Millions of people could have missed out on discounts going back to 2013
Martin Lewis has urged anyone who thinks they could be eligible to ask for a backdated discount after dozens of councils updated their Council Tax rules advice. Unpaid carers have been given clearer information on their eligibility for the live-in Carer Council Tax discount as 69 councils have improved their websites following a MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) campaign.
MSE’s‘ councils that couldn’t Care less’ investigation in January 2026 found that one in five council websites in England and Wales displayed incorrect qualifying criteria about the live-in Carer Council Tax discount. This had potentially been the case since 2013 when eligibility criteria was extended.
MSE says the wrong advice likely deterred up to five million unpaid carers from claiming, meaning they’d typically missed out on between £500 and £1,000 of support each year. In the four months since publishing the investigation all 69 getting it wrong have significantly improved their online information.
Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert, said: “Carers are some of society’s most unsung heroes. They’re already hard done by, so even one council listing the wrong information – which risked deterring carers from claiming much needed help – would’ve been one too many. The fact our investigation found dozens of councils were doing it, and most likely since 2013, was a disgrace.
“I am thankful though that in the four months since we launched our report, all the councils identified in our investigation have now fixed the mistakes and made things clearer – this prompt action helps.
“However, it remains the case that over the years, many unpaid carers have likely been put off from applying, or wrongly rejected, for this support. So, I would encourage all carers who thought they weren’t eligible after previously checking councils’ websites to check again (use Carers UK’s help pages if you’re unsure).
“If you did miss out due to councils’ poor info, ask for a backdated discount to the point of first eligibility, though different councils have different rules.”
Helen Walker, chief executive at charity Carers UK, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to MoneySavingExpert and Martin Lewis for shining a light on this issue because every penny counts for unpaid carers. Caring often brings significant extra costs, including higher energy bills, and many carers have to reduce their working hours or give up work altogether to care, making it even harder to make ends meet.
“The fact that all 69 councils highlighted have corrected misleading information on their websites about Council Tax discounts is an excellent result for this investigation.
“Councils must recognise the pressures many carers are facing, with caring responsibilities leaving little time or energy to navigate complex systems or unclear guidance. We’re pleased to see positive change enabling carers to better access the financial support they are entitled to, and we would encourage carers living in the areas identified to check again to see if they may be eligible after all.”
Who can get Carers Council Tax discount – and what councils were getting wrong
Carers who can get the Carers Council Tax discount may include those where a parent is looking after an adult child, an adult child looking after a parent, and adult siblings looking after an adult brother or sister. The person being cared for must receive one of six disability benefits (see below for more on this) – but it’s some of the most common disability benefits that councils were missing from their info.
MSE checked the online information – websites, PDFs, application forms – of over 200 councils (there were 318 responsible for Council Tax billing in England and Wales in 2025/26).
The spot check found that 69 had incomplete or incorrect qualifying criteria. A further 80 councils failed to include any easily available information online about the qualifying benefits needed to get the discount.
Following the investigation, the UK Government issued a letter to English councils in February 2026 which, among other things, encouraged local authorities to prioritise the accuracy of Council Tax support information, including the Carers discount.
Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, also said he would “talk to” councils displaying incorrect information about the live-in Carer discount after being quizzed about our investigation on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
MSE was first alerted to the issue by a user who got in touch after telling us they were incorrectly rejected for the discount by their council and said they only managed to successfully claim with help from a specialist charity.
The likely cause of the problem was many councils hadn’t updated their websites since Carer rules changed in 2013
The live-in Carer Council Tax discount means the carer is disregarded for Council Tax purposes. So, if they were the only person in the house with the person they’re caring for, it’s as if there’s only one person resident, so that household would be eligible for the 25% single person discount (this discount could increase if the person being cared for is eligible for the ‘Severe Mental Impairment’ disregard too).
To qualify for the live-in Carer discount: a) Applicants need to provide at least 35 hours of free care a week to somebody in their household who isn’t a spouse, partner or child under 18. b) The person being cared for needs to be receiving one of a number of qualifying benefits. Prior to the reforms in 2013, these were:
- Attendance Allowance – higher rate.
- Constant Attendance Allowance – increased amount.
- Disability Living Allowance – care component, higher rate.
- Disablement Pension – increased rate.
Since 2013, it has also included the following – and it is these benefits that councils largely mistakenly excluded:
- Armed Forces Independence Payment – any amount.
- Attendance Allowance – lower rate.
- Disability Living Allowance – care component, middle rate.
- Personal Independence Payment – daily living component, enhanced rate.
- Personal Independence Payment – daily living component, standard rate.
The qualifying benefits needed for the live-in Carer Council Tax discount differ in Scotland, so this didn’t form part of our investigation. The investigation showed that a majority of the 69 offending councils wrongly stated that people being cared for on these benefits:
- Only qualified if they were being paid the higher rate of Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment.
- Did not mention Armed Forces Independence Payment or Personal Independence Payment at all.
- Or, in the worst cases, it was a combination of these issues, plus more.
