Council Tax help - Again Pt2

miss_spooky

Hi every1,

OH & I were br on 27/07/09. I had received a court summons for a ct liability order hearing for the 29/07/09 prior to br date.

Today I received a letter to say that all CT up to 27/07/09 has been cleared but got to pay from 28/07 to 03/10.

I know this is a grey area but is the correct way forward? Should whole debt be cleared as order / final bill was prior to br date or is it still payable?

OR said at interview I'll have to see what Council say.

Not spoken to him yet but wanted to find out what correct procedure is.

Cheers.x

debt_doctor

miss_spooky wrote: »

I know this is a grey area but is the correct way forward? Should whole debt be cleared as order / final bill was prior to br date or is it still payable?

OR said at interview I'll have to see what Council say.

Firstly, your examiner is going to ask a creditor what the IS should do with their debt ? That says a lot for the examiner !

Secondly, the whole of that debt is part of your bankruptcy.

DD

miss_spooky

Shocking isn't it.

I know you've covered CT a few times here but I just wanted it clarified before I tackle my examiner tomorrow.

Many thanks DD.

debt_doctor

Just to add, the only reason for the liability order is to establish that you are legally liable for the debt. The fact that the full amount is due (and provable n BR) has already happened by the missing of 2 instalments, and seven days elapsing.

Council tax regulations then state that the whole debt for the year is due and payable (and provable!)

Let us know how you get on.

DD

miss_spooky

Hi,

Ok, just spoken to the OR who and told him about CT. Said that I had spoken to CAB & looked on IS website and found that as I had received final bill & court date for liability hearing that the whole amount should have gone in.

He said that that is incorrect & only what was due up to date of BR goes in & the rest from BR date we have to pay.

How can I go forward on this? I don't have an issue paying but they want £200pm.

miss_spooky

Ok,

Having read DD's thread on Council Tax & the replies here, I went armed with this info to the IS. They have just advised me to go back to my OR to see what he says, as some companies still require payment.

I explained about the 2mth & 7day rule, final bill & liability order and that the debt was provable, also mentioned CT regs but he said I need to speak to my local authority to see how much they want paying back.

I asked if certain companies have duristiction over the IS and he said basically yes.

This is a pain cos they want £200pm which I haven't got...

Do you think it's worth fighting or just pay it?

tigerfeet2006

It is going to depend how strong you are and whether you can take the pressure as to whether you fight it.

One thing though is work out how much YOU can afford to pay back and give them a SoA and a letter proposing this. They cannot make you pay what you can't afford.

miss_spooky

Hi,

An update. I went to CAB to see if they can help. From their info they believe that I am liable to pay for the debt from the date of BR. I advised that this was wrong as I had received a final bill & quoted the Council Tax Regs. I also showed them this great site to try & find it - But could I find any of the posts :eek:

We then phoned up the Local Council to see what they had to say. They have basically said that they have written of my account from April to Br date, and have opened up a new account from BR date which is now due... They are reading from a book on Council Tax Law and she said that that guzumps any regulations and basically if it DOESN'T say this can't be done then this is what they do.

They are going to look into this & get back to me, but I don't hold up much hope.

It looks like that all the info on the IS website could be bought under question if LAW guzumps and Tech Manuals / Regulations etc when it suits.

I am really angry & upset about this, don't get me wrong I have no qualms in paying CT, but to think that it would be cleared so that we can have a chance to catch up, to find out that the council then use laws to get round it, throws what we have come to rely on up in the air. It is so frustrating.

I've now got to find £200.00pm. :mad:

tigerfeet2006

Miss Spooky if it is not to much of a rude question how much a month do you normally pay in council tax? How much do they say you owe?

miss_spooky

Hi ya,

The bill for this year would break down to £143.00pm = £1433.75pa. April to July was £501.21 which they have closed, so they have rebilled me for period 27 July 09 to 31 March 10 @ £987.69 to be paid in 5 installments @ £198.00pm.

Worse case is that I will just have to sit down with oh & see where we can cut back. We have a little leway but not that much.

tigerfeet2006

Thanks MS, I was hoping that you weren't like us and had a ridiculous CT bill per month, ours is £155 and that they weren't taking into account Feb. and March.

In the past when I have got into arrears my council have let us take it into the following year. You need to get back to the CAB and get them to negotiate with the council for you. I am sure you can get the back payments spread a little further if necesarry.