Wirral Council Tax Reduction for Disability, PIP and Carers

Which Disability Benefits Are Disregarded

Under Wirral's 2026/27 Council Tax Reduction scheme, the main non-means-tested disability benefits are completely excluded from the net income calculation. If you or your partner receive any of these, they do not count toward the income that determines your band:

• Personal Independence Payment (PIP) — both daily living and mobility components
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) — care and mobility components
• Attendance Allowance
• Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP)
• War disablement pensions

This disregard makes a substantial difference. For 2026/27, PIP enhanced daily living is £114.60 per week. Without the disregard, that would push many households into a higher income band and reduce or eliminate their CTR.

The Additional £50 Weekly Disregard

On top of excluding the disability benefit itself, Wirral applies an extra £50 per week income disregard if anyone in your household — applicant, partner or dependant child — receives a qualifying disability benefit such as PIP or DLA.

This £50 comes off your other income (earnings, UC standard allowance, etc.) before the council determines your band. For households close to an income band boundary, this disregard can be the difference between Band 2 (40% discount) and Band 1 (50%).

There is one critical exception: the additional £50 disregard does not apply if the applicant or partner receives the ESA Support Component. This is a deliberate rule in the 2026/27 scheme — the council treats the Support Component and the disability disregard as alternatives, not cumulative benefits.

Carer's Allowance: The 2026/27 Change

This is where the 2026/27 scheme hurt disability and carer households most. Under the previous scheme, Carer's Allowance was disregarded as income. From April 2026, it is counted in full as unearned income.

For 2026/27, Carer's Allowance is £86.45 per week. On its own, that is below the £130 single-person Band 1 threshold; combined with other counted income, it can move a household into a higher band.

The same change applies to the ESA Support Component, which is also now counted in full. Both of these used to be protected; neither is any more.

Note the distinction: standalone Carer's Allowance (the DWP benefit) is counted as income. The UC carer element (which is part of your Universal Credit award) is still fully disregarded. If you are on UC with a carer element rather than standalone Carer's Allowance, your position is better.

Non-Dependant Deductions and Disability Exemptions

If an adult aged 18 or over lives in your home (other than your partner), the council deducts a flat £5 per week from your CTR award for each non-dependant. This applies regardless of the non-dependant's own income.

However, no deduction is made if you or your partner:

• Are registered blind or severely sight impaired
• Receive Attendance Allowance
• Receive PIP daily living component
• Receive DLA care component
• Receive Armed Forces Independence Payment

The non-dependant themselves can also be exempt from triggering the deduction if they are disregarded for council tax purposes — full-time students and people certified as severely mentally impaired, for instance.

For a household with two non-dependant adult children, the £10 per week total deduction from CTR adds up to £520 per year. The disability exemption can protect the full amount.

Other Disability-Related Council Tax Reliefs

CTR is not the only help available. These separate schemes can be claimed alongside it:

• Disabled Band Reduction — if your home has been adapted with essential features for a disabled resident (extra bathroom, wheelchair space, etc.), your property can be reassessed as one band lower
• Severe Mental Impairment (SMI) disregard — a person certified by a medical practitioner as severely mentally impaired and receiving a qualifying benefit is disregarded for council tax purposes entirely, which can trigger a 25% single-person discount or a full exemption

Both of these apply before CTR is calculated, reducing the liability figure that CTR then discounts further.

Our Wirral Council Tax Reduction guide covers the full disability disregard rules, walks through how the £50 allowance interacts with ESA, and includes worked examples for disability and carer households.

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