What is council tax benefit?

Council tax benefit (or rebate) pays part or all of your council tax. To qualify you have to be on a low income and have savings below a certain limit. The maximum benefit you could get is 100% of your council tax bill, although you may receive less. Your local council pays it, although you will only receive a payment if you've already paid your council tax bill. If you haven't, you'll simply get a discount off your current bill. t doesn't matter if you get other benefits or if you already get a discount for living alone.

Who can get council tax benefit?

To qualify you need to be on a fairly low income and have less than £16,000 in savings. Your local authority will make the decision about whether or not you qualify based on your personal circumstances.

Students

The rules around whether or not students have to pay council tax are complicated. If you live in halls of residence or in a shared house where everyone else is a full-time student, you shouldn't get a council tax bill. If there are other non-students in the house, you should get a reduction depending on the number of students who are there.

Students should get a Council Tax exemption certificate when they  enrol at their university. They must also phone their council and let them know that they are exempt from paying.

How to claim

You can claim up to 13 weeks before you become entitled to Council Tax benefit although you will not usually receive any money before you move in. Download a council tax benefit form.

Rapid reclaims

You may be able to fill in a short form known as a 'rapid reclaim' if you've made a claim for Income Support, Incapacity Benefit or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance within the last 26 weeks, which should mean your claim is processed quicker.

You must also be claiming the same benefit again and your circumstances must not have changed since your last claim.

Changes to council tax benefit

Currently the benefit system is undergoing a dramatic makeover, and it's all a tad up-in-the-air and complicated.

But the grand plan is to combine lots of the current benefits, including council tax benefit, into one personal allowance called universal credit.

The government is also going to give more power to local authorities to set Council Tax benefit rates - rather than having them adhere to central guidelines.

The exact figures and policy are still being discussed, and we at TheSite.org will provide you with the gritty detail as and when we get it. But, for now, the legislation isn't going to be proposed as law until 2011, and universal credit won't be introduced until 2013.

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