Council tax / universal credit

bigsteff

Moved house on November 2023 when on income support , council tax was £18 a month went up £23 a month in new house , still on income support , migrated over to UC on June 2024 with Transitional protection, have now received a bill saying my council tax will be £57 a month, this doesn't seem right , any ideas , anyone else had this done

Razr

My council tax doubled and my water was cut in half last year I am still not sure why or how, but my support worker said it is correct

bigsteff

Can't understand it , I thought Transitional protection was to make sure you weren't worse off yet you are losing money 😕

poppy123456

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/903001#Comment_903001

Transitional Protection is for UC and not council tax reduction because it’s not part of UC.

All local Authorities have their own rules for CTR so I won’t be able to advise on that, other than to say that they usually base it on your UC entitlement.

bigsteff

Think by what the lady was trying to say was because I had Transitional protection I had more money and therefore council tax higher but the amount is like for like only difference I can see is income support and universal credit, and phone signal is bad so difficult to get through and hearing problems don't make for good conversation lol

Jimm_Scope

Hey @bigsteff, it doesn't seem like it was well explained though. Have you looked on your local council website to see what reasons they offer council tax reductions for? We do have some advice about council tax bills and possible exemptions here: Council Tax reduction for disabled people | Disability charity Scope UK

As Poppy says though, all Local Authorities carry their own rules, so you will need to check their local website for information on this.

bigsteff

Got another letter from then showing I am getting less cts from June this year , money wise it looks like I get more money as uc have not payed my rent direct to my landlord , I will fill in a redermination form and see what happens , never runs smooth

DayDreamerBeliever

I had exactly the same issue. I’m £3 a week worse off now on UC money wise but lost all my council tax support. When I questioned it the council said it was because I receive transitional protection, universal credit AND wages!! They didn’t seem to understand that after deductions I’m worse off. Add in the fact that I’m now paying for dental, glasses, medical stuff and deffo worse off on Uc than WTC despite no changes to my circumstances.

bigsteff

I have heard of people ending up worse off when changing over to uc , definitely an unfair system for some people

poppy123456

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/903420#Comment_903420

It depends on the figures between their previous benefits and UC. CTR is not included in the TP because it's not part of UC.

BrianMcFaddenfan24

Myself and my fiance have the housing element on our uc, but we can't get any help with council tax as they no longer do it for couples where we live.

bigsteff

I have since discovered they have based my CT on the UC amount that included my rent so it has put me over the amount but I still have to pay the rent and be back to my normal amount of money but still a higher CT than normal

bigsteff

I have eventually figured out why my CT is higher , my CT is based on the ,The working age scheme, my amount is now above £ 178.60 weekly amount to receive full CTR , the reason it is now over is that Transitional protection is being classed as income for CTR ,Scotland, unsure about the rest of UK

Jimm_Scope

In Scotland the following elements of Universal Credit are all counted as income for Council Tax Reduction:

• disabled child addition
• childcare element
• transitional protection element
• child element

I didn't know that before, but it's good to know so thank you for pointing it out @bigsteff!

In England, the rules are decided on a Local Authority basis. So it can change quite a bit.

Chris321

@bigsteff. This is what I do for a living. As has previously been said. CTB was a national scheme but as part of the CTS scheme l LA's were allowed to implement a bespoke scheme. It seems your higher bill is due to UC transitional protection. In my area, NE England we disregard UC transition payments but you would need to check with your LA. If it helps I'll take you through a typical CTS assesment in my area. I'll use rounded figures for ease of calculation and the figures don't reflect the actual components. So for example.....

Total Cax charge £2000

Max Eligible CTS £1500 (we only pay 75 % max for working age)

UC standard Allowance £500

UC Health Component £250

Housing Allowance (not used in this example)

UC Transition payment £400

Total £1150

In my area your UC Gross would be £750 and UC net £750. No excess so you would receive a 75% reduction which is the max you could receive in my area.

If.your LA is not disregarding your transition payment then your UC Gross would be £750 but your UC net would be £1150 giving you an excess of £400.

My LA would reduce your CTS entitlement by 20p for every £1 above the UC gross. So 20% x £400 is £80 pcm.

Apologies if this was long winded. Best advice would be to speak to the LA or they may have CTS online calculator on their website.

bigsteff

Thanks for that info Chris, as far as I know my transitional protection now counts as income an it takes me over the applicable amount for full ctr, see below.....

To work out your 'total weekly council tax reduction' I have to compare 'your total weekly income' to
'your applicable amount'. Your 'total weekly income' is the amount used for benefit purposes after
adjustments and disregards (see the following tables). Your 'applicable amount' is made up of
allowances and premiums set by the working age scheme, which relates to your personal
circumstances and cannot be changed by the Council.
Your total weekly income of £203.70 is higher than your applicable amount of £178.60. The
difference between these two amounts is called 'excess income'. Your 'excess income' is £25.10.
The working age scheme rules say that you must pay 20 percent of this 'excess income' towards
your council tax. 20 percent of £25.10 is £5.02.
Your maximum council tax reduction of £14.78, less £5.02, means I can pay you benefit of £9.75
each week.

......

The above amount has added £34 a month onto my council tax :(