Section 13A: the council tax reduction nobody mentions
Every council in England and Wales holds a legal power to reduce or write off council tax — and most people in arrears have never heard of it.
What it is
Two distinct things share the name: the scheme every council must run (Council Tax Reduction) and the discretionary power — s13A(1)(c) — to reduce liability further, to any extent, including to nothing, for any period. The discretionary power is the overlooked one: it exists precisely for cases where the standard scheme leaves an unpayable bill. If a payment has just been missed, the first-14-days guide covers the reminder clock running alongside any application. Section 13A is one of five routes by which council tax debt can be written off.
Applying properly
Write to the council, name the section, and evidence hardship: a full income-and-expenditure budget (the budget calculator produces one), what caused the arrears, what changed, and what other support you have sought. The council must consider each application on its facts — a blanket “we never grant these” is challengeable, and refusals can go to the Valuation Tribunal free of charge.
Honest expectations
Grants are the exception, not the rule — councils guard the power jealously. But it costs nothing, pauses nothing else, and in genuine hardship it is the difference between owing something and owing nothing. Pair it with a check of what your own council’s support actually offers, because crisis funds and CTR sit alongside it.