Elderly households in Coventry are failing to claim council tax support...

[dutchman]

City council on mission to tackle the problem of those not seeking help



Many households across Coventry are paying more council tax than they need to according to the city council’s head of revenues and benefits. And although nearly 24,000 homeowners benefit from council tax support at a cost to the council of £28m every year, they want more to claim the help to which they are entitled.

In a meeting of the council’s scrutiny co-ordination committee, Barrie Strain explained there was a particular group of residents who are not coming forward to claim support. He said: “There is a mindset sometimes among elderly people that they don’t want to claim or that they don’t need help. There is an issue but how we solve that issue is really challenging.

“It is about tackling those people who frankly don’t want to seek help as they see it as a personal failure. They are the really difficult and frustrating ones as they are entitled to our our support in many respects. They have worked all their lives and entitled to some help in the latter stages of their life but there is a culture out there particularly with the elderly population that they are reticent to claim what support they are entitled to.”

In a report to the meeting, Mr Strain explained the council was responsible for various forms of financial help. These include discretionary housing payments, housing benefit, the household support fund, community support grants and the administration of free school meals.

But he added: “Council tax support is recognised to be one of the most under-claimed benefits. There are a number of reasons for this.

“Often people aren’t aware that they can get help with their council tax payments. However, the nature of the benefit is such that many people don’t prioritise claiming.

“Unlike support for rent payments or general living costs, residents tend not to notice any obvious practical consequences if they don’t make council tax payments. People in this circumstance often have a range of debts and council tax liability is not a priority for them.

“Equally, there are no doubt many households paying more council tax than they need to because they haven’t claimed the support that would reduce their council tax bills. Under-claiming of council tax support has become an increasing problem with the migration of housing benefit to universal credit for people of working age. People will claim universal credit but neglect to, or fail to realise they can, claim council tax support.”

Mr Strain went on to explain that the council was taking steps to actively make an award of council tax support even where the customer has not made a formal application and that a guide was available highlighting what support was available.

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventry-households-fail-claim-tax-32940464