Dealing with Council tax court date 4th feb then what?

alison999

Ive been told I need to ring up the next day (5th feb) to set up a payment agreement with the council debt recovery team since they can spread it over a longer peiod then the council would normally allow.

Im trying to figure out how much i can afford to repay, esp since we'll have a new lot in April and I dont want to get even further behind.

I owe £1154.00

Does anyone know how long they can spread it out for, eg a year? 2 years?

I just want to be prepared so I know what to expect when I call

Thanks for any help in advance!

MrsTinks

Hang on - have they told you not to go to the court??? Is this a CCJ hearing?

alison999

MrsTine wrote: »

Hang on - have they told you not to go to the court??? Is this a CCJ hearing?

I got a court summons but Ive been told on hear not to go because the judge will just side with the council since I do owe the money.

CIS

I'm assuming that your currently only at the court summons stage. The court hearing is for a magistrate to grant a liability order (Not a CCJ).

At this stage there is no obligation for the council to agree a payment arrangement . Once the liability order is granted they could issue it to a bailiff, issue and attachment of earnings/benefit, go for bankruptcy, issuing a charging order or ultimately committal to prison.

I work in council tax recovery and would probably give you 12 months on the basis that your new years charge will be due from April and anything higher than that would make it far too difficult to make next years payments.

I would suggest an offer of around 154 for 01 march 2010 and 100 per month from 01 April 2010 to January 2011. This would be in addition to the new charge from April 2010.

CIS

I got a court summons but Ive been told on hear not to go because the judge will just side with the council since I do owe the money.

That's correct - you owe the money so he has no legal powers to refuse the issuing of the liability order. He's not siding with council, he tied by the legislation in the same was the council is.

You could turn up at court and go in front of the magistrate but the result would be the same - if you are the one who is liable for the council tax and you have been billed correctly then he he has to issue the order.

MyopicMoo

Speak to the council, or better still work out a full SOA and go in.

I did with the most recent lot of arrears I had. The liability order had been issued and it was due to go to bailiffs. I took the SOA and any other evidence I could find. The lady at the council was very helpful and sympathetic, looked through the amounts and agreed the arrangement (actually she agreed slightly less that I offered). She also said that as long as I kept the arrangement it would stay with them and not go to the bailiff.

Having said that, the whole situation was rather a nightmare and now I make sure that the CTax payments are paid before everything else (except rent). I certainly won't be making the same mistake again. Hopefully we will have cleared all our arrears by May (we started in August 09).

Good luck.

alison999

Thanks for everyones help. I was thinking that it would be around £100 p/month (then plus whatever it is this year from April onwards) though I was hoping to pay a bit less.

The reason it went to the court was because I couldnt pay the arrangements they set up (lost job) so when I rang the girl that I spoke said the only reason I could pay less was if I let it go to court. She toldme id incur more charges but that theyd be able to spread it out more for me.

I can manage £100 but Im just worried that by April it'll be £200+ just on CT.

I really, really hope I have a job by then!

CIS

Gaining a liability order is effectively an insurance policy for the council - once they have it then it makes collection so much easier if need be.

Whats was the monthly charge for this year that you were billed for ? (Have you claimed any single person discounts etc)

MyopicMoo

Hi, fingers crossed on the job front.

Be totally honest with them, are you the only one responsible for the CTax? Are you entitled to a reduction, or council tax benefit if you are not working? If you don't think you will be able to afford the new year plus the old, unless you have a job, make an arrangement based on your current situation and increase the payment when you can afford it. Whatever you do, don't agree to pay more than you can manage or you will fall behind and bailiffs will be brought in.

alison999

Thanks for everyones replies. Im not entitled to single person discount/any deductions etc I live with my oh and 2 children. I cannot claim JSA as I gave up my job (was very depressed at the time)

I just want to get to the end of the week and get it over with so I know where I stand and I can stop worrying, hopefully Ill get someone nice on the phone!

RobertoMoir

CIS wrote: »

That's correct - you owe the money so he has no legal powers to refuse the issuing of the liability order. He's not siding with council, he tied by the legislation in the same was the council is.

You could turn up at court and go in front of the magistrate but the result would be the same - if you are the one who is liable for the council tax and you have been billed correctly then he he has to issue the order.

Glad to see someone mention this - it's not a "trial" in the way lots of people probably imagine when something like this goes to a magistrate, it's purely a technical and procedural matter. Not exactly a "rubber stamp" but not really that far from it either.