Council tax discounts for ‘severe mental impairment’

Hi,
This is a question for CIS, (or anyone that has experience/knowledge in regard to the law), and also, an apology for this overly long post before I even begin.

My late Mother (who passed away from Vascular Dementia on Jan 15 2019), was cared for at home 24/7/365, by both my Brother and myself.

Until her death, she had been in receipt of DLA (Higher Rate Care and Mobility Components), and SDA, since April 1994.
Along with my late Father and elder Brother, (who were both unpaid Carers), I had been a Carer for her since 1995, and at the time of her death, I was still in receipt of Carers Allowance.

She was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia (by CT Scan) in June 2016, and by accident, I came across the "Disrgarded Adults Discount Scheme", in relation to searching for something entirely different, around March 2018. I fully intended to download, fill out the forms and apply there and then, however, all of this coincided with a very dramatic downturn/decline in Mum's health, so unfortunately never got around to it.

I only really remembered about it, (and the fact that it could be backdated), as I was going through all of the paperwork that we needed to amend/fill out as a result of a Mum passing away, so, called the Council Tax line again, dug out all of the relevant letters and forms, got a Doctor to confirm diagnosis/sign what I needed, and sent it all in a couple of weeks back.

As I see it, all of the three of us fit the criteria as "Disregarded Adults", Mum for her SMI, and both my Brother and myself as Carers, (we both cared for Mum, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week before her official diagnosis, but even more intensely from the date of her CT Scan, when the caring, nursing, feeding and toileting components of looking after Mum began to ramp up, ending with almost unimaginable/unmanageable levels of care, right up until she passed away.

Today I received a letter informing me that (and I quote),

"A full Council Tax charge applies where two or more persons aged 18 or over are in occupation at any one time. Currently 3 persons are in occupation, so even if [Mums Name - deleted here] were to meet the disregard criteria no Council Tax discount will apply".

Firstly, only my Brother and myself now reside at the property, secondly, the Council had already been notified of Mums Death (and were extremely efficient in sending out an amended Council Tax Bill/new Reference Code, but, due to the way that they calculate money owed, they neglected to inform us that that we were actually due an over payment, as we had effectively been charged twice for the month that Mum had passed away in), and thirdly, that the forms that I filled in, were addressed to and marked with, "Pers Rep [Mum's Name - deleted] Dec'd", (i.e "Personal Representative Of [Mum's Name - deleted] Deceased").

I tried calling the Council Tax Phone line three times today, (spending 20 mins waiting in a queue, each time), but, again, due to time constraints, on every occasion, I had to put the phone down before actually getting to speak to an Advisor.

From the nature/way that this reply is worded, I suspect that not only have they not cross referenced anything to do with our claim, but that I may have been sent the wrong form to fill in by my Local Authority, (as there is no reference on any of the forms in relation to the claim being backdated, with the exception of any information/evidence that I provided to prove Mums eligibility).

I realise now that I should DEFINITELY have sent in some kind of covering letter, but unfortunately I relied upon what can only be described as inefficient, inaccurate and unprofessional information from Council staff, ending up in a process that has been dreadfully lacking in any real quality, to date.

These are online links to the forms that I was returned, (but that were actually posted out to me by an advisor, to fill in). The forms marked 1 and 2, were completed by both Mum's GP and myself, and the form marked 3, was filled in by both my Brother and myself, individually),

1 - http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/downloads/file/22919/severe_mentally_impaired

2 - http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/downloads/file/5137/severe_mentally_impaired-medical_practitioner_authorisation

3 - http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/downloads/file/5142/caring_for_relations

So, my question is, given all of that information, would we be eligible to a backdated 50% Discount on our Council Tax, (from the date of Mum's diagnosis, to the date that she passed away), and if so, do I need to reply to the letter that I have received today informing them that I disagree with their decision, or is there another channel open that I can pursue that would be a little more efficient and substantially less time consuming?

Any help/information in regard to this would be much appreciated,

kind regards

Tim


P.S I'm not sure whether this information is pertinent, but, we all co- owned the house that we live in as "Tenants In Common" (50% by Mum, 25% equally by both my Brother and myself that was passed to us when my Father passed away back in June 2013), until Mum passed away.

Hi calcotti,
Thanks for the reply/information. I only posted here as I was primarily looking for information/advice from CIS (who has posted multiple responses in this thread, so I thought that there was a good chance that he'd get to see/read my post), and also, there are other posts on this thread asking questions with similar/pertinent information, (hence adding my post here), but as you suggested, I have now made New Thread post,

kind regards

Tim

I normally love how insightful Martin Lewis can be.But today as got to be the exception im afraid.He makes this sound so simple, but sadly that's not the case.
Take for example my father who was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease 7 years ago, everything Martin as discussed we have done 4 yes 4 times and been turned down for the discount.Apparently according to North East Derbyshire District Council they claim parkinsons disease does not entitle you to any discount.
Foot note he has been diagnosed by GP and Hospital Consultant plus gets Attendance Allowance at higher rate.Im at a total loss what to do next

If you apply and get one of the benefits then it shows you are entitled now and would have been previously for the time you were impaired - to any reasonable person. I'm not sure that includes some council departments.

Our council - Watford - has very reluctantly backdated the exemption to before the benefit was actually received.

They acted after mentioning the Valuation Court, which has a relative easy way of appealing against the Council actions.

The existence of the Valuation Court and it's role should be made clear by all councils. In fact, it seems well hidden by them.