Why am I no longer getting 100% discount?
If you are of working age and were previously receiving what is known as a 'passported benefit', but have now moved to Universal Credit (UC), your council tax support may have changed.
What are passported benefits?
Passported benefits included:
- Employment and Support Allowance (income-based)
- Jobseeker’s Allowance (income-based)
- Income Support
If you were receiving one of these benefits, you would automatically have been entitled to maximum council tax support (100% discount).
Why is Universal Credit different?
Universal Credit is not a passported benefit under our council tax support scheme. This means we must assess your entitlement based on your total income - including:
- Your Universal Credit award
- Any earnings
- Any other income you receive
As a result, you may now need to pay something towards your council tax.
What about transitional protection?
When people move from legacy benefits to Universal Credit, the government may provide transitional protection to ensure they are not worse off at the point of transfer.
This transitional protection is temporary and reduces over time.
When assessing council tax support, we must take this transitional amount into account as part of your income. If we did not, someone receiving transitional protection would effectively have more income than someone newly claiming Universal Credit in the same circumstances - yet both would be assessed the same for Council Tax.
For example:
- A new Universal Credit claimant does not receive transitional protection.
- A claimant who has moved from legacy benefits may temporarily receive additional transitional protection.
If we ignored that additional income, both applicants could pay the same (or no) council tax — but the person receiving transitional protection would still have extra income available.
By including transitional protection in our assessment, we ensure fairness so that:
- People in the same financial position are treated equally.
- New Universal Credit claimants are not disadvantaged.
- The scheme remains consistent and sustainable.
Over time, as transitional protection reduces, some households may again qualify for higher levels of council tax support, potentially up to 100%.
Our scheme is designed to ensure that everyone is assessed fairly based on their actual income at the time.
Find more information about what your new discount will be using Entitled To online benefits calculator.
