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Backdating Council Tax Exemption Severely Mentally Impaired Effect on other benefits
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gray1404
Posts: 88 Forumite
I have worked out that a family member (with severe Autism) is entitled to an exemption on their Council Tax due them being severely mentally umpired. We visited the GP today who signed the form from the local council. I have not sent this back yet.
The property they are in is a band A.
However, we are concerned that a backdating request for the exemption (i.e. they pay back council tax that has already been paid) would have a further impact on their capital and their other benefits would reduce further and it could also impact their housing benefit.
Any advise on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Would it be wise not to request backdating for this?
The property they are in is a band A.
However, we are concerned that a backdating request for the exemption (i.e. they pay back council tax that has already been paid) would have a further impact on their capital and their other benefits would reduce further and it could also impact their housing benefit.
Any advise on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Would it be wise not to request backdating for this?
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Is there any reason why they don't recieve any help towards their council tax? Income related benefits would have entitled them to this help.I have worked out that a family member (with severe Autism) is entitled to an exemption on their Council Tax due them being severely mentally umpired. We visited the GP today who signed the form from the local council. I have not sent this back yet.
The property they are in is a band A and the council tax is £1010 per year for the current year. They live alone.
I have worked out that they have had to pay council tax themselves since around 2000 (they have been receiving DLA - now PIP and Incapacity Benefit now ESA since they were 13 and 18 respectively) and we are unsure if they should ask for the Council Tax exemption to be backdated due to the effect it will have on the other benefits.
They receive Income Based ESA (Support Group) and have already declared around £7500 of capital.
They also receive Housing Benefit.
They receive the high rate for care on PIP although I realise this will not be effected.
They do not receive any help towards their council tax so this exemption would come in useful.
However, we are concerned that a backdating request for the exemption (i.e. they pay back council tax that has already been paid) would have a further impact on their capital and their ESA would reduce further (for which they currently receive a slight reduction for having over £6000) and it could also impact their housing benefit.
Any advise on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Would it be wise not to request backdating for this?0 -
Usually if you claim Housing benefit, you are also awarded Council Tax benefit (as was) at the same time, which in England is a full award on ESA, so no Council Tax to pay.
If you now claim the SMI, the benefit will cancel and be offset to to exemption awarded, so there may be no difference.
If there was not a full Council Tax benefit awarded, then it may be worth claiming, but the council may be unwilling to go back to 2000
elmer0 -
The Statue of Limitations will apply. The maximum a SMI exemption will be backdated will be 6 years.
http://lgfa92.co.uk/council-tax-backdating-and-the-limitations-act-1980/These are my own views and you should seek advice from your local Benefits Department or CAB.0 -
Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »The Statue of Limitations will apply. The maximum a SMI exemption will apply will be 6 years.
http://lgfa92.co.uk/council-tax-backdating-and-the-limitations-act-1980/
Under Arca that would have been the case but using the comments made by the Valuation President in the cases of H Singh and Holdsworth et al revised the situation.
The Tribunal President corrected his earlier opinion from Arca and said
"The Limitation Act sets a limit on when proceedings must be initiated. If they are not brought within the maximum period following “the date on which the cause of action accrued”, then the action cannot proceed and must fail. The Act does not set a limit on the number of years in the past in respect of which sums may be recovered. That is the fundamental error made by the BA in these appeals"
I have tweaked the article to make it slightly easier to read.
I have a case which I have been involved with about to go through a tribunal for backdating for more than 6 years - the local authority did relent and backdate 6 years but the outcome will be interesting to see as (in my reading of their submission) the Local Authority did not realise that later cases had corrected the interpretation used in Arca.I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0 -
..I have a case which I have been involved with about to go through a tribunal for backdating for more than 6 years - the local authority did relent and backdate 6 years but the outcome will be interesting to see as (in my reading of their submission) the Local Authority did not realise that later cases had corrected the interpretation used in Arca.
Our very own MSE says on the subject that;
The process for issuing a retrospective payment differs from council to council (so check with your local authority to be sure), but in some cases you may be able to claim back cash you've overpaid at any point since 1993.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/reclaim/2016/09/lived-with-someone-with-alzheimers-parkinsons-or-a-similar-illness-you-may-be-able-to-reclaim-1000s-in-council-tax0 -
Our very own MSE says on the subject that;
The process for issuing a retrospective payment differs from council to council (so check with your local authority to be sure), but in some cases you may be able to claim back cash you've overpaid at any point since 1993.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/reclaim/2016/09/lived-with-someone-with-alzheimers-parkinsons-or-a-similar-illness-you-may-be-able-to-reclaim-1000s-in-council-tax
There's no issue council tax legislative wise in going back to 1993 (in most cases), the problems are always more that some local authorities will try and argue their way out of the backdating by trying to use the limitation act to say they don't have to. This includes cases where they have not backdated (period even less than 6 years) as it's not their 'policy' - legislation is what makes the decisions, not their 'policy.
In the particular case the I've been working with the Local Authority seemed to be completely unaware of the later Valuation Office interpretation of the Limitation Act - hopefully for the claimant the tribunal will follow the precedents set by their (previous) President and apply the discount however you can never be sure how they'll go.
CraigI no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0 -
To answer your questions, the family member does not receive help towards their council tax because they have over £6000 in capital. They do qualify for housing benefit but not help with council tax. The current capital held is about £7500. To confirm, he has been paying council tax (at about £1000 a year band A) the whole time himself.0
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The problem is that a failure to claim the council tax disregard (and thus the exemption) could potentially be seen as as a way of avoiding the refund it would make in order to continue to receive state benefits / receive benefits at a higher level, and thus be regarded as deprivation. It's not something I've come across before as being enforced but it's always worth bearing it in mind.I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0
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To answer your questions, the family member does not receive help towards their council tax because they have over £6000 in capital. They do qualify for housing benefit but not help with council tax. The current capital held is about £7500. To confirm, he has been paying council tax (at about £1000 a year band A) the whole time himself.
That makes no sense. It is possible that since the changes in 2013 that your LA imposed a capital limit of £6000, we'd need to know your local authority to be sure. However before that the claimant would have been subject to the normal rules and if he had less than £16000 he would have qualified for some assistance.
Has his capital been higher in the past?0 -
There is no penalty if getting a refund increases capital and so decreases some benefits (until capital is legitimately reduced) , as previously benefits will have been higher because they were based on lower net income, reduced by council tax paid.0
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