I am assisting an elderly couple who are unauthorised occupants. HB have awarded payment under use and occupation charges. They have now received a Council Tax demand ( in the original tenants name) and were wondering whether to pay it, as they have in the past. I was not sure whether use and occupation charges could be applied for Council Tax either? I could not find anything in the regulations about this.

Thu 28-Jan-10 03:42 PM by stainsby

A person is entitled to CTB in respect of the dwelling in which he is resident and has a liability to pay council tax (the residence does not have to be lawful either to be billed for council tax or to get CTB )

CTB has to be claimed in addition to HB, but if they have submitted a cliam form and indicasted that they want to claim CTB they will be entitled to it

If the Council Tax demand has been issued in the original tenants name, it looks to me that so far they are not liable for council tax simply because they have not been billed.

This could change at any time and they could be billed so you really need to sort out both the council tax and any CTB claim