Martin Lewis has warned that thousands of people could be missing out on council tax discounts.
The money saving expert regularly shares financial advice and support for those that need it the most, from simple tips from reminding people to book their travel insurance, or what to do when you need advice on your energy bills.
Now, the financial guru has taken to social media to say many people may be missing out on council tax discounts that they may not know they are eligible for. Some would even result in a backdated payment which could be worth thousands of pounds.
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In a video on Twitter, Martin Lewis said: "Are you one of hundreds of thousands of people in England, Scotland and Wales eligible for a discount on your council tax, but not getting it? If you are, not only could this mean that your council tax is lowered substantially going forward, you could be due a backdated pay out from when you were eligible that may be worth thousands of pounds."
He added: "The place to start here is to understand how they decide how much you pay on council tax. It isn't just about the value of your house, it's also about who lives in it.
"The first thing is, if there are two or more qualifying adults and this is all going to be what counts as a qualifying adult, not everybody does, you pay the full council tax. If there's only one qualifying adult in the house, living with other people who aren't qualifying adults, then you get the single person 25% discount.
"If there are no qualifying adults, now that isn't the same as unoccupied, for example an all student household does not pay council tax, you should not be paying anything as long as they're all full-time students. In some circumstances, depending on what type of non-qualifying adult you are, you might only be eligible for a 50% discount."
Mr Lewis said the main discount people may be missing out on is single-person discounts or people with a disability. For example, if you have adapted your home due to disabilities, you may be able to get your council tax lowered a band.
Who isn't a qualifying adult?
Mr Lewis said under-18s are not qualifying adults, neither are full-time students - if you are on a course at least one year and you do 21 hours a week of study (including self-study hours on a full-time course).
Student nurses or Ukrainian refugees are not qualifying adults. Somebody with a severe mental impairment (SMI) - this affects people with severe dementia, Alzheimer's, severe strokes, a whole range of conditions.
On SMI discounts, Mr Lewis said: "There are two things you must pass, two eligibility tests you must pass to get the SMI discount. The first is that you must be medically certified by a doctor, that you have a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning that appears to be permanent.
"Plus, you also need to be receiving a qualifying benefit, although in Scotland it's eligible for a qualifying benefit, even if you're not receiving it. Now that includes many means-tested benefits, but also many non-means-tested benefits that are common for people with disabilities."
Many people could even be eligible for backdated pay outs. Ending his video, Martin Lewis said: "Up to 400,000 people, especially in England and Scotland, are in the wrong council tax band, many of them in too high a band and you may be able to get your band lowered and a backdated pay out."
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