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We want to hear from you: please tell us about your experience of the online community.

Hi, my name is amanda26! Reduction in council tax

amanda26

Hi everyone,
I am new to this online community, so please bear with me.

I just wondered if anyone else is having/or had issues with applying for the disabled persons reduction scheme under their Local Authority.
My partner has had renal failure for 17 years and is now performing dialsys at home. His PD nurse stated that he can apply for a recution in council tax as he is performing self dialysis at home with the machine and equipment stored in the main bedroom (there is no space anywhere else in the property for this).
I have received a reply stating that he does not meet the criteria for the Disablement Band Reduction as the equipment is being used in the main bedroom rather than a separate room which the criteria states it has to be.
I have requested a formal reply together with their guidance/legislation so I can review and appeal.
Any advise/guidance would be much appreciated.
Thank you
Amanda

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Ross_Alumni

Hello @amanda26

Wishing you a warm welcome to the community, it's lovely to see you join and I'm sure you'll enjoy taking part here.

I hope you manage to get used to the community, but do feel free to ask any questions that come to mind about the site, or if you have any challenges then please let us know.

Sorry to hear that you are having difficulty with getting council tax reduction in your area, I hope that others will be able to provide their perspective based on how this works with their local council.

Discount or reduction schemes are different for every council in England and Wales, so it would be hard to advise on your specific circumstances. I think it makes sense for you to get a copy of their criteria so that you can ensure that their initial response to you was correct.

Scope also have an information page here about getting help with council tax, so that may also be useful. I have moved your discussion over to our benefits and financial support category and altered the title so that other members know what the subject of the thread is.

amanda26

Dear Ross_Scope,
Thank you for your welcome and reply.
It is a shame as I thought the Legislation set would be the same for every Local Authority.
I just wondered if any other users may have had a similar experience and what they did to try and receive a positive outcome.
Best wishes, Amanda

calcotti

Ross_Scope said: Discount or reduction schemes are different for every council in England and Wales,

I’m not sure that is correct. Discount and exemptions are different to Council Tax Reduction (CTR). Although each local authority can vary the rules for CTR (for working age claimants) I think the rules for discounts and exemptions are standardised.

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

OP may well not qualify because they do not have a requirement for an extra room.

poppy123456

amanda26 said:

I have received a reply stating that he does not meet the criteria for the Disablement Band Reduction as the equipment is being used in the main bedroom rather than a separate room which the criteria states it has to be.

Based on this, i don't know how there's any grounds for appeal.

amanda26

Thanks for the replies,
@calcotti - We have to store the equipment in the bedroom as it can't go anywhere else as there is no additional room. We have a 2x bedroom dwelling with one bedroom being occupied by our son and the other is occupied by us to sleep in and now for my partner to perform dialysis in. This has to be done overnight whilst sleeping, hence we have had to set up in the bedroom.
But as there is literally no room for all the fluid, drain bags and other necessary equipment, this also has to be stored in the bedroom (there is a lot of equipment).
It just seems confusing as the LA say you should have a separate room for medical equipment / treatment however, we do not have an additional bedroom. So do you then interpret that as we require a 3x bedroom dwelling in order to meet the requirements for the CTR scheme?

Ross_Alumni

calcotti said:
I’m not sure that is correct. Discount and exemptions are different to Council Tax Reduction (CTR). Although each local authority can vary the rules for CTR (for working age claimants) I think the rules for discounts and exemptions are standardised.

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

OP may well not qualify because they do not have a requirement for an extra room.

Hi, thanks for your reply and for clarifying this. The information I shared was based on the contents of this page that I shared in my post, so I will get in touch with the relevant team to pass on your feedback that the information may need updating.

calcotti

Ross_Scope said:.. I will get in touch with the relevant team to pass on your feedback that the information may need updating.

Yes, they need to separate out Discounts and Exemptions from Council Tax Reduction.