council tax

shrinkydink

i have never had to pay any council tax due to smi and autism. but today i got a letter from council saying from april i will have to pay £350.98. i dont understand, im on pip and lwrca. please could anyone help with this, i cant phone council as i have mutism. have councils changed the amount they will pay. thanks

Adrian_Scope

Hello @shrinkydink, do you live alone and have any of your details or circumstances changed at all?

shrinkydink

i live alone have smi and autism. my circumstances are exactly the same. i get pip and lwrca. central beds council are the council im under. im really confused by this

Ironside1990

The law has been changed. Everyone has to pay council tax now. I was recently sent a bill for a grand, which i'm paying in instalments on the 1st of the month.

Adrian_Scope

Hello @shrinkydink

Central Bedfordshire Council list SMI as a reason for 100% discount/excemption. See here: Council Tax Exemptions

They have a contact email address listed on the page above which you could email to ask if there has perhaps been a mistake with your bill. It may be worth sending them an email to see what they say.

Kimi87

Council Tax Reduction is decided on at a local level and each local authority has different rules for this.

They can and do change rules especially from the start of the financial year which begins in April.

As each local authority has different rules for this it's very hard to advise on individual cases from here.

Your local authority do have an email address so you can write to them

https://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/info/80/council_tax/170/council_tax_discounts_and_exemptions

You could also look for a local welfare rights organisation that offer email support, who will be familiar with the local rules they can check your bill.

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

shrinkydink

thankyou all. i dont understand when they do things like this they cant explain in the letter why the change has happened.