We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide

Fuming over Council Tax court summons

We've just received a court summons for being 2 days late paying the Council Tax and we are fuming.
All other payments have been made on time and yet once again the honest paying workers are made to suffer for those lazy sods who consistently get away with not paying.
A quick call in to Mr Big at the Council Tax office luckily averted any further action,but what really annoys me is the speed at which all this had taken place for the sake of a late payment-is this the new tactic they're employing to rake in any money they can from us honest hard working mortgage paying home owners?

GRRRRRR!!

ferry
:j
«1

Comments

  • ferry wrote: »
    We've just received a court summons for being 2 days late paying the Council Tax and we are fuming.
    All other payments have been made on time and yet once again the honest paying workers are made to suffer for those lazy sods who consistently get away with not paying.
    A quick call in to Mr Big at the Council Tax office luckily averted any further action,but what really annoys me is the speed at which all this had taken place for the sake of a late payment-is this the new tactic they're employing to rake in any money they can from us honest hard working mortgage paying home owners?

    GRRRRRR!!

    ferry

    Bloody annoying I agree, why don't you set up a direct debit, then it won't happen in the future?
  • Did the council really send a summons 2 days after the first ever payment was late?

    Seems a bit strange to me. Normally I get the "red letter" first, then a reminder and then I pay them (they don't offer a prepay or DD discount)
  • Our council send out a total of two reminder letters A YEAR.

    They get sent out if your payment is late by 14 days, used to be sent out the month following a late payment.
    Payment a day challenge: £236.69
    Jan Shopping Challenge: £202.09/£250
    Frugal Living Challenge: £534.64/15000
  • Sooler
    Sooler Posts: 3,115 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Seems a bit strange to me. Normally I get the "red letter" first, then a reminder and then I pay them (they don't offer a prepay or DD discount)

    Is there any point in that, you still pay the same number of payments at the same frequency.
  • Sooler wrote: »
    Is there any point in that, you still pay the same number of payments at the same frequency.

    No real point, just a happy smile inside :)
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    As far as Council Tax is concerned you cannot be issued just with a Court Summons. There is a set recovery process in law which the council's must follow as a minimum.

    When a first payment is missed/late you get a reminder with a 7 day notice to pay - pay it and you continue with normal payments, don't pay and you get a summons.

    If you miss/are late with a second payment you get a second reminder and again get 7 days to pay or a court summons.

    If you miss/are late with a third payment you get a final notice for full payment with immediate effect. Fail to pay that and you get a summons.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • Jvic28
    Jvic28 Posts: 1,596 Forumite
    Sooler wrote: »
    Is there any point in that, you still pay the same number of payments at the same frequency.

    I think the idea would be to keep any money in your bank account and earning interest for you as long as possible.

    This case does sound unusual though, I'm sure there must have been some sort of mistake. You just don't get a court summons for being 2 days late making a payment. You have to be very late and have been reminded a few times first.
    DMP Mutual Support Thread Member No 190
    17/05/08 - Total on DMP: £10025.70
    07/05/14 - Total on DMP: £1666.20 DFD: July 2017!!
    Baby Tomos born 5th June 2009 - 6lb 5oz :j
    Weight Loss Target - to lose 60.8lb by NYE 2015 - 37.6lb TO GO
  • It is time we went back to the rates and the old system of the Summons warning being placed on the corporation buses.

    Old man used to go out and pay the rates in full the day before. The queue was usually quite long by then!
  • Sooler
    Sooler Posts: 3,115 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Jvic28 wrote: »
    I think the idea would be to keep any money in your bank account and earning interest for you as long as possible.
    Doesn't really work, if you were suppose to make 10 payments Jan - Oct but made each one 2 months late ... Mar - Dec, you'd only gain a few pennies from 2 months interest. Probably much less than the extra cost the Council have to put onto the tax to pay for all of the reminders they have to send to people who withold payment.
  • McKneff
    McKneff Posts: 38,857 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Sooler - good post, couldnt have put it better myself. If everyone paid on time the council tax would be a bit cheaper for all of us.
    make the most of it, we are only here for the weekend.
    and we will never, ever return.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 354.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 254.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 455.5K Spending & Discounts
  • 247.4K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 604.2K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 178.5K Life & Family
  • 261.8K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.