Been told I'm due council tax support. Pretty sure I'm not eligible.

[WeirdCouncil]

Got a letter out of the blue from the council saying I'm eligible for council tax support and for an additional Covid payment. I'm not so hot on how it all works but I work four days a week and earn a couple of quid an hour more than minimum wage so I'm fairly certain that's not right.

But at the same time I don't earn loads, I have two kids, council tax is around 15% of what I take home every month so tbh it's a bit of a struggle paying it.

They've issued a new bill with the new figures on it.

WIBU to not query it, make the payments they're asking for under the new bill and put the rest that I'd normally have paid aside until the end of the year then see what's what? If they ask for it I've got it and if not happy days.

If you're the only adult in your home you'll be eligible for a 25% council tax reduction.

If you are the only adult living in the house then you should be entitled to a 25% discount for council tax.

Yeah I already get the discount. This new bill shows council tax support on top of the discount. It's knocked £350 off the total due over the year ie loads.

Our council are doing some covid payment this month, not sure why, they didn't last year I'm sure.

Each council has different criteria for council tax support but you don’t have to be on benefits. Low income does qualify, is there any info on their website?

Have you checked the online calculators to see if it's correct? This is one that includes pote ital Council tax reductions: https://www.entitledto.co.uk/?utmsource=BAdviser&utmmmedium=referral&utmcampaign=GovUK

In my local authority you get an additional discount on top of the 25% single person discount if you are single parent. It increases with each additional child and there is a further increase if you are under the age of 24.

If you google the name of the authority you pay your council tax to plus council tax reduction then it should tell you what discounts your local authority offer.

I'm getting a 150 covid payment towards council tax this month and I get a decent discount on council tax (formerly council tax benefit) I work 35 hours a week @ 9.34 an hour.

I tried that calculator but it's not so hot wrt my particular circumstances because I pay out quite a lot in pension. I'm almost certain I'm not due it though. I take home 1032 a month after tax ni and pension which obviously isn't loads but is below where I'd expect CTS to kick in.

@womaninatightspot wow maybe it is right then. Happy days indeed.

Do you claim Universal credit ? If so they will look at what you get from Uc.

No I get tax credits and housing benefit. Not much housing benefit though.

If they have made a mistake and figure it out down the line then they can ask for it back even if it’s quite a decent chunk of time since. Is it not better to check now and find out if it was correct/in error? I know you said you’ll put the rest aside but just in case there’s an unexpected expenditure/you lose your job etc and in 6 months they ask for it back and you no longer have the extra saved.

Probably more sensible but this is very tempting.

I've only got to pay £70 between now and the end of the bill! (I always overpay anyway so that I get December and some of January off to cover Xmas.) Why would people need extra because of the covid anyway? I don't really understand any of this at all.

I received a council tax discount that was six years old. I had overpaid, so if you haven't received a covid payment yet it might well be right.

That level of income in my local authority as a single parent household would easily put you into the band of being eligible for a council tax reduction in my local authority.

Woohoo!!

So do you think this is a back payment or something? I've had this job seven years.

@WeirdCouncil

So do you think this is a back payment or something? I've had this job seven years.

Council tax support can only be backdated 3 months.

If its anything like my council, keep what you have paid in a savings account, they will swear its right, till you get another one in a few months time, telling you that blah blah blah, it has gone up and suddenly you are scrabbling round trying to find the money because its going up by £200 a month, because they have tacked on the months you were not paying as well, even though you can prove you phoned and checked.

not bitter at all

Since council tax benefit was abolished and councils set up their own schemes, there is massive variation between areas. (I advise clients across twelve district/borough councils and a city council, so see what a huge difference there is).

I'd advise applying and seeing how much more of a reduction you get. It's mad to pay more than you need to.

Where I live, even the poorest people have to pay 20% of their c/tax, and it's a high c/tax area (£2k a year for a small house). If they lived across the border in the next district, they wouldn't have to pay any! It causes very real hardship here.

Ah feck. So no new sofa yet then. Surely they couldn't be coming back for it after march though? Going to sit tight. Those bastards get enough out of me for putting their fucking bollards around everywhere.

Agree with you @Lakielady it causes hardship to me! £120 a month from £1032 take home is brutal. And we haven't had our bins collected for a month grumble grumble. Too busy flying pissing pride flags and going mental with the bloody bollards for that.

Do you get Free school meals? As a single parent, unless you have massive savings/investments, your income would qualify you for council tax support in the majority of areas.

This is all really strange. I've had the same job for seven years and when I got my housing benefit award all that time ago they said if I qualified for CTS they would tell me. So should they have done?