Council tax court summons

elliotwoods

Hey everyone

I guess that a few of you have been here.
I'm having trouble paying my council tax at the moment (roughly £100/mo).

I've been trying to set up my own business since i left university so have got very little money coming in (and am £3k in debt, not including student loan). last year and am currenlty pulling in just enough money to pay the rent but have been hectic over the last month and forgot to pay the council tax (stupid me) and still dont have any money.

Now I have a court summons (cost £65) to pay the remainder of my council tax all at once (roughly £800).

So my question is, the court summons cost (£65) is disproportionate and I am currently in debt already (£3k with the bank, and about £12k student loan). Is there a way to protest the court summons fee in a similar way that bank charge fees can be questioned because they are disproportionate to the inconvenience caused, or that it is not possible to sue someone who is in debt (i heard that somewhere but it may not be true)?

CharlotteandEden

I'm not too sure but I don't think you can protest the summons. My ex had to go to court and asked about the fee and was told it had to be paid aswell. Although he did get an agreemant to pay £3.05 a week instead of the full amount because he didn't have the money to pay outright.

I hope this helps and maybe someone else knows more about the summons fee.
Have you been to the citizen's advice or the community law centre as a court summons is quite a major thing, probably best to get legal help which is free at both these places.
Best of luck though, let me know how you get on.

CIS

The Court Summons will have almost certainly been issued correctly but you are not being sued , non payment of Council Tax is a criminal matter not a civil matter.

Court Costs of £65.00 are in line with what the average recovery cost is - my L/A charge £62.00 and many other charge a similar amount and can justify it with the financial figures they hold. You cannot dispute it in the same way the the bank charges can be.

My ex had to go to court and asked about the fee and was told it had to be paid aswell. Although he did get an agreemant to pay £3.05 a week instead of the full amount because he didn't have the money to pay outrig

£3.05 is the rate for Income Support/JSA deductions - usually we only offer this if the person is offering to pay direct rather than us taking it directly from their benefits. This is at the councils discretion.

hodgester

You can challenge the award of the costs, and the award of a liability order in court if you wish, that is your right. From what you've written, there seems no doubt that there would be no reason for the Magistrate to refuse the issue of a liability order, but they can and have (I've seen it) decided to not award costs in specific cases.

The costs are always agreed with the court before the start of each financial year, and in most cases there are no valid reasons for failing to award costs but I have seen Magistrates refuse to award costs because they have allowed their moral conscience to overtake their legal responsibilities.

I would suggest that you draw up a statement to read in court where you explain the reasons why costs should not be awarded. Then, if you want to, attend court and challenge the decision. However be prepared to be knocked back as your chances of success are about as small as the "." on this screen.

Hazzo

Councils usually succeed in getting their way with Magistrates over outstanding Council Tax as they only tend to use the Magistrates to secure their own position. The fees seem standard to me but you can still talk to the Council (even after the issue of a Magistrates Order) and ask them to waive the fees on grounds of hardship. Councils usually also agree an instalment arrangement for payment of the balance owing knowing that they have the relative security of being able to enforce collection under the Magistrates Order should you fail to keep up with the agreed payments. Best thing is to talk to the Council; it won't stop the legal process but it will establish a mutually acceptable way forward ... oh and the Council will need a statement of means.

Eager_Elephant

If you really have very little income and no partner who contributes to the household why don't you try to claim Housing Benefit to help with your rent and Council Tax Benefit to help with your Council Tax.

If you get awarded Council Tax Benefit and it covers most of the debt some Local Authorities will write off the costs.

EE

me-shell

Hi all can I just have your opinions on my issue i'm not sure if i'm going about it the right way. It's a bit long..


My complaint is that on the 25th of July my partner lost his job. We already had council tax benefit, on the 27th July we handed in our change of circumstances with the proof that was required. At that point we was up to date with our payments and I have proof of this. On the 12th of August we was issued a council tax reminder of £113.70 which was Augusts bill, we contacted the council and they told us to wait til our benefit was amended because they should cover it, I was not advised to pay this by them at any point. Then on the 8th of September I receive a court summons, with some information stating: whilst it is your right to attend court, there is no need to do so if you believe you are entitled to benefits, which I knew I was. That day, the 8th of September I went down to the council offices and had a meeting with somebody about the summons and about getting my benefits actioned, she sent out some information to get our benefit actioned, We also set up a payment plan that day to deduct £3.05 per week from our JSA. This was all before the court date so it should have been settled and we should not have been taken to court after that. We then received a liability order on the 5th of October for the sum of £322.73 which includes £83.00 court costs. I then made another appointment with an advisor, and asked for the costs to be removed as we should not have gone to court in the first place, we then asked about the payment plan of £3.05 from our JSA, she had no record of this until we showed her our statement agreeing to that plan, she then said she has now activated it and contacted somebody asking for he charges to be removed but they refused. She said we will have to make an appointment with the benefits people, we made an appointment with someboy else on the 16th of October, she basically said she doesn't have anything to do with these charges and doesn't know why the appointment was made, however she agreed to sending us out a full breakdown of everything you have sent us so we can fight our case, which we still have not received. Then on the 11th of November we've received a second notice of liability for the sum of £322.73 I contacted the council again and was told that the £3.05 payment plan was still not activated so that's why we've been sent it, and that that plan will be "activated" that day(11th Nov). And still refused the court charges being removed.

If the payment plan was activated when it was supposed to have been or my benefit was assessed sooner would I have not gone to court?

I do receive full housing benefit but because i paid in 10 installments at £125.00 per month, about 5 months has gone, with me only making 3 payments for that year so far which is correct, I then pay £125 every month for the rest of the year, but the council have only paid my benefit by paying £88 per month over 12 months, they've sent me back in time which then means I owe 3 whole months tax at £88 per month because they wont pay the way I pay.
Is that fair? Can they actually do that? I owed £125 per month for 8 months but they'll only pay £88 pounds for each month which means I have to pay the difference every month.

I applied for a change in circumstances in July and it was not done until the 18th of Semtember after i requested it be sent to head office.
I am now trying to see somebody at citizens advice about this, does anybody know what else I can do? that statement I wrote was my complaint that was sent to the council.

Any help would be appreciated, thank you

Voyager2002

Post #7 makes it clear that the problem arose because the Council were not doing their job properly. I suggest you contact your elected councillor, who should be in a position to sort things out for you.

CIS

A few points;

Awaiting benefits is not a legal defence against the issue of a court summons therefore the summons was issued legally along with the costs.

You agreed JSA deductions - these can only be implemented after after a Liability Order is granted. The Court Costs will have been incurred by this point.

Council Tax Benefit is paid in a lumpsum to your council tax account on the day of calculation and is paid assuming your circs will remain the same for the balance of the year. You will then be issued a council tax bill with instalments for any outstanding balance - this is the way the bill is issued.

If you change in circs covers the bill in full then most council's will write off costs however if there is any outstanding balance then the Liability Order can still legally stand if the council refuse to withdraw it.

me-shell

Whilst awaiting benefit is not a defence against the issue of a court summons, the fact that I only owed August's money should be.
I was issued to court on the 23rd of Semptember for Augusts payment, my benefit was amended on the 18th of September before the court date, Augusts payment was infact paid by the council and according to you would have been paid the same day, so it was paid before the court date, so what reason did the court case have to continue? why wasn't it dropped?

CIS

You need to ascertain the balance on the day the Liability Order was granted, the L/O shouldn't have been granted if there was no outstanding balance due.