Council Tax - why do seniors have to pay the full amount?

We are not rich, but we are better off that I ever expected in retirement. I don't object in the least to paying taxes,because the services we need, the NHS,, Education, Fire. Police, Ambulance, Road Maintenance, Rubbish Collection, Recycling and so many more, don't run on fresh air. I just hope they, the taxes, do help those who need it, and aren't wasted by inefficiency. Our winter fuel payment is given to charity.

Badenkate I had no idea that there would be difference in cost between areas for dental plans! How strange.

There is a difference in cost between fuel in our Tesco and another one in the nearest large town 20 miles away where it is a fair bit cheaper - strange again, as the more rural communities are the ones who have to travel furthest to amenities, hospital etc. Food items are also more expensive in our local Tesco than the one in the larger town.
So, in fact, the city dwellers are getting a discount.

Did you have the word 'cruelly' in your version of the story?

Sorry, daphnedil - you are quite right!! The word was cruel not cruelly in your link (not ^my version of the story^).

I'm sorry that Ms Bishop has been caught by a strange and cruel quirk of the benefit system that means the decision to live with her new partner has cost her £900 each month in benefits.

By the way, have you done a survey? If you do decide to run one, could you include mindless bullying as one of the options?
You could try the political threads if a survey needs to be done; I won't, thanks, too depressing, but the results could be very interesting.

rigby sorry too if you are .
However, if someone mentions something they have read, for another poster to say Oh for goodness' sake! just sounds impatient, as I said, and might put some posters off contributing more, much the same as they desert the political threads.

My regularly used supermarkets are Morrison's, Lidl & Waitrose,
As we don't have a Morrison's, I use the above, but with Tesco and Asda thrown into the mix.
One of DS's cats will eat Lidl cat food, the other turns his nose up and only wants a well-known brand (found in Waitrose).
(let him go hungry, I say!)
DaphneB

Charleygirl, My husband was blind and h e had a Disabled Badge but so did I It was not easy for him to walk as he got older and stayed in the car whilst I shopped using my Disabled Badge.

Absolutely Pen

There are dishonest/grabbing people at both ends of the social spectrum and doubtless in the middle too!

If your income is above a certain level , pensioner/senior or not, pay the tax! If your income is low and entitles you to benefits use them!
The "debates"have been had time and again about fraudulent use of systems..which does happen but it is also a fact that a) many thousands of entitled benefits are not claimed & b) many wealthy people play the tax system too to 'avoid' paying as much as they could &/or illegally withold tax. Both are equally wrong.

One can argue the point in principle.

And of course you know what manipulation means.

Does not dies

You can't say something is a 'manipulation' ( whatever that means anyway) without knowing much more than the DT tells us and draw any conclusions from such a lack f information.

But dies it make sense to argue a point without the facts?

I've just read these posts Rigby and I can't see what 'responses' you mean. What I can see is people getting a bit irritated at a perceived manipulation of the benefit system and arguing their point.

I'm a bit at the posts aimed at daphnedill. What has she done to elicit such responses? What was wrong with her commenting on a story about a young woman that was brought into a thread dealing with pensioners and their rights to otherwise to certain benefits/help? The facts we have are not sufficient to 'judge' her or the benefits system but fwiw I think it's great that she's found a new partner, they are living together, she wants and is able, to spend more time with her children and she has a hefty capital sum ( so must have been doing something right with her finances) to invest. Really poor pensioners get substantial help with their council tax as pps have said.

Did you have the word 'cruelly' in your version of the story?

Ah! Poor pensioners! (Nothing to do with the story at all - another red herring.)

I haven't missed the point, deliberately or not.

By the way, have you done a survey? If you do decide to run one, could you include mindless bullying as one of the options?

daphnedil oh for goodness' sake

Why so impatient towards other posters?
and you seem to have missed the point but perhaps deliberately.

No wonder some people avoid or abandon some threads
It can't be much fun or very interesting, though, to end up with people on some of the threads who are all of a like mind, agreeing with one another

daphnedil I think we all realise that the DT article was about how this young woman could best invest a very substantial sum of money to get a good return.

The article also stated that she needed to get a good return to help replace the £900!! she had been receiving in benefits per month which had been cruelly taken away from her since she moved in with a new partner.

All this whilst pensioners on low incomes are struggling to pay their council tax - this woman is an accountant - if she can't sort out her own finances then she must have been quite useless at her job.

Thank you grannypiper as I have had a fairly (very) stressful day, I have had a glass or two of red so a cuppa will go down well and your gang sounds fun.

annesixty, come and join my gang and have a cuppa

phoenix, mind if i look in your cupboard ?

Off topic completely. I've just bought a bunch of lovely flowers from Tesco for 5p. Well chuffed!

@annsixty

The details of her previously well paid job were given to explain why she doesn't need to build up capital for retirement. You have no idea why she had to give up her job. Maybe she was like me and soldiered on with a full-time job and two young children as a single parent until I really couldn't cope.

The article wasn't intended as a sob story or a moralistic critique of her lifestyle or choices. It appeared in the regular column which the DT runs giving people financial advice.

It wasn't eliciting sympathy. It was giving advice on how to invest money to generate income for a limited period, which is a problem many people have, if they have a lump sum and interest rates are so low. The rest of the details are irrelevant.

DaphneBroon, I watched the Michael MacIntyre clip this morning, after my breakfast. Thanks, it was so funny. Then I watched the next one, and the next one..... I know, no self control, and was then late going shopping. Waitrose was one stop, then M&S, then Poundstretcher. Varied hmmm.

Yes Daphne for goodness sake. I know full well what the article was aiming to do. I was merely pointing out the fact that in spite of seeming comfortably placed she was able to claim £900pm in benefits when she had decided to give up a well paid job in order to spend more time with her children. Most people are not given the same luxury and I sympathise with the circumstances which led to her problem. My own D is a single mum and I know the problems, if she could access £900 in benefits she would be a happy woman. I will leave this thread now and will not contribute to any threads concerning finance, politics etc. I will stay in lala land with pleasant and concerned people, and yes I have had a very bad and frustrating day.

Monica yes, I can choose supermarkets, but the nearest (Waitrose) is 7 miles away, Morrison's is about 12 miles Lidl about 10!, Possibly more