Council Tax

Oeillade

My son is having a problem with council tax. He shares a flat with a couple of other lads. One of them didn't pay his share of the council tax, of £150. My son says that this is partly his fault as he knows how useless his flatmate is at paying things and he usually takes responsibility for making sure things are paid. Both of them have been made redundant and are having difficulty getting another job.

They got a letter saying that the debt was going to court and to ring up and set up a payment plan. When my son rang the man wouldn't let him set up a payment plan, said it had to go to court.

It has been to court now and they got the forms to fill in to set up a payment plan and the very next day got another letter threatening prison and saying the council had now put on another £50 charges! So a debt of £150 which they tried to pay is now £250!

The council know they are unemployed, they get housing benefit and council tax benefit.

Is there anyway they can complain about this, it is excessive?

Thanks

Glittermonkey

If you ring up, the Council Tax department should tell you where you can send a complaint or appeal to. If they record the conversations, this should help your son prove he attempted to set a payment plan up before it got to Court.
From my experience, even if you called to make a payment arrangement, they still applied the court costs once the letter had been sent.

I had a similar situation a few months ago. On the 8th of the month my bill was up to date, they sent a court date through on the 15th. I phoned up to complain but their arguement was the payment had been late so I got a £95 court fine.

dancingfairy

O.K well councils like to wait until the debt has gone to court because it secures their debt and in the even of someone not paying they have then established that the debt exists and they have billed the correct person and if the person doesn't stick to a payment plan then they can use various methods of enforcement.
Threatening prison does seem a bit extreme - but non payment of council tax CAN lead to prison in very extreme cases so it would perhaps be wrong of them not to point this out to people.
Regarding the fees - there are some fees they are allowed to charge - they need to get in contact with the council and find out what fees have been charged although it sounds like it was the court fee that has been charged and could well be correct.
It does appear the council has acted correctly from the information you have given although it is true that the system does not necessarily actually help people pay their debt off.
They need to get in touch with the council and try to come to some agreement to pay the debt off really and should pay what they can - even if it's 5 pounds - to show willing.
df

dancingfairy

"The council know they are unemployed, they get housing benefit and council tax benefit" The council will not have taken this into account probably - the letter(s) your son will have had will have been sent to hundreds (possibly a thousand) people and is computer generated and will have not have taken into account individual circumsances.
You can of course do what the OP said and complain although if they have followed the correct procedure for councils then this will not necessarily help.
df

BringtheStoneshome

Argue with them to the nth degree. I was taken to court over a place I had left in 2003. i had filled in the form to say where I was moving to and then phned the council up to tell them I was out of the country (Thailand) for two months but if they got a bill to a different adress (my in-laws where I was staying for two weeks before I left) I would get it paid. They sent a bill to the wrong adress plus reminders etc (even though I was out of the country. i arrived back in the country on 15th and went to my new adress on 16th. When I saw the bill I paid it on the same day by phone (this was five days prior to the court date and was told that was it. Two weeks later I received a fine for £75. From then on in I totally and utterly refused to pay it and argued on the phone for pretty much every night for four months (the manager even knew who I was without me having to say). They conned half of the money out of us because my fiancee wanted to pay hers and I did so informing them that they were now locked in an argument with me and me only. it was only after cashing the cheque that they informed me abbout joint and several liability. However, I steadfastly refused to pay. i went to the ombudsman, who ignored everything I said and just accepted the council's words on everything. I offered, several times to travel from Carlisle to London to hear recording of things they claimed to have happened on the phone 9if they reimbursed my travel costs if I was correct). Strangely they always backed out of that one (because they were making up utter lies). Eventually they managed to get to a point where they were able to take the money directly from earnings. I gleefully filled in the form and sent it to the wrong address (because they told me the worng one) because I was finishing my job that week and going back to college. They never got their money and spent gawd knows how many mna hours answering phones, sending letter etc for £37.50. What a bunch of idiots!

The moral of the story is to argue, argue and argue again with them. If they are going to get the money make it difficult and pick up on any small mistake they make so you can send the letter back to them and ask for a correction.

dancingfairy

Just a thought - you need to check who's actually registered as paying the council tax - because it could be a case of jointly and severally liable - so the fact that your son's friend has not paid his share will not be of any interest to the council - they will not care who's paid and who hasn't but will go after the person who is easiest to get the money out of- they may consider this to be your son if he has been in regular contact with them.
Also if your son is the only one on the records again they will just care that he pays for 2 people not whether the other person(/people) have paid or not.
I know this is not what you probably want to hear but you need to know as it could cause problems later on if they go after your son - I'm not saying he or the others should pay it but there might come a time when it is better for them to pay it - ie if your son got a job and told the council (which he would have to do as it would alter his benefits), the council may then try for an attachment of earnings on his wages which could cause problems with his employer - in this case it may then be better to pay it off than face potentially causing problems with a new employer.
I hope he and the others can get it sorted - and having thought about it a bit more it may be worth appealing to the council and hoping you get someone synpathetic who is prepared to waive the court charges (they may - it very much depends on the council and which employee you get).
df

Oeillade

Thank you everybody. It's not so much the court charges, I think they have been very silly not paying, so this is fair, it is more that they weren't allowed to set up the payment plan before court when my son tried and that the council have added yet another £50. A debt of £150 has suddenly become £250 even though they have tried to pay.

I'll make sure they have set up a payment plan as you are right, dancingfairy, an attachment of earnings could mess things up with a new employer.

Am I right in thinking council tax doesn't go on their credit ratings? My son is apply for jobs in banks (agghh!) and that is important.

RAS

Hi

I suggest that your son and his mate go and SEE their local councillor. Find out when the next surgery is and attend. it may be possible to get this reveresed.