Being asked to pay 1years council tax amount over just 6months!!!

Angel89_2 · 10 August 2009 at 8:33AM

I got a bill today about my council tax which just shows the amount that ive paid so far from when i moved into this flat and so started paying (23rd August 2008),
the amount that i had deducted due to being on council tax benefits for a few months previously,
my current outstanding balance (£364/ and for the last 2months ive been making the requested higher monthly payment of £84 instead of the normal £64 to start reducing as well as keeping upto date with current bills).

But at the bottom of the letter it then says;

Your Instalment Plan-
1st instalment due 1st september 09, and then 5x other instalments due on 1st october 09 - 1st febuary 2010, £150 each.

:huh::mad::(:huh:

Im not sure why they have decided to try making me pay the next entire years council tax bill in just 6months!?!

And theres no way that i will be able to afford to pay £150 spare each month for the next 6months after having already paid all these taxes through income tax and NI!! :mad:

Has anyone ever had this done to them before though??

And is there any legal standpoint that a council can use to try making someone pay a full years council tax amount in just 6months??

Thanks

KimYeovil · 10 August 2009 at 9:12AM

How long do you want to pay it over? Three years? The council tax year runs from April to April. Many councils ask you to pay over ten months. If you are in arrears it is entirely usual the balance is spread out to Feb.

If you want the full period to pay then keep up with your payments!

I'm not sure I understand your complaint.

jackieb · 10 August 2009 at 9:21AM

I moved in June last year. My council tax went up from £100 a month. My new one was £153, but I had to pay £200 a month until January this year. They explained it to me, but I still couldn't work it out either. Never missed a payment as I pay by direct debit. I just assumed it would go up to £153 (what it is now) when I moved.

Meadows · 10 August 2009 at 9:30AM

Your Council Tax is from 1st April - 31st March and payable over 10 months.
I pay my council tax from April - Jan and pay nothing during February & March.

You are being asked to pay from 23rd August 2009 - 31st March 2010, divided by the remaining months left in this tax year.

All you need to do is find what the Council Tax should be for where you live, divide it by 365, multiply it by the number of days in this property and that will give you the total amount owed for this tax year.
Deduct any payments already made; this should work out to the amount they have asked you for until the end of this tax year.

seven-day-weekend · 10 August 2009 at 9:34AM

It's because when they made the adjustments and added the arrears, the balance still has to be paid by 31st March.

However many payments you make,(even if you pay it in one go, or pay it weekly), it still all has to be paid by 31 March.

Angel89_2 · 10 August 2009 at 10:12AM

The reason why i endedup in arrears on the council tax was due to confusion when i moved in between me, my my landlord, and the landlord's property company as to who would be paying the council tax.

My landlord spends the majority of his time abroad, his company rep was uncontactable/unreachable,
and as after a few months i hadn't recieved any council tax bills i assumed that he was paying it,
as i didnt think the council would just go for months and months without it being paid.

The 1st i heard about it was a few days after i became unemployed, when i suddenly recieved a huge bill for nearly £900!!

Im not trying to 'shirk out' of paying the arrears amount, while still paying the current monthly rates,
but i simply cannot afford to pay more than will have (after severe budgeting).

Ive emailed them/and going to send it as a written letter too,
requesting that they amend my instalment plan to me paying the outstanding balance over the next 10months, instead of 6,
while still paying the normal base rate council tax each month.

(Its £360 outstanding, with £64 standard future monthly rate)

So ive requested that i keep making my future monthly payments of £64 + i pay an extra £36 ontop of that for the next 10months.

I dont think that is an unreasonable or unfair repayment offer at all,
since all im actually doing is asking to repay that outstanding balance over 10months instead of 6.

As i simply cannot physically afford to pay it otherwise, and so have told them this.

But is it likely that they will still reject my request for this?? :huh::(

And if they do what course of negotiation action could i then have to take?? :huh:

Thanks

spikeysoul · 10 August 2009 at 10:20AM

Go see CAB - today prefrably, coouncil tax is nasty - and never don't contact someone you may owe money to again especally council tax - because it will ALWAYS come back to bite you in the bum when you have no money!

Angel89_2 · 10 August 2009 at 10:36AM

spikeysoul wrote: »

Go see CAB - today prefrably, coouncil tax is nasty - and never don't contact someone you may owe money to again especally council tax - because it will ALWAYS come back to bite you in the bum when you have no money!

I knows theres a CAB office at the other side of town from here that i could go to,
but ive looked on their website and they have VERY limited open hours,
and it seems like you can only go after having booked an appointment,
cant just drop by.

Im thinking of phoning them,
but what exactly will i need to ask them to do though?? :huh:

Because i know that they can only just give info advice 'about council tax', but didnt think they would actually help people on specific cases and write letters to councils to try helping people... ect

I talked to the debt charity CCCS before, and i used some of their advice when i made my life budget sheet,
and i mentioned this in the email i sent to the council.

spikeysoul · 10 August 2009 at 10:41AM

I have used CAB workers to help me fill out specific forms and write letters in the past - they arn't just a general advice service. I think this would come under debt - and as far as I am aware they can help you negotiate with creditors inc the council. They are taken more notice of - shame you can't drop in, but do make an appointment, what do you have to loose, a few hours and some bus fare? (I have never been in debt myself but I had a friend who's payments and budget were arranged by CAB)

SuziQ · 10 August 2009 at 11:31AM

Councils very rarely allow payments from one year to run into the next and are notorious for sending collectors around in the first instance and then the court and bailiffs in the second-they really don't mess about so I would be very careful if I was you. I missread my bill one year and owed £11-I had a council debt collector on the doorstep and he said he wouldn't leave until I paid-luckily I had realised my mistake that morning and had run up to the post office with my payment card,had a receipt to prove it,but even for that amount of money they had sent a collector.

spikeysoul · 10 August 2009 at 11:36AM

the only other option I can think of is a crisis or budgeting loan - but I don't think they would give you either for council tax purposes. Do you live alone and are you getting second adult rebate if so (discount of 25% - very useful) Can you check out any of the banding criteria elsewhere on the site and get yourself rebanded?

Being asked to pay 1years council tax amount over just 6months!!!

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