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Help with UC and Council Tax Entitlement!

Sofia123

Need your help on where to get help.

My mum just migrated over to UC after a long delay in her payment due to ID issues relating to her Indian passport, which are now thankfully resolved. However, a new can if worms oorned up as we got a menacing letter from the Council today saying that there has been a change to her Council Tax support entitlement. Apparently, DWP told them she would be migrating over to UC and that brings a whole host of delightful changes!

Where she was once getting around 80% Council Tax relief and paying only £23.00 per month, they are now asking her to pay all of it which is £137 per month! They didn't mention about her transition from ESA being the reason, but instead that local rules around PIP changed since April 2025 and that my mum now needs to pay all of it! My mum will be getting £823.41 in Universal Credit and currently gets £749 PIP. They are saying that altogether takes her over the threshold for help as they now count PIP as an income!

However-

This year the Council also asked her to subsidise part of her care to Purple which they said should be taken from her PIP amounting to £152 a month. Not to mention that because they sent the statement out 6 months late she now owes them £1,065 in arrears! She has other debts with EDF energy that she is paying out and is around £1,200 in debt with them too. Even her daycare asked her to fund her own lunch fees!

I asked the Council what help she can claim as a single, vulnerable person with severe schizophrenia. They said we can look into a council tax discretionary fund one off payment but nothing else. What can we really do to reduce her Council tax long term?

Kind Regards

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Comments

Kimi87

She might qualify for a Severe Mental Impairment discount:

https://www.gov.uk/council-tax/discounts-for-disabled-people

Otherwise if she is living in a band B or above property, a move to a lower band property should reduce her Council Tax bill.

https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-bands

You can also speak to a local welfare rights organisation:

https://advicefinder.turn2us.org.uk/

Sofia123

Hello Kimi87!

Thanks for your valuable feedback. I rang the Council back to ask them why they had not applied the "Severe Mental impairment" disregard, but apparently they had and this would be evident on the follow up letter being posted out, so the annual tax amount £1.404 includes this discount. She is in Band B bracket but would be hard to sell up now because we are in a messy legal affair due to my dad not leaving behind a will.

I will be filling out the Council Tax discretionary form so will see if they can reduce it in some way.

Hopeless

The severe mental impairment disregard would exempt your mum, as a single person, from council tax, that is she would have £0 to pay. They won’t just add it, you need to apply. Every council seems to do the process a bit differently but they’ll be a form somewhere for you/your mum to fill in and then your GP has to agree. The process takes a while and you still have to pay in the meantime but they’d refund you if successful.

Sofia123

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1050211#Comment_1050211

I forgot to add that she lives with myself and my brother. I am unrmployed and caring for her full time, while my brother works in security 3 times a week (reduced hours since last year due to health issues). She had a financial assessment last year and was awarded up to 80% of council tax, however since moving to UC last month we were told that she doesn't qualify for it anymore, as PIP and UC are regarded as "income" since April. They refused to give income support.

Hopeless

oh, sorry. I wrongly assumed ‘single’ meant lives alone

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