Council Tax Reduction

JohnofWessex · 07/10/2025 14:15

Council Tax support schemes are local so you need to talk to the Council

BaronessEllarawrosaurus · 07/10/2025 14:19

There are reduction schemes for disabled people but they rely on needing additional space etc so you get a reduction in banding. Do you definitely owe for the previous home?

Original poster

Ohcrikeybigmistake · 07/10/2025 14:19

Thankyou, I have, in tears, very very stressed, I already am diagnosed with Raised Severe Anxiety with a score of 17 out of 18 by all ‘ologists’, the wait is tearing me apart.

OP posts:

Rainbows41 · 07/10/2025 14:25

Were you getting housing benefit during those 9 years?
What does your daughters home have to do with this?

Original poster

Ohcrikeybigmistake · 07/10/2025 14:36

No housing benefit.
We received working and child tax credit but I called DWP to stop those about 2 years ago.

We downsized a while ago to make life easier due to my illness. Moved away to a completely nee area to make life more affordable meaning our daughter lost her home and friends, activities etc.

OP posts:

cestlavielife · 07/10/2025 14:43

Speak to cab and sort a payment plan 10 a month for example

Original poster

Ohcrikeybigmistake · 07/10/2025 14:50

Still repaying tax credits overpayments because they ballsed it up. 😔
I will advise my child to never ever get financial ‘help’ from any government. Ever.

OP posts:

Bromptotoo · 07/10/2025 16:26

Ever since it was introduced Council Tax was based on an annual charge based on bands related to the c1992 value of your home. There were/are reductions for households on low income. Around ten years ago (at least in England) one single national scheme for income based reductions was devolved to local councils.

Every council in England has it's own scheme. People on basic benefits get a reduction that might cover anything from all of it to less than half.

If you were getting a reduction for low income then surely you'd have been asked to confirm annually that either there were no changes in circumstances/income or to tell the council if there were?

If you've messed up big time and underpaid get advice. Citizens Advice or a debt charity like Step Change would be a suggested start point.

Original poster

Ohcrikeybigmistake · 07/10/2025 16:46

Thankyou. I have never applied for a reduction. They confirmed that in a call today. It was simply reduced in one bill 2016/17 and ever since and naively I assumed it was because of my basic PIP (now enhanced) and DH never checked by calling.
Our own fault, yes I’m owning it. But the stress has made me physically sick.

Stepchange is a good shout. Thankyou. At the last CAB meeting I ended up setting them straight with legalities, it was painful.

OP posts:

Boomer55 · 14/10/2025 16:59

Ohcrikeybigmistake · 07/10/2025 14:00

I think I’m in the shit big time. Sorry for the language. Genuinely, genuinely had no clue.

DH pays the CT Bill & the way his dyslexia affects him means he interprets language wrong. Shit.

It seems council tax bills are now means-tested. But back in 2016 when we were first discounted, they weren’t.

We never applied. I categorically never did. I started receiving PIP and the bill back then automatically reduced. And from that moment until now all bills have been reduced.

Cue a housemove and I have learned that despite my PIP now being increased to full rate for both daily rate and mobility, because my husband salary has increased, and he didn’t tell them, we should not have received the discount.

Fuck.

So basically we owe 9 years of £2k a year = £18k. 😭 I’m waiting for surgery, our daughter has already lost the home she knew, shit.

Presumably I can send in our tax returns and get them to calculate a definite figure?

All advice welcome please.

PIP doesn’t usually lower council tax bills, unless income dictates it should.

Best to work out a payment plan with them.

Harriet9955 · 19/10/2025 23:26

Ohcrikeybigmistake · 07/10/2025 16:46

Thankyou. I have never applied for a reduction. They confirmed that in a call today. It was simply reduced in one bill 2016/17 and ever since and naively I assumed it was because of my basic PIP (now enhanced) and DH never checked by calling.
Our own fault, yes I’m owning it. But the stress has made me physically sick.

Stepchange is a good shout. Thankyou. At the last CAB meeting I ended up setting them straight with legalities, it was painful.

As above PIP alone would not cause you to have a reduction in council tax. And you absolutely would have had to apply for any kind of means tested council tax support because they ask for full details of income, household members , savings etc.

SergeantWrinkles · 19/10/2025 23:31

Where I am op, getting pip doesn’t automatically lower your CT - you have to apply and it gets calculated based on income and circumstances. Definitely nothing automatic - I appreciate all councils do it slightly differently but are you sure that’s correct?

Geneticsbunny · 20/10/2025 08:18

If you aren't working could it maybe be a single occupancy discount that he has been getting?

cestlavielife · 20/10/2025 10:50

Ct 3xclusions are full time student and severe mental impairment. If dh now meets smi then can get single occupancy

Original poster

Ohcrikeybigmistake · 21/10/2025 06:54

Not much to report yet.
I have learned that any CT bill 6 years old or older cannot be legally enforced unless there’s a court order, which I don’t have. That is only issued if a Final Notice to Pay is ignored. So I have told the council I believe that 2019 and before are ‘statute barred’.

We have supplied our income figures from that year onwards. Looking at our bills, we received, frequently, 3 or 4 in one month stating they had credited our account with various amounts- it’s an absolute shit show.

At no point were we on a low income. Things were tight, yep, but our income was only just over the £16k at the time this discount allegedly was applied for.

The Council have submitted the appropriate GDPR data request for all bills and the alleged application I submitted, at my request.

OP posts:

Boomer55 · 21/10/2025 16:52

Rebates either council tax bills have always been means tested. Getting PIP upped your allowance but you still had to notify any other changes of income/circumstances.

Governmet/council debts are not statute barred. They are exempt from this.

Catsknowbest · 23/10/2025 05:41

You need to speak to your local citizens advice ASAP. There will be help with dealing with the CTR overpayment and resultant debt issues. Do it soon, it will mean you have more idea of your exact situation and how it can be dealt with going forward. You will likely be liable but a plan to sort it out is what is needed. As others have said, PIP entitlement has nothing to do with this; it is disregarded as income for CTR, for example, and any disability related CT discounts use strict criteria for which assessment, sometimes including a home visit, or required. Also it is worrying that as CT is the second biggest household bill for most people neither of you realised this issue sooner; your annual CT bill and annual CTR statement should, with the best will in the world, highlighted an issue to you.

Catsknowbest · 23/10/2025 05:49

Geneticsbunny · 20/10/2025 08:18

If you aren't working could it maybe be a single occupancy discount that he has been getting?

I'm confused by this. One adult not working doesn't entitle the other to the 25% single occupancy discount. It only ever matters how many adults are in the household. If there is more than one, no discount, unless the special rules apply e.g. severe ma, FTE.

Catsknowbest · 23/10/2025 05:50

cestlavielife · 20/10/2025 10:50

Ct 3xclusions are full time student and severe mental impairment. If dh now meets smi then can get single occupancy

If DH meets the strict SMI criteria. Doesn't appear to apply from OPs information...?

Catsknowbest · 23/10/2025 05:52

SergeantWrinkles · 19/10/2025 23:31

Where I am op, getting pip doesn’t automatically lower your CT - you have to apply and it gets calculated based on income and circumstances. Definitely nothing automatic - I appreciate all councils do it slightly differently but are you sure that’s correct?

Benefits specialist here. You are correct.

Catsknowbest · 23/10/2025 05:53

Ohcrikeybigmistake · 07/10/2025 16:46

Thankyou. I have never applied for a reduction. They confirmed that in a call today. It was simply reduced in one bill 2016/17 and ever since and naively I assumed it was because of my basic PIP (now enhanced) and DH never checked by calling.
Our own fault, yes I’m owning it. But the stress has made me physically sick.

Stepchange is a good shout. Thankyou. At the last CAB meeting I ended up setting them straight with legalities, it was painful.

Sorry if that was your experience with CA- it definitely isn't the case generally.

Geneticsbunny · 23/10/2025 08:40

@Catsknowbest i think I am remembering something from ages ago, pre uc. I think if one person was on jsa then they didn't count for council tax. Pretty sure that was the case in my early adult days but I could be wrong and obviously it was quite a while ago!

Original poster

Ohcrikeybigmistake · 23/10/2025 11:33

Catsknowbest · 23/10/2025 05:41

You need to speak to your local citizens advice ASAP. There will be help with dealing with the CTR overpayment and resultant debt issues. Do it soon, it will mean you have more idea of your exact situation and how it can be dealt with going forward. You will likely be liable but a plan to sort it out is what is needed. As others have said, PIP entitlement has nothing to do with this; it is disregarded as income for CTR, for example, and any disability related CT discounts use strict criteria for which assessment, sometimes including a home visit, or required. Also it is worrying that as CT is the second biggest household bill for most people neither of you realised this issue sooner; your annual CT bill and annual CTR statement should, with the best will in the world, highlighted an issue to you.

Edited

I will never ever get ‘advice’ from the CAB again and equally, tell my DC the same. Because of their ‘advice’ before, DWP stung us for thousands, overpaying us in tax credits despite me instructing them to stop payments in writing and recorded calls, giving tax returns from qualified accountants, which we are repaying at £30 a week for 4 years!!!

With this now as well, this is reinforced.

They are not fit for purpose as far as I am concerned.

Before I can go onto a repayment plan, we need every single invoice, bill, communication, credit, payment and so on for the last 10 years that the council have sent.

A data subject request has been submitted regarding these for and our alleged application form for the reduction - we never have had a low income, always had a minor either preschool or in primary school, both parents in the same home. We just cannot see how this was applied to our account.

My DH’s dyslexia and the way his brain doesn’t compute information meant he thought the Disabled Band on the CT bill meant we were discounted by default and wouldn’t even know how to apply for any reduction.

I started receiving basic PIP both components back in 2016, then the higher rate for both elements in 2020. Physical and SMI, so again, to have any discount since ‘16 makes zero logical sense.

OP posts:

Catsknowbest · 23/10/2025 13:01

Ohcrikeybigmistake · 23/10/2025 11:33

I will never ever get ‘advice’ from the CAB again and equally, tell my DC the same. Because of their ‘advice’ before, DWP stung us for thousands, overpaying us in tax credits despite me instructing them to stop payments in writing and recorded calls, giving tax returns from qualified accountants, which we are repaying at £30 a week for 4 years!!!

With this now as well, this is reinforced.

They are not fit for purpose as far as I am concerned.

Before I can go onto a repayment plan, we need every single invoice, bill, communication, credit, payment and so on for the last 10 years that the council have sent.

A data subject request has been submitted regarding these for and our alleged application form for the reduction - we never have had a low income, always had a minor either preschool or in primary school, both parents in the same home. We just cannot see how this was applied to our account.

My DH’s dyslexia and the way his brain doesn’t compute information meant he thought the Disabled Band on the CT bill meant we were discounted by default and wouldn’t even know how to apply for any reduction.

I started receiving basic PIP both components back in 2016, then the higher rate for both elements in 2020. Physical and SMI, so again, to have any discount since ‘16 makes zero logical sense.

Show quote history

I wish you luck.

Catsknowbest · 24/10/2025 07:57

Ohcrikeybigmistake · 23/10/2025 11:33

I will never ever get ‘advice’ from the CAB again and equally, tell my DC the same. Because of their ‘advice’ before, DWP stung us for thousands, overpaying us in tax credits despite me instructing them to stop payments in writing and recorded calls, giving tax returns from qualified accountants, which we are repaying at £30 a week for 4 years!!!

With this now as well, this is reinforced.

They are not fit for purpose as far as I am concerned.

Before I can go onto a repayment plan, we need every single invoice, bill, communication, credit, payment and so on for the last 10 years that the council have sent.

A data subject request has been submitted regarding these for and our alleged application form for the reduction - we never have had a low income, always had a minor either preschool or in primary school, both parents in the same home. We just cannot see how this was applied to our account.

My DH’s dyslexia and the way his brain doesn’t compute information meant he thought the Disabled Band on the CT bill meant we were discounted by default and wouldn’t even know how to apply for any reduction.

I started receiving basic PIP both components back in 2016, then the higher rate for both elements in 2020. Physical and SMI, so again, to have any discount since ‘16 makes zero logical sense.

Show quote history

Just an additional note however, I'm assuming that as you're holding CAB responsible for what happened to you last time you had problems with DWP overpayments you made a complaint at the time which would have been investigated by that CA office. You would have also been given advice on the basis that any benefit related decisions you made were your decisions. The advice given is just that. Advice. I was going to leave this alone, but as someone who works in an advice service and fights day in day out to help people, I decided I needed to say something. Advice services do massive amounts of incredible work for a lot of people every day. If the advice you were given was completely wrong and it caused you financial disadvantage through no fault of your own, your CA would have had to have done something to remedy this after you had made your complaint and they had investigated. So what was the outcome of that? And believe me, I do know what I am talking about here. Just not prepared to walk away while you slam a service you are adamant caused you all that debt when I know it would have been dealt with after complaint especially with the amounts you are talking about. If you had then and have now this overwhelming evidence including letters and requests to stop benefit payments you would have had grounds to challenge the overpayment as HMRC or DWP error. You seem to have had a lot of years of overpayments that are someone else's fault at every turn.