Council tax: Commital to prison/bankruptcy order

Brassica · 10 October 2011 at 6:49PM

erm...yes...this is what's over my head - and yes i did default and the amount outstanding is substantial - i can never pay it back.

So, bailiffs have been round, left their note, i contacted them and naturally talked to me like i was muck - we had a set to - he put the phone down and said dont call him back as theres nothing he can do to help me.

Today i got the letters saying that they would hand back to the council to action the above.

I'm tempted to go online and beg someone for the money as a) can't be bankrupt i'll lose my job b) can't go to prison or i'll lose my job. This will scupper any and all future care

I want to put all my other creditors on hold to assist with paying but last i asked my bank they were adamant they would never do this as i have one of those loans that grouped all my debts to them in one.

The alternative is that i give the bailiffs everything i have left in my bank account which isnt much

I have noone in my family to help me or any rich friends! Nothing.

Im pretty scared and I know its all my fault but I cant seem to get on top.

Late in the day but what can i do??

Will be back on here in a couple of hours to see.

Thanks
Brassica (Brassic by name, brassic by nature!

hallowitch · 10 October 2011 at 6:53PM

have you made an offer of payment as in £xxx a month to the council

how much is substantial

how many liability orders do you have against you

vax2002 · 10 October 2011 at 6:56PM

Where is this order ?
Have you seen it or have they sent a letter talking about it ?

halibut2209 · 10 October 2011 at 6:56PM

Just to say (though you've ruled it out) I don't believe Council Tax debt is wiped out by going bankrupt. I think Council Tax arrears and Student Loans are the two big exemptions.

peachyprice · 10 October 2011 at 7:01PM

halibut2209 wrote: »

Just to say (though you've ruled it out) I don't believe Council Tax debt is wiped out by going bankrupt. I think Council Tax arrears and Student Loans are the two big exemptions.

It depends when the debt is from

If it's from last year or before it will be entirely wiped out, if it's this year it will only wipe out up to the date of the bankruptcy, you'd still be liable for CT for the rest of the year up to end March 2012.

CIS · 10 October 2011 at 7:19PM

I don't believe Council Tax debt is wiped out by going bankrupt

It depends - any council (current or previous year) that has become due in full will be covered in full, including the remainder of this years charge if you have lost the right to instalments.

If you haven't lost the right to instalments then the council tax for the current year would be apportioned to the bankruptcy date and you'd be billed from that date to the end of year. Everything before would be in the bankruptcy.

Today i got the letters saying that they would hand back to the council to action the above.

Once the bailiff has handed it back the vast majority of councils will give you a further payment arrangement under threat of bankruptcy or committal. In my authority the arrangements tend to be a bit more lenient as threat is their if you default again.

The way forward is to speak with the council.

HappyMJ · 10 October 2011 at 7:37PM

Brassica wrote: »

erm...yes...this is what's over my head - and yes i did default and the amount outstanding is substantial - i can never pay it back.

So, bailiffs have been round, left their note, i contacted them and naturally talked to me like i was muck - we had a set to - he put the phone down and said dont call him back as theres nothing he can do to help me.

Today i got the letters saying that they would hand back to the council to action the above.

I'm tempted to go online and beg someone for the money as a) can't be bankrupt i'll lose my job b) can't go to prison or i'll lose my job. This will scupper any and all future care

I want to put all my other creditors on hold to assist with paying but last i asked my bank they were adamant they would never do this as i have one of those loans that grouped all my debts to them in one.

The alternative is that i give the bailiffs everything i have left in my bank account which isnt much

I have noone in my family to help me or any rich friends! Nothing.

Im pretty scared and I know its all my fault but I cant seem to get on top.

Late in the day but what can i do??

Will be back on here in a couple of hours to see.

Thanks
Brassica (Brassic by name, brassic by nature!

Don't worry too much about it. If you have no assets they won't pay to make you bankrupt. It's not worth it. If you have minimal income and are trying to pay very small amounts off your council tax then they won't send you to prison. It all sounds very dramatic and yes it does sound scary but in reality very few people are made bankrupt and even fewer are sent to prison. If you did a FOI request asking your council just how many exactly you'll find you can count the number of people commited to prison on 1 hand.

My suggestion is to offer them a small percentage of your take home pay and stay firm on that offer. There is a table for the deduction of earnings rates the council will use and if you had a reasonable wage per week it's 17% of your take home pay. If you had a very low wage it starts at 3%.

Brassica · 10 October 2011 at 9:03PM

Thanks all for you replies.

Just to clarify - I CANNOT go bankrupt else I'd lose my job and my future career; so bankruptcy isnt an option for me neither do i want to let my debt written off; the letter from mc recovery states that the council will never write it off and that is my understanding.

I would certainly prefer to speak with the council but i'm a bit of a hopeless case...these liability orders go back quite a way and with all the charges added on adds up to a substantial sum so I'm not expecting any sympathy from them except for them to throw the book at me.

Also an attachment to earnings will be highly embarrassing for me at work - i'd have to declare it and again - not good for my prospects so either way i think i'm doomed.

I do feel sick about it....I have an exam on Wednesday and this has thrown me and upset me especially since I know its my own poor money management that has dogged me all my life that's done it.

Don't mean to bleat on but i really don't know what to think or do right now. I will just have to clear my bank account of the little its got in it and offer to the council then sell some stuff on ebay to pay my travel to get me into work...i can eat cream crackers and the free coffee at work to sustain me i gues.........ugh!

hallowitch · 10 October 2011 at 9:35PM

with all the charges added on adds up to a substantial sum

are you talking local authority charges or bailiff charges bailiffs are well known for charging fees they shouldn't

has the bailiff levied on your goods
how many liability orders are there

you need to get it out your head that you are going to prison or be made bankrupt

send an e-mail/letter (recorded delivery ) to the council offering a payment of £xxx per week /month by standing order /direct debit

explain that due to your financial situation this is the most you can afford without going into default and that you would be happy to review the amount in 3 month

Brassica · 10 October 2011 at 10:30PM

The bailiffs visited about 8/9months ago and levied the goods; to be fair i dont own much anyway so if they took everything i have it wouldnt even scrape the surface of what i owe.

There are 3 liability orders

Yes the charges are high so at this moment i dont even know what is council tax from what is charges. Either way I owe back council tax from earlier years...I've paid off some...i owe more...pretty shocking actually. I dont really want to say howm much but its in units of thousands.

I was paying them £275 per month then (and this is the truth) the transactions would not go through online. I rang my bank they said nothings wrong with their systems. I rang mc recovery - they said the info i have was fine. What i should have done is pay in some other way but at the time life got in the way and i didnt keep an eye on it...consequently the last payment they received from me was in April this year.

The council know my financial situation as i had to do a statement and income thing. I think because i've defaulted that they'll take a dim view but i will do what you say and record delivery a letter to them with a cheque with what i can afford...i'm worried they wont accept but what can i do. I'm trying but not succeeding.

I've just had a word with my sister and i told her im thinking of asking someone for the money just to make it go away...this will disgrace me but i really am concerned now...all i do is pay debts and have little or no money for myself. And this CT arrears isnt the half of it......

NCISROCKS · 10 October 2011 at 10:57PM

Brassica you I think from memory have a history on MSE...care to share?

Council tax: Commital to prison/bankruptcy order

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