Author Topic: Council Tax - Severely mentally impaired (SMI) person discount  (Read 3756 times)

Undercover Pensioner

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Re: Council Tax - Severely mentally impaired (SMI) person discount
« Reply #15 on: Apr 11, 2019, 05:38:23 PM »
It is a strange one Diasi.  I am just grateful we got it for mum.  Perhaps there was some feeling that there would be many council facilities they couldn't use.  I could bore you at this point with my "we must simplify" speech and add the "basic pensioner income" addendum - but you have heard it all before ;) 
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Diasi

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Re: Council Tax - Severely mentally impaired (SMI) person discount
« Reply #16 on: Apr 11, 2019, 09:58:18 PM »
It is a strange one Diasi.  I am just grateful we got it for mum.  Perhaps there was some feeling that there would be many council facilities they couldn't use.  I could bore you at this point with my "we must simplify" speech and add the "basic pensioner income" addendum - but you have heard it all before ;)

I understand problem specific benefits such as mobility payments for those who have mobility issues & care payment for those who need care & I also understand low income & council tax, but I've never understood how a disability is connected to council tax, or does the condition have to be accompanied by low income?
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Undercover Pensioner

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Re: Council Tax - Severely mentally impaired (SMI) person discount
« Reply #17 on: Apr 12, 2019, 12:22:50 AM »

I don't remember it being so Diasi.  Mum was on the high AA and that helped but that isn't income related and then the doctor wrote a letter for her.  She had been diagnosed several years previously.   She never knew of course; at that stage she would have been mortified. 


In the same way other conditions can have added expense mental health problems certainly do.  Even a lock which can be opened from the outside when the keys are left in on the inside is expensive and I suppose putting such things in does save the cost of the police coming out to break in for the ambulance people - well it does once you've found these things exist ::)   We also had a lot of aids that were connected to a hub which could ring me if mum fell - and fall alarms are personalised so more expensive or if she was out of bed for a long period.  Mum had to pay the council for these so perhaps they are thinking of these.  I go back to simplicity with that though.  One part of the council was charging for them and another giving her Council Tax benefit. 


People with Altziemer's can be very expensive I think - wandering, calling out ambulances, etc., but we never had those challenges. It's just not joined up.  No one has looked at better interim housing that has more care on hand - except in the private sector and it would be too expensive for  a huge percentage of people.


I am going to see her tomorrow and it is lovely to see her safe and cared for.  She wanted to stay at home and I managed until I was told she would be better with 24 hour care.  It's very difficult but it got to the stage where it was not really our decision which seemed very odd but really helped.
The vote for Brexit was a vote to take back what we hadn't lost in order to lose what we actually have.

biglouis

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Re: Council Tax - Severely mentally impaired (SMI) person discount
« Reply #18 on: Apr 22, 2019, 03:03:11 AM »
The way council tax is worked out is such a scam that good luck to anyone who can evade paying it.
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Undercover Pensioner

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Re: Council Tax - Severely mentally impaired (SMI) person discount
« Reply #19 on: Apr 22, 2019, 07:48:50 AM »
I'm not sure what you actually mean by 'scam' biglouis.  It is overly complex and that seems to make it opaque to the user and therefore easily not claimed or underclaimed.  However, it also affects the councils who cannot carry their jobs out properly.  It seems to me that none of the various stakeholders are winners in this process so if it is a 'scam' it seems to be a very unsuccessful one.  To my mind we  need to encourage change in the system used - but that is probably for elsewhere on our boards.  These threads were intended to be informative rather than another discussion.
The vote for Brexit was a vote to take back what we hadn't lost in order to lose what we actually have.