In Wales? It’s now easier to get a Council Tax discount
Please note the category enabling eligibility for somebody with a dementia diagnosis is defined as ‘Severe Mental Impairment’ or ‘SMI’
Money Saving Expert say:
‘We’ve been banging the drum about the Severe Mental Impairment (SMI) discount for several years now, and in 2017 published our report The Disregarded Discount, outlining several changes that councils should make to the process for getting discounts and rebates.
As of April 2019, in a huge win for our campaign the Welsh Government and all 22 Welsh local authorities have agreed to make every change called for in the report. This means the application form for the discount will be standardised across the country, and backdating is to be allowed by EVERY council in a standardised way. Bravo Wales!’
The Welsh Government has a dedicated webpage, with details of the discount and how to claim, and a leaflet of the information (which also helps council call-handlers).
If you’re in Wales and want to claim a discount, you need to:
Print the application form from the Welsh Government website. It can be found here. https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2019-04/severely-mentally-impaired-council-tax-reduction-application-form.pdf
Get a diagnosis (or get a diagnosis for the resident you wish to claim for). To be eligible for a discount, the person claiming the discount must be diagnosed as SMI by a doctor. There’s a section for your doctor to fill out within the form.
Send it to your local council’s council tax office. You can find details for your council here: https://gov.wales/local-authority-council-tax-contacts
The form will ask for your date of diagnosis, so if you’re owed a backdated rebate, your application form will cover this.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/severe-mental-impairment-dementia-council-tax-rebate/
