Council Tax summons after bill paid

Charliechampion

Hi all

Yesterday I received a court summons for non payment of Council Tax. I had received a reminder that the payment was late but stupidly forgot to pay it before going on holiday. On returning from holiday (7 days later), I made 2 months payments straight away.

When I phoned the Council, they confirmed that my payment had been received on Monday and that I would not have to answer the summons. I would however have to pay costs of £41, which would be added to my tax bill for the year.

On closer inspection of the summons I realised that it had been issued on Tuesday 23rd September, despite my payment having been received on Monday 22nd September. This meaning that at the time the summons was issued, there was no offence being commited. Is it therefore fair that I be made to pay costs? Will my credit rating have been adversly affected by the summons? And is it not reasonable for the Council to check whether payments have been made before a summons is issued?

CIS

It sounds like the payment was received more than 7 days later than the date of the reminder, if this was the case then the council , although they are being very quick, are legally able to issue the summons. This can happen even if you paid the monies requested on the reminder.

This will not affect your credit rating - council tax does not unless they ultimately made you bankrupt.

Charliechampion

Thank you for your reply. Relieved that my credit rating has not been affected - that would have been much worse than paying an extra £41! Have learnt my lesson anyway.

Thanks