Is This Right. Could losing PIP affect my council tax support?

anth22

My head is all over the place due to my council tax bill. My PIP might or might not end in August 2022 as I'm waiting for my review to be sorted my council tax monthly payments have more than double and I'm not getting my full support because the council are taking in consideration my PIP might stop in August can they do this as upto August all my income is the same. Another thing that don't make sense is they are saying if I lose my PIP in August I will get no council tax support and will have to pay £160 a month out off my income support and carers. I hope someone knows the answer to this as the stress is making me feel really ill, Thank you.

janer1967

Hi there 

The eligibility for reduced council tax is set by each local council so its hard to comment but it's not always due to getting pip some base it on claiming other benefits 

I agree it doesn't sound right they are presuming you may lose your pip 

I suggest you contact cab or welfare rights or maybe your local mp 

anth22

I will do thank you, think I might have a word with the job centre next week as despite being very ill and I'm also a carer to my daughter I've been asked to attend a work focus interview, should be an interesting interview.

janer1967

Have you reported a health condition in your journal and provided a fit note . This will start the work capability assessment until then you are considered job seeker and need to attend 

Also do you claim carers element for caring for your daughter as this should then stop you having to look for work 

anth22

I don't get uc I get income support with SDP and cares allowance for my daughters care.

janer1967

OK just checking you was getting alm your benefits 

poppy123456

Nothing has changed much with Income Support over the years. They do expect you to attend these appointments, which for carers is usually once every 6 months. You need to make sure you attend.

anth22

Yes I will definitely go poppy unless I'm in hospital, thank you all for your advise.

calcotti

Every local authority can make their own rules for CTR but it seems very odd for them to calculate your entitlement based on a possible future event. That simply sounds wrong.

If your PIP  were to stop you would lose the SDP in your IS and in the CTR calculation but would still be receiving IS which I would generally expect to give you entitlement to the maximum CTR available. However, as per my opening sentence, each local authority can vary the rules. You probably need to see if you can find the CTR rules on your local authority website and then see if you can work out what they are doing.

The JobCentre will have nothing to say about CTR entitlement.

anth22

Thank you calcotti I know the job centre can't help I just wanted to tell them about it, when I spoke to PIP they said they have never heard of this happening and are going to send me a letter to give to the council to show I'm still getting PIP and there is every chance my review will go pass August.

anth22

Sorry to keep posting but I forgot to mention that both my daughters get high rate PIP for living and one off my daughters gets high rate PIP for mobility. I'm single and get carers for one off my daughters but council tax have said I can't get the carers reduction because there are 3 off us living in the same house even though my daughter and myself meet the conditions. Below this is what it says on the local council website.

Carers Discount

You may also qualify for a discount on your Council Tax if you are the carer for a person who is in receipt of benefit which qualifies. The person providing care must be resident within the same dwelling as the person being cared for and must be providing care for at least 35 hours per week.

However, you cannot claim this discount if you are a ‘disqualified relative’, such as a spouse or civil partner (married or unmarried), or the parent of a child (under 18 years of age)

calcotti

Even if you are ignored as a carer there are still two adults taken into account as living in the house so there would be no discount applicable.

poppy123456

PIP won't know anything about CTR either. When ringing DWP you're ringing a call centre and often they have no benefits knowledge.

anth22

Thank you both for your replies but it still don't make sense to me why you can only get carers reduction if there is only 2 people living in my house 🤔 I'm confused by this.

calcotti

The 25% discount applies if there is, for Council Tax purposes, only one person living in the house.
A carer can be disregarded (meaning that it is as if they were not there). 
If it was just you and one of your daughters living in the house then, once you are disregarded, there would be only one person taken into account and a 25% discount would apply.
In your case there are still two people, even after you are disregarded, and therefore the discount does not apply.

anth22

Sorry I just need to vent again about my local council. So I setup a direct debit for the 10th off each month this morning I received a nasty letter from the council because they tried to take the money before the 10th and it was refused with the reason Amount not yet due. I feel they are trying to push me over the edge as I'm very unwell and could do without all the pressure they put me under. 
I'm hoping some one can see my point off view that this is not my mistake.

poppy123456

Why did your local Authority try to take the DD early? I think it's a very good thing your bank refused it. If they accepted it and you didn't have enough money in your bank to cover it then you could have had charges unless you have an arranged overdraft.

anth22

I know it's crazy it's having a terrible affect on my health.

anth22

Atleast my bank is looking out for me poppy.