Council tax reduction

We want to hear from you: please tell us about your experience of the online community.

Wibbles

Why does someone have to be classed as "severely MENTALLY impaired" to get a council tax exemption ?

Why not "severely PHYSICALLY impaired" ?

I am classed as disabled enough to receive enhanced mobility and enhanced care components of PIP but apparently NOT council tax exemption

‘Severely mentally impaired’ people

Those who meet both of the following criteria will not be counted:
They have a certificate from a registered medical practitioner
confirming the condition.
They are entitled to one of the following benefits:
-   the middle or the higher rate of the care component of Disability
Living Allowance (or Child Disability Payment in Scotland)
-   the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment at
any rate (or Adult Disability Payment in Scotland)
-   Attendance Allowance at any rate
-   Constant Attendance Allowance or
-   Employment and Support Allowance.

Jimm_Alumni

Hi @Wibbles, I took a look into this for you to try and find out what information I could.

I understand your frustration, you are not getting the support you need. You should be getting more support. I've put more information down below to clarify why there is a specific exemption for severe mental impairment, in the hope of clarifying the situation.

The definition for severely mentally impaired is quite a bit more strict than PIP, it requires a formal diagnosis that the person has "a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning which appears to be permanent". It's a definition that dates back to the Mental Health Act of 1983, when we didn't really separate the use of "mental health" such as impaired intelligence and social functioning from things like, depression for example. Whereas today the term "mental health" is far more associated with things like depression. I am making an assumption that this has caused some of the confusion so please do let me know if I am mistaken.

Severely impaired mental health covers things such as severe learning difficulties, severe dementia or Alzheimer's. Where the person cannot be expected to fully understand what is going on and so may run into issues when it comes to situations such as paying taxes.

This is why in 1992 the Local Government Finance Act made an exemption specifically for people who met this strict criteria.

Now, I have researched this myself but I am not a benefits expert. If someone has information that any of the above is incorrect please do let me know and I will correct it.