Council Tax arrears

JPM42

Hi all, new here.

I have been very stupid and procrastinated over council tax this year after moving into a new place. This morning I received a letter from Equita bailiffs requesting the sum of £1,412.19 by post.

I can't phone them as I do not have a phone, but I have sent an email outlining that I intend to pay £100 a month. This is achievable for me, and I would also send anything left over from wages if such a thing should ever happen, although I didn't say that in the email.

Will this be deemed acceptable do you think? I mean, I am showing a willingness to pay. If only I had done so six months earlier. Can I expect more trouble from this company?

I know I am a fool for putting myself in this position.

Thanks for reading.

Deep_In_Debt

I think if you are showing willing to pay you should be ok as long as you stick to the agreement.

CT is a nasty one to default on as they can send bailiffs and have been known to make people BR so it is important that you stick to an agreement.

Send them your I&E and they will be able to see how much you can reasonably afford each month.

I'd be careful about giving them extra amounts every so often as they may expect it each month and think you are hiding something. Maybe worth saving the money and making a lump sum payment to clear it off when you have enough.

Good luck.

costaerer

Should be ok.

looktothefuture

I'm an expert when it comes to council tax arrears:o as I too defaulted on my council tax a few years ago! Thankfully I'm all paid up and in the clear now!

Once it's handed to a DCA they can and will send out a bailliff to collect the money. I contacted the bailliff immediatly (as this was the way the DCA wanted to work!) and explained my situation and went through my SOA on the telephone. I then followed that up with a registered letter, stating the date that we spoke and confirmed my intended payment plan as we agreed and included my SOA. Luckily I got a fair bailliff who totally understood my circumstances at the time!

I'd sort this debt out asap as it is a priority debt!

Good luck!

Stuckinarut

I work for Ctax and I agree don't pay extra when you can as they will then expect you to pay that every month, just agree an amount and stick to that amount.

Also from the way we work, it might still be worth a try phoning the council to set up a payment arrangement, as with us we set something up that include keeping the current year up to date as we make that our main priority so you wouldn't fall further into arrears. Thats in Scotland though, I don't know where you live. Also with regards to the baillif, the sherrif officer in scotland can't do a sale of your goods anymore as they can only sell things that they can see, so they could do it on huts and things, but unless you let them in the house they can't touch the goods inside.

If you need any help PM me.

Fire_Fox

I think you should write a letter and send it recorded delivery - just in case this goes to court and you need proof of formal communication (which phone calls and e-mails are not).

Caz3121

is this for the current CT year or previous? what should your monthly payment be? If it is for the current year then you may have to offer more as there are 7 months left so I guess they would be looking for it to be cleared in the current year

JPM42

Well I phoned the council up today and they say it has been passed onto the bailiffs and to sort it with them. Typical.

The tax is for the entire 2009/10 year, which in a way is a relief as it means I can concentrate on this rather than paying the council and the bailiffs every month as I envisaged. So it's not so bad in that sense.

I guess as there are seven months to go I should up my repayment to £250 to be on the safe side. This would still leave me with a little leeway with funds thankfully, as I was worried about racking up bank charges by running close to the red every month. Hopefully the girlfriend is moving in with me soon too, which would halve my normal bills and allow me to push more funds onto repaying this stupid debt.

So, phonecall to bailiffs and recorded delivery letter...