I've heard from our HB/CTB section that the £200 payment towards Council Tax (by way of Winter Fuel Payment), announced in the Budget, will go to pensioners except those on Pension Guarantee Credit. This seems to create the anomaly that a pensioner on Pension Savings Credit who pays, say, £50 a year towards CTax will be £150 better off than his neighbour on Pension Guarantee Credit!
regards,
Robbie Spence, Welfare Rights Officer, Colchester Town Hall, Essex

seems so .... news story will be published in a few mniutes ......

info now available @

£200 council tax refund to pensioner households: ODPM provides further detail

£200 targetted at the better off! Are these perhaps the floating voters? I'm probably being too cynical and it is more likely the result of the giveaway being dreamt up by well meaning halfwits.

It might be worth delaying claiming PC for some people in order to get the £200 though although in some cases it would be necessary to take account of....the possible loss of council tax benefit!

They should give a welfare rights officer a job checking up on their new policy ideas and regularly advising them "Stop it, you're just being stupid"

Hello Robbie

Forgive me if I'm being stupid but wouldn't someone on PGC get full CTB anyway?

I think you're missing Robbie's point, Chris.

Your Guarantee PC pensioner is entitled to his/her full council tax benefit automatically, therefore paying nothing towards his CT. Fine.

However, your Saving PC pensioner can also claim CTB in the normal manner and if s/he is assessed such that s/he has to pay only £50 per annum towards the CT, with this £200 payment, they will actually be £150 netto better off than the Guarantee PC pensioner, even tho the latter has the automatic entitlement to CTB.

Haven't done any calculations whatsoever to investigate whether this is a possibility.....