People living elsewhere in the UK are being left in the lurch. Yet there are 100,000s households across Britain paying too much. Council tax bills in England rose at the start of this month by an average 4.5 percent or £75/year on a typical band D property (according to CIPFA) and there are rises in Wales and Scotland too. The sooner you check if you’re overpaying, the better. Here are my four council tax need-to-knows:
Someone with a ‘severe mental impairment’ should be discounted for council tax
Like students and under 18s, if someone’s intellectual or social functioning is severely impaired (common for those with dementia, Alzheimer’s and other conditions), then provided they have had a medical diagnosis and are eligible for one of a large range of benefits, they are entitled to be disregarded for council tax purposes.
If they live alone they are entitled to pay no council tax. If they live with another adult (often a carer) they get 25 percent off –typically £400 a year. While it is a postcode lottery, some councils will backdate this. I’ve been campaigning to raise awareness since 2016. The impact can be huge. Full details on claiming are at www.mse.me/smi
Some mystery shopping in 2017 found 69 out of 100 councils were giving incorrect info on discounts. We made a series of recommendations.
The Welsh government has recently enacted them all. All 22 Welsh councils have one common, simple application form (which we helped design), and there's now consistent backdating, with rebates back to the point of an SMI diagnosis. Hopefully Scotland will follow suit. Getting the UK government to enact any changes for England is proving tough.
Martin Lewis: The money saving expert explained how to save money on council tax (Image: Getty Images/ITV)
It’s estimated around 400,000 homes in England and Scotland are on the wrong council tax band and have been overpaying for years
Martin Lewis, Money Saving Expert
400,000 households are paying the wrong amount
It’s estimated around 400,000 homes in England and Scotland are on the wrong council tax band and have been overpaying for years as many houses were wrongly banded
