Council tax advice

autisticdad91

Hello,

So we are successfully on UC now, despite out circumstances not changing and the promise of matched payments for the first year we found out we are going to be £400 a month worse off.

Then things got worse this morning as we got a new council tax bill (after applying for the reduction) now instead of paying £45 a month they want £161 a month for the next 4 months 🤔 so how comes even though nothing has changed other than moving to UC it's such a large difference.

Anyone else had this issue?

Kimmy87

Council Tax Reduction is decided on a local level, so not sure anyone here will be able to advise.

I'd suggest you have a look at your LA's website to read their policy, and see if the CTR has been applied correctly to your circumstances.

You could also try a local advice agency, who could look at your UC award as well:

https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits

poppy123456

Is that your first payment for UC? If so then it's not usual for them not to calculate and Transitional Protection in time for your first payment. The reason for this is because the departments that were previously paying your benefits do not always send them the figures in time to calculate it for the first months payment.

When this happens they usually recalculate your statement and pay what is owed within a couple of weeks. It happens quite often.

To be clear Transitional Protection is only paid for 1 year if transferring from Tax credits and you have more than £16,000 in capital/savings. Otherwise, it's paid for as long as you remain entitled to it. It will erode if other elements increase or you become entitled to other elements.

If you think your UC payment isn't correct then put a message onto your journal under the payment section and tell them you think it's wrong.

autisticdad91

Thank you for the advice, I have messaged my council to find out why the large raise in council tax bill

This is my first payment unfortunately getting answers from UC to questions is difficult they tell you to write on the journal and then don't reply.

poppy123456

Put the message in the payment section and you should receive a reply. It's quite normal for the Transitional Protection not to be calculated in time for your first payment. There was another thread today where the same thing happened and their statement has now been recalculated.