council tax?

paul10mm

Hi all
this might not be right place to post but maybe you can help me!!
went bankrupt last month and spoke to council beforehand about how to pay this years tax they said as long as i send proff of my bankruptcy it would be ok to pay over 12 months not the normal 10 as we are on a very tight budget(i must add i dont owe them any money last years tax was up to date) i have had there reply today they wont allow us to pay any other way than over 10 months as its not a lot of diffrence £152 V £128 over 12 months i have explained to them it makes all the diffrence in the world to us!!Any idea what i can do if anything??
Thanks all

callyhall1978

Why not ask to pay it weekly, they will usually do this after you have missed one payment or if you are on benefit, stupid that you have to miss a payment i know but i found it helped me to keep track of my money as I got paid weekly, however if you are paid monthly once you have got them to accept weekly payment there is no reason that you cannot pay four payments at once, they can do this method over 52 weeks, hope this makes sense :j

cha97michelle

I recently had a letter from th council asking us to pay this via DD, and that would have been over 12 months and not 10, so i don't understand why they can't do it for you. I'd try again and ask to speak to someone higher up.

moneymare

Depends on the individual authority.

Legislation dictates that they should collect it in 10 monthly instalments, however some councils will accept payments over 12 if arranged by Direct Debit.

For info (I work for a local authority), we may accept cases over 12 months if request put in writing AND genuine case of financial hardship. However, the norm is this is only done for one year, and after that the customer has to return to the statutory scheme.

HTH

**purpleprincess**

I also work for a local authority, and this is true, legislation states that the council tax must be paid within 10 monthly instalments. Only SOME councils will let you pay over 12 months of you pay by DD, mine doesn't. And if you choose to pay weekly it won't be over 52 weeks it will still be within the 10 months, April to January. The situation whereby missing a payment means you can make alternative arrangements to pay is actually by a summons being issued and you incurring additional costs- making your debt higher!!

The only alternative perhaps is by sending a letter stating your income and outgoings and request that for this year only you be allowed to pay over 12 months, and offer to do it by DD, they love DD! Or additionally if they say no, you could apply for Council Tax Benefit if your income is low, OR you could request an application for a Discretionary Housing Payment, there is nothing in the legislation to say that it can't be used for council tax. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to PM me anyone that has a query re council tax.

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

ive the answear to this i always pay over 12months i pay 9 months in a row then :rotfl: save the money for 3 months then i pay it hence it takes 12 months to pay done for years by the time they get round to getting arriated ive paid it just dont spend what your saving over the 3 extra months

moneymare

THE_LONE_RANGER wrote:

ive the answear to this i always pay over 12months i pay 9 months in a row then :rotfl: save the money for 3 months then i pay it hence it takes 12 months to pay done for years by the time they get round to getting arriated ive paid it just dont spend what your saving over the 3 extra months

Wouldn't happen where I work, unfortunately. For example, if you paid April - December inclusive, and then fail to pay January's instalment on time - you would get a Reminder in January. If this was not brought up to date within 14 days, it acts as a final notice and you would be Summonsed at the beginning of February, incurring an additional £30 in costs. If you had failed to pay (including costs) by the court date at the end of the February, you would incur additional charges for the issue of a Liability Order at the Magistrates Court.

**purpleprincess**

No, wouldn't happen where I work either, and the costs where I am are £85.

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

our council must be a bit soft ,you would get a red reminder 5 weeks later another reminder, then a summons by time you get that youve paid it £35,00 court fee only applies if you leave it to court date

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

then again i think we had the lowest council tax unpaid debt last year(unpaid>,

moneymare

Meant to add that here, if the liability order is granted, it would cost you an additional £30, making a total of £60.