Council Tax & Court

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Hi.

I dispute (& have wrote on 3 occassions) about half of the amount the council want me to pay for Council Tax.

I have no doubt I will be getting a summons soon.

When it goes to court & the judge sees that indeed the bill is double what it should be will he chuck the case out or make a liability order for the reduced sum?

mouseymousey99

You are really asking how long is a piece of string. It depends on your circumstances - I imagine as you have posted on the board you are in receipt of some benefits? Are you going to court and representing yourself? Have you paid the half you are not disputing? I also imagine just based on what you have written above and not knowing anything about you etc the judge will make a liability order. 2 sure things in life old bean death and taxes........

1984ReturnsForReal_2

mouseymousey99 wrote: »

You are really asking how long is a piece of string. It depends on your circumstances - I imagine as you have posted on the board you are in receipt of some benefits? Are you going to court and representing yourself? Have you paid the half you are not disputing? I also imagine just based on what you have written above and not knowing anything about you etc the judge will make a liability order. 2 sure things in life old bean death and taxes........

Thank you for the reply.

The ins & outs are a little difficult to put on forum but the basis of the question is:

If council submits paperwork to say to the court £200 is owed but in reality £100 is owed can the judge grant a liability order?

The rest is not very important.

You are right that I have no experience hence the question & this board is the closet board I can see to "council tax".

chesky369

You haven't given us enough information. Why does your local authority think you owe more than you think you do?

1984ReturnsForReal_2

chesky369 wrote: »

You haven't given us enough information. Why does your local authority think you owe more than you think you do?

They are aware of the issue. They ignored an application for CT benefit which I claimed for a period of about a month that I submitted to them directly which equates to about half the amount due in their demand. I wrote to them 2 months later as advised by them & they rejected the claim outright due to timescale between call & claim form being submitted. I have now appealed for someone sensible to look at it after waiting to gather the paperwork required to respond to their rejection letter.

So it looks like they will be going for "enforcement" before the appeal is looked at.

I hope it makes sense.

CIS

If council submits paperwork to say to the court £200 is owed but in reality £100 is owed can the judge grant a liability order?

The simple answer is yes. Legally until the benefit is credited to the account the amount is due in full.

They are aware of the issue. They ignored an application for CT benefit which I claimed for a period of about a month that I submitted to them directly which equates to about half the amount due in their demand

Awaiting benefit claims to be decided is not a valid defence against the issuing of the liability order (case law has determined this) but it is good practice for the local authority to hold action once the L/O has been obtained if an appeal may affect the amount outstanding.

In my local authority we will withdraw all costs if the benefit claim settles the account in full.

Oldernotwiser

Owing council tax is one of the few circumstances where bailiffs can legitimately be sent in so you might find it advisable to pay the amount owing and then argue whether you are due for a refund. Doing it this way you are also going to be liable for court fees.

tboo

1984ReturnsForReal wrote: »

They are aware of the issue. They ignored an application for CT benefit which I claimed for a period of about a month that I submitted to them directly which equates to about half the amount due in their demand. I wrote to them 2 months later as advised by them & they rejected the claim outright due to timescale between call & claim form being submitted. I have now appealed for someone sensible to look at it after waiting to gather the paperwork required to respond to their rejection letter.

So it looks like they will be going for "enforcement" before the appeal is looked at.

I hope it makes sense.

It's the council tax dept that issue the bills, they have no input on granting of benefit. This matter has to be brought to the attention of the HB/CT benefit section themselves.

If you are trying to halve the bill then why hasn't the other half been paid as this is at liabilty stage as well it seems.