Council tax reduction/ support SMI help

kermitt1012
kermitt1012 Online Community Member Posts: 4 Listener
edited April 15 in Benefits and income

As a disabled couple, then in receipt of Income Based ESA but now Universal Credit, We receive Council Tax Support from our county council.  This covered 75% of our bill and would leave us with 25% to pay.
In November 2024 we applied for the 25% discount for a person with a severe mental impairment, and were delighted to be granted this in December 2024.  This resulted in a back payment of £465 (for the period August 2023 to March 2025), and our future council tax being reduced to zero.
Following our move to Universal Credit in February 2025, the council instructed us to reapply for Council Tax Support.  This was duly done, and in late March, they recalculated our Council Tax Support in a different manner.
An example of a previous award:

  • Council Tax bill: £1600
  • Council Tax Support @ 75%: -£1200
  • SMI discount @ 25%: -£400
  • Amount remaining: £0

An example of a new award:

  • Council Tax bill: £1600 
  • SMI discount @ 25%: -£400 
  • Subtotal for their purpose of calculating Council Tax Support: £1200
  • Council Tax Support @ 75%: -£900
  • Amount remaining : £300

As a result of this change, they are now applying Council Tax Support that only covers 56.25% of the total bill, and we are now left having to pay 18.75% of the total bill   Not only this, but they have recalculated our last bill for 2024-2025, stated that we have been paid too much Council Tax Support, and are intent on collecting the sum of £329 in full on 1 May 2025 for that previous year.  We must also pay 18.75% of this year's bill which is about £35 per month.
Having spoken to Citizen's Advice  about the matter, they agree that the council is misbehaving, and should not be engineering the deductions for their gain. This effectively makes the 25% SMI discount worth only 6.25%, and therefore not worth the effort in us having to prove my entitlement to this valuable discount.
Your advice in this matter or if anyone has been through something similar I would appreciate any feedback / advice/ help.

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Comments

  • Girl_No1
    Girl_No1 Online Community Member Posts: 309 Pioneering

    The way to establish if last years calculation was correct or incorrect is to reverse calculate the back payment you received.

    Does the back payment equal 25% of the total bill i.e. before Council Tax reduction was applied, or does it equate to 25% of the bill after Council Tax Reduction was applied?

    Beyond that, I can only speak to the situation within my local council.

    The standard discounts e.g. sole occupancy, SMI etc. are applied before Council Tax Reduction is applied to your actual bill.

    If your situation was within my local council area it would be down to someone messing up last year with your calculation, but every council has their own ways of applying discounts etc.

    The only way, in my council area anyway, to receive a 100% discount is if the individual with SMI lives on their own or lives with others who all have SMI conditions.

    This is, as I understand it, because SMI residents are considered to be incapable of 'accessing/ enjoying' services standardly provided by the council e.g. parks, sports centres, museums etc.

    A case in point is my partner, who lives with and cares for his mother who receives the SMI discount. He has to pay his "share" of council tax (from his approx. £110 pw UC/carers benefit) as he is deemed to be capable of accessing/enjoying council services - as he says "Chance would be a fine thing!!"

  • mix_dage
    mix_dage Online Community Member Posts: 67 Contributor

    Hi @kermitt1012

    Each council can set its own council tax reduction (CTR) if your local CAB agree they the council are wrong, perhaps they can support you taking the matter further. The council may give you discretionary help for one year. In my experience councils tend to be very lawyered up.
    You could also take the matter further with the ombudsman after following the procedure for complain through your council.

    Additionally there are more and more people reporting they now have CT liability since moving over to UC as the council systems now look at UC v legacy benefits differently. Have a search through the forums for further examples.

    Good luck

  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 5,307 Championing

    First you have the issue of councils treating UC differently to legacy benefits, then this year many areas have had to make cutbacks in the levels of support offered. Some now count PIP as income for the first time.

  • kermitt1012
    kermitt1012 Online Community Member Posts: 4 Listener

    Thank you all for your responses. Very helpful info.

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