might not be a yes, but at least you've heard it from the "horse's" mouth!

hodgester

i very much doubt you will get anything. from my year of benefit assessment aeons ago before reverting back to Council Tax collection, I do remember that ignorance of the system was never a valid appeal for failure to consider backdated HB/CTB. The bills will advise of the system of benefits in place should you consider your income too low to meet the repayments and the Authority will inevitably decide that your failure to request benefit at the time your resposnsibility.

you have the right to make a backdated application though, just consider that it will be a lot of effort for what will be almost certainly no reward.

moneymare

Position with the authority I work for is that they will consider backdates for a maximum of 52 weeks from the day of application.