Council tax..... court summons

Socksey · 15 January 2018 at 7:54AM

Hi
I wasn't sure which category to post my question in.
I have council tax to pay.... not disputing that.
My income is irregular so pay my council tax in irregular amounts as if I set up a direct debit it may sometimes bounce.
I have had letters from the council tax about non-pYment.... I have also contacted them each time and been told it's ok and to keep paying. Last one was end November I think.
I got a court summons on Saturday.... there is £200 due on a £1700 Bill, which is less than I would have outstanding if I was paying by 12 month direct debit
I am going to call them again today.
But I can't pay this off by the end of the month but I can by the end of March. If it goes to court they won't get the money any faster as I can't make it appear.
Does anyone have any advice before I call them?
Thanks

CIS · 15 January 2018 at 8:43AM

All you can do is to ask the council as to what options they are willing to give - they don't have to cease action with the court summons.

Assuming you're in England or Wales then you could have stretched the payments to March at any point simply by advising the council that you wished to take advantage of the statutory instalment plan to spread payments to the year end - at this stage however you've lost the right to pay by instalments so this would not be an option (unless the council are willing to stop action with the summons).

Socksey · 15 January 2018 at 8:56AM

Hi.... thanks.... yes.... I know I could have paid in regular monthly instalments over 12 months.... but the whole issue is irregular income and the fact that I can have the bill cleared and possibly even in credit before the next council tax year starts.... and ive been in regular contact with them so they know the situation.... so I'm trying to avoid having a ccj as they won't get the money out of me any faster by taking me to court..... which is why I'm looking for some advice before calling them .... in case anyone has any

Arleen · 15 January 2018 at 9:51AM

There is little you can do besides either calling them and them agreeing to give you more time, once again, or finding the money elsewhere to pay the bill. Reality is that they are almost certainly chasing you because they are tired of having to hear from you every few months, instead of simply having the council tax bill paid on time like everyone else does. And CCJ may just be the motivator to have this issue resolved.

The thing most people with varying income do is simply save up and have a financial buffer of few months to cover the bills. You can promise to get that sorted and arranged from now and into the future, maybe they will believe you and drop the claim, who knows.

molerat · 15 January 2018 at 10:56AM

Council tax is due in full in advance in April but the law allows you to pay in regular instalments, not as you see fit. Failure to pay those regular payments means the remainder becomes immediately payable. Council tax is listed as a priority debt so needs paying above many others. You need to sort out your financial arrangements to allow for those payments - are you saying you cannot come up with £200 before March ?

macman · 15 January 2018 at 11:02AM

Councils don't use CCJ's, they will simply apply for a liability order and then usually an attachment of earnings order.
As pointed out above, once you miss the regular payments by DD, the full annual amount becomes liable in one hit, so you need to sort out your cashflow and restore DD payments-CT should be seen as a priority debt.
Allowing it to get to this stage has simply increased the debt, as the cost of the summons will now be added.

CIS · 15 January 2018 at 11:25AM

Socksey wrote: »

Hi.... thanks.... yes.... I know I could have paid in regular monthly instalments over 12 months.... but the whole issue is irregular income and the fact that I can have the bill cleared and possibly even in credit before the next council tax year starts.... and ive been in regular contact with them so they know the situation.... so I'm trying to avoid having a ccj as they won't get the money out of me any faster by taking me to court..... which is why I'm looking for some advice before calling them .... in case anyone has any

As I say (from 10 years in dealing with council tax recovery) there's not a lot you can do, other than ask. The process they have followed appears to have been fine from what you say, the fact that they might not get monies any quicker or that you may be in credit by the year end is not part of the consideration as far as legislation is concerned.

If you can persuade them that you can pay by March they may allow a payment arrangement to be agreed but it's very unlikely that this wouldn't be undertaken without the protection of them obtaining a liability order from the magistrate's court anyway. You should be aware that most councils will also apply for an extra set of costs when the liability order is obtained, in addition to those shown on the summons.

They could use an attachment of earnings order but as you have an irregular income then, unless you can agree a payment arrangement, the most likely case would be the use of an enforcement agent.

kgw1009 · 16 January 2018 at 6:31PM

Contact your local county councillor.... explain to them what you said above... they will sort it.

System · 16 January 2018 at 7:38PM

Council tax is a priority debt as it is the one debt you can go to prison for and my local authority sent 6 people to prison for non-payment last year.

If you know your income is irregular you should be budgeting and saving when times are good so that you have enough money to pay the bills when income is low. If you've been doing what you are for any length of time you will know after a year or two what the cycle is so can plan accordingly. Irregular pay isn't a reason not to be able to pay your bills if you've been doing it any length of time and I say this as someone who has been a combination of self employed and agency worker over the last quarter of a century so have been there and worn the t-shirt.

CIS · 16 January 2018 at 8:24PM

The magistrate's sent them to prison, the council can only make the application for a hearing. It does however demonstrate that councils are pushing cases to the courts and the courts are actively deciding to jail them.

Socksey · 17 January 2018 at 2:53PM

Hi All,
Thanks for the replies....
I called them and explained the situation and they looked at my account and said I shouldn't have been sent a summons.

Yes... I could come up with £200 before March, as that had been the plan, pay it off and hopefully even manage to put a bit towards next year... but the summons was for 31st January and so on the day that I would be paid for this month and no... no way of getting money from anywhere (credit cards maxed, at overdraft limit etc)
The council have said that they are quite happy for me to continue paying as I do, as the bill is always paid and to make sure I finish paying it off before the next bill comes due. They will send me a confirmation.

For all those that 'reminded' me of the importance of paying Council Tax, yes, I am aware of that.... my salary is regular (and small) but my husbands isn't as his employer doesn't believe that his staff need to be paid regularly and he is owed in excess of £100,000 ... that is a whole other story which I'm not going to get into now... (not UK based, however, I am in the UK)... I have cut back everything to the bare minimum and am in substantial debt as our household was set up for 2 salaries and now is trying to get by on the single smaller one with no idea of how quickly this will be resolved...

Anyway... panic over.... thanks again

Council tax..... court summons

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