Hi, Just thought I would share this in case it helps someone else. When my FIL was diagnosed with dementia I was told (by the health worker who visited him at home) that he could apply for a council tax discount of 25%. A month later and I am still in the process but have discovered two things of interest:
Firstly, I had to take a form to his GPs practice to have signed by his doctor and was informed by the receptionist that there may well be a charge for this, she then went and checked with the practice manager and said yes you will most likely be charged. I figured its worth it for the ongoing saving and submitted it anyway, however, a quick check on Google at home produced a list of certificates that GPs are not allowed to charge for and - you guessed it - this is one of them. The list was produced by the BMA itself! So if they do try and charge a ‘mentally impaired person’ I am armed
Secondly: I discovered on Money Supermarket, who have published a report on the subject - that he is entitled to a full 100% exemption of his council tax because he lives alone and not just 25%, that discount only applies when its one member of a household. So I was applying for the wrong one.
Yep … many replies to postings include question of the CT element.
Checking for both the usual 25% discount and the whole disregard.
In respect of the latter :
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People who are disregarded for Council Tax
Some people are exempt from liability for paying Council Tax.
Exempt people include those who are:
aged 17 or under.
living in the property temporarily and who have their home somewhere else.
prisoners.
in detention prior to deportation or under mental health legislation.
defined as a severely mentally impaired person.
full-time students on a qualifying course of education.
a spouse or a dependant of a student and a non British Citizen who is not allowed under immigration rules, either to work in the UK or claim benefit.
young people on government training schemes, apprentices, or foreign language assistants.
hospital patients who live in hospital.
living in a residential care home, nursing home, or mental nursing home where they receive care or treatment.
living in a hostel which provides care or treatment because of a person’s old age, physical or mental disability, past or present alcohol or drug dependence or past or present mental illness and in England and Wales a bail or probation hostel/
carers.
care workers.
staying in a hostel or night shelter, for example, in a Salvation Army or Church Army hostel.
school or college leavers still aged under 20 who have left school or college after 30 April. They will be disregarded until 1 November of the same year whether or not they take up employment.
aged 18 and someone is entitled to child benefit for them. This includes a school or college leaver in remunerative work, or a person in local authority care.
members of a religious community.
members of visiting armed forces and their dependants
Can you post a link to the BMA site for future references? I’m a teacher and we do all manner of letters and forms for our pupils and parents and we do it most of it in our time, for free, so GPs charging for a standard letter really annoys me.
Click on any one through the site to see if you have won a prize … in this context , free : __
Fee finder
Check the list of fees and guidance below:
Asbestos medical examinations
Benefits certification
Certificates medico-legal
Certificates GPs cannot charge for
Charging your patients
Childminder health forms
Collaborative arrangements
Consultant contract - guidance on fee paying work
Coroners
Cremation
Debt recovery
Driver Licensing (DVLA)
Emergency treatment under the Road Traffic Act
Family planning work
Firearms
First aid education
Fitness certificates
Forensic physicians
Gender recognition work
Government agreed fees for GPs
Government agreed fees for Consultants
GP contract - guidance on fee paying work
GP guidance on non-NHS report fees
Insurance work
Junior doctors contract - guidance for fee paying work
Legal Aid - victims of domestic abuse
Legal Aid - expert witness
Locum fees advice for locums and employers
Medical records - access and copying fees
Medico-legal fees
Mental health work
Organising your finances
Post-mortem fees
Safeguarding adults and children - reports and case conferences
SAS doctors contract - guidance for fee paying work
Seafarer examinations and medical referee fees
Travel vaccinations
Tribunal appointments - medical members
VAT and medical indemnity
Whiplash
Work which has no set fee
Why do GPs sometimes charge fees?
( Firearms ? Last time I checked , me AK47 was working normally … )
Last one … " Why do gp’s sometimes charges fees ? " :
It is important to understand that many GPs are not employed by the NHS.
They are self-employed and they have to cover their costs - staff, buildings, heating, lighting, etc - in the same way as any small business. The NHS covers these costs for NHS work, but for non-NHS work, the fees charged by GPs contribute towards their costs.
( Not to mention their salaries / pensions . mortgages / cars / ex wives / kids / holiday homes etc. … )
He is entitled to full council tax reduction,Drs do not charge to sign the form maybe go to the memory clinic who diagnosed him they can sign the form they did my dads form,my father Inlaw was not charged and neither was mother Inlaw.
Were you told that the exemption can be BACKDATED to the date of diagnosis???
Some councils don’t tell you this. I’ve helped people reclaim thousands, it really annoys me that people are being denied the help that they are entitled to as a result.
Be sure to spread the word. I now routinely drop the exemption into any conversation if someone mentions dementia.
I wasn’t told that no but I think I had to put the date of his diagnosis on the form. I applied online and the reply almost made me give up as it seemed like a lot of work for 25% and that we probably wouldn’t get it anyway! Now I’m wondering if there is a different form for the total exemption- might have to start again!!
Oh I will most certainly be spreading the word, you can count on it
