State pensioners in England are set to be hit by Council Tax bill increases from September 1, 2024, the government has warned.
Local councils are being urged to make adjustments to help potentially thousands of pensioners who are set to face higher bills from next month due to a change to benefits being made by the DWP.
The DWP is in the process of closing the Tax Credit system and migrating people to Universal Credit.
As part of the closures, the DWP is sending notices to pensioners currently in receipt of Pension Age Tax Credit, either asking them to move to Pension Credit or Universal Credit.
Those moving to Universal Credit will begin to receive notices on September 1.
The government has warned this could lead to bill rises for pensioners.
It said: “Those who are currently eligible for pension-age Council Tax Reduction but who move to UC have the potential to see their council tax bills rise. This is because the Council Tax Reduction Schemes Regulations 2012 specifically exclude people who receive Universal Credit from receiving pension age council tax reduction.”
Instead, those affected would have to apply for a local council working age scheme which “may provide a smaller reduction.”
The government says a new law allowing pensioners on Universal Credit to claim the Council Tax reduction does not start until April 2025, so in the meantime it has put in place a rule which allows local councils to hand money to residents to make up for lost income.
This means pensioners will end up breaking even and not losing money but it relies on pensioners getting in touch with and successfully claiming the money from their local authority, so there is still a risk you could miss out and pay higher bills.
