Council tax

nickym

Just moved over to u/c,

I'm also in receipt of pip enhanced level of daily living and mobility,

Before the migrating over to u/c I was on eesa,I received full housing benefit and council tax support,

My council tax bills where always around £25 - £28 per month.

Received a new bill yesterday stating I'm no longer entitled to any council tax support as my weekly income is over the limit, (example:)

£190 u/c a week, £110 pip enhanced living component a week, £77.00 enhanced mobility a week.

I've been on pip for 11 years, I've got limited capability for work, I'm classed as several disabled and have received council tax support,

This new council tax bill as mentioned above says my yearly bill is now 1,400.and a payment by direct debit a month is £160.00.

I was under the impression that pip isn't classed as an income, referring back to my pip award letters this is also stated,

so why have they included my pip enhanced level on both components in my weekly income on this council tax bill.

Charlie_Alumni

Hello @nickym. PIP is not usually treated as income for council tax support calculations, sometimes they include it and then remove it later on.

Generally it isn't counted as income but we have seen a slowly increasing number of people saying that PIP has been used as income for their recent calculations. As council tax support is managed by local authorities, it would be worth you checking your local council's policy for clarity.

nickym

Thank You. I've sent an email regarding this matter, with previous/past council tax bills, also I've asked for a detailed statement on how they have arrived on the decision to stop my council tax support and have asked to reconsider the notification of change letter and to reveiw my situation and claim.

nickym

Just an update, personal independent payments are now classed as an income. For 12 years my council tax bill was approx £20 - £40 a month I was in receipt of eesa and enhanced pip and limited capability to work i received full housing benefit, Now I'm on uc with limited capability to work and enhanced pip, my council tax bill is now £160 per month and I have to pay £120 towards my rent as I have two extra bedrooms.

This has got to be classed as discrimination towards severely disabled people.

Amaya_Ringo

I know that we had a notification here to residents that UC would be taken into consideration as income even where ESA had not been.

I just went and checked my local authority's page and they list DLA and PIP as exemptions in CT calculations, along with a raft of other things like Attendance Allowance, Carer's Allowance etc. So it seems like it is a regional decision to include PIP and not a national one.

This feels like a bit of a postcode lottery :/ PIP isn't assessed for income tax so it's weird that it would be included in CT.

Kimi87

Council Tax Reduction is decided on at a local level, with each local authority setting their own rules as to the level of help given, and what is classed as income.

I know of quite a few local authorities now counting PIP as income for the first time this financial year.

Some areas also treat UC income differently to legacy benefits such as IR ESA.