The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2012

Date on which an application is made

5.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (7), the date on which an application is made is—

(a) in a case where—

(i) an award of state pension credit which comprises a guarantee credit has been made to the applicant or his partner, and

(ii) the application for a reduction is made within one month of the date on which the claim for that state pension credit which comprises a guarantee credit was received at the appropriate DWP office,

the first day of entitlement to state pension credit which comprises a guarantee credit arising from that claim;

(b) in a case where—

(i) an applicant or his partner is a person in receipt of a guarantee credit,

(ii) the applicant becomes liable for the first time to pay council tax in respect of the dwelling he occupies as his home, and

(iii) the application is received at the designated office within one month of the date of the change,

the date on which the change takes place;

(c) in a case where—

(i) an award of income support, an income-based jobseeker’s allowance or an income-related employment and support allowance or an award of universal credit has been made to the applicant or his partner, and

(ii) the application is made within one month of the date on which the claim for that income support, jobseeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance or universal credit was received,

the first day of entitlement to income support, an income-based jobseeker’s allowance, an income-related employment and support allowance or universal credit arising from that claim;

(d) in a case where—

(i) an applicant or his partner is a person on income support, an income-based jobseeker’s allowance or an income-related employment and support allowance or has an award of universal credit,

(ii) the applicant becomes liable for the first time to pay council tax in respect of the dwelling which he occupies as his home, and

(iii) the application is received at the designated office within one month of the date of the change,

the date on which the change takes place;

(e) in a case where—

(i) an applicant is the former partner of a person who was, at the date of his death or their separation, entitled to a reduction under an authority’s scheme, and

(ii) the applicant makes an application for a reduction under that scheme within one month of the date of the death or the separation,

the date of the death or separation;

(f) except where paragraph (a), (b) or (e) is satisfied, in a case where a properly completed application is received within one month (or such longer period as an authority considers reasonable) of the date on which an application form was issued to an applicant following the applicant first notifying, by whatever means, the authority of an intention to make an application, the date of first notification;

(g) in any other case, the date on which an application is received at the designated office.

(2) For the purposes only of sub-paragraph (1)(c) a person who has been awarded an income-based jobseeker’s allowance or an income-related employment and support allowance is to be treated as entitled to that allowance for any days which immediately precede the first day in that award and on which he would, but for regulations made under—

(a) in the case of income-based jobseeker’s allowance, paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to the Jobseekers Act 1995 (waiting days); or

(b) in the case of income-related employment and support allowance, paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 to the Welfare Reform Act 2007 (waiting days),

have been entitled to that allowance.

(3) Where the defect referred to in paragraph 7 of Schedule 7 (applications by telephone)—

(a) is corrected within one month (or such longer period as the authority considers reasonable) of the date the authority last drew attention to it, the authority must treat the application as if it had been duly made in the first instance;

(b) is not corrected within one month (or such longer period as the authority considers reasonable) of the date the authority last drew attention to it, the authority must treat the application as if it had been duly made in the first instance where it considers it has sufficient information to decide the application.

(4) An authority must treat a defective application as if it had been validly made in the first instance if, in any particular case, the conditions specified in sub-paragraph (5)(a), (b) or (c) are satisfied.

(5) The conditions are that—

(a) where paragraph 4(a) of Schedule 7 (incomplete form) applies, the authority receives at its designated office the properly completed application or the information requested to complete it or the evidence within one month of the request, or such longer period as the authority may consider reasonable; or

(b) where paragraph 4(b) of Schedule 7 (application not on approved form or further information requested by authority) applies—

(i) the approved form sent to the applicant is received at the designated office properly completed within one month of it having been sent to him; or, as the case may be,

(ii) the applicant supplies whatever information or evidence was requested under paragraph 4 of that Schedule within one month of the request,

or, in either case, within such longer period as the authority may consider reasonable; or

(c) where the authority has requested further information, the authority receives at its designated office the properly completed application or the information requested to complete it within one month of the request or within such longer period as the authority considers reasonable.

(6) Except in the case of an application made by a person treated as not being in Great Britain, where a person has not become liable for council tax to an authority but it is anticipated that he will become so liable within the period of 8 weeks (the relevant period), he may apply for a reduction under that authority’s scheme at any time in that period in respect of that tax and, provided that liability arises within the relevant period, the authority must treat the application as having been made on the day on which the liability for the tax arises.

(7) Except in the case of an application made by a person treated as not being in Great Britain, where the applicant is not entitled to a reduction under an authority’s scheme in the reduction week immediately following the date of his application but the authority is of the opinion that unless there is a change of circumstances he will be entitled to a reduction under its scheme for a period beginning not later than—

(a) in the case of an application made by—

(i) a pensioner, or

(ii) a person who has attained, or whose partner has attained, the age which is 17 weeks younger than the qualifying age for state pension credit,

the seventeenth reduction week following the date on which the application is made, or

(b) in the case of an application made by a person who is not a pensioner, the thirteenth reduction week following the date on which the application is made,

the authority may treat the application as made on a date in the reduction week immediately preceding the first reduction week of that period of entitlement and award a reduction accordingly.

(8) In this paragraph “appropriate DWP office” means an office of the Department for Work and Pensions dealing with state pension credit or an office which is normally open to the public for the receipt of claims of income support, a job seekers allowance or an employment and support allowance.