AIBU my DS shouldn't pay council tax when he was in full time education?

[Pumkinpiecrazy]

I'm really struggling at the moment. I am on UC as I have 2 autistic DC I have had to care for. They are now 13 and 18. My money has been cut by a 3rd from September now my eldest is 18. At the same time I was given a Council Tax bill backdated to April when my DS turned 18. I can barely afford my current bills now let alone adding another one. Up until this point I had an exemption due to my mental health so payed no CT. So this bill is solely as my DS turned 18. But should he really be expected to pay CT when he was still in full time education?

Students are exempt from council tax

I think if he's not in education now, then yes, he'd have to pay it, but if he was in 6th form he shouldn't have been billed from April to August. I'd phone them.

You need to email the.council with proof of his student status. I was able to get a letter from my son's college.

You can still get UC until you son is 19 depending on what course he is doing and the level.
If he is autistic is he claiming dla? Or pip?
what is he doing now?

That's what I thought.

He gets PIP at the highest rate. He wants to do an apprenticeship but unfortunately his mental health has been bad. The GP is trying to give him something for his anxiety but the medications make him suicidal. He has applied for an apprenticeship now but it's quite up in the air.

Our council have got really sharp on this, I’ve lost my single persons discount from the beginning of July to beginning of Sept as technically ‘he’s not in college’ even though he was enrolled and going back (and has full pip !) I had to reapply in the September.

What is he doing now? Is he still in education? I had to get college to fill out a form and more recently get a letter from uni to prove my son's student status so I could get the 25% discount.

I had that but then it was always backdated as he started Yr 2 and then yr3. It must be better for the council, in many ways, not to give the discount in case the child/yp drops out.

I'm so confused with it all. They make it so complicated. I don't know what we should be paying.

But practically there was no difference on the day he turned 18. I still have to care for him, pay for him etc. But now with a third less money. And then I get a bill over £200 for November. I just don't have any spare money for it. I'm struggling to pay the bills I already have now.

It might be worth seeing if your Son qualifies for the severely mentally impaired exemption as you say he receives PIP.

@Pumkinpiecrazykindly for your sake that needs to go one way or the other. He either get some work and apprenticeship and chips in to make up your deficit or if he is unable he starts the process of being ‘ unfit for work’ and you claim the rebate that way.

@Kpo58 the criteria is exceptionally high for that.