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Help - council tax arrears summons
Comments
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Did they actually pay any attention to the fact that you hadn't had any notification until the summons? Was it worth going?
It's up to the tax payer to prove they did not receive the documents, the local authority can provide proof of batch printing and postage of documents.
TBH nearly everyone I deal with claims not to have received paperwork, but the vast majority of these are trying to claim no receipt to get out of the court summons. The actual number of documents which go astray and are not returned to the council by the post office are minimal.I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0 -
It's up to the tax payer to prove they did not receive the documents, the local authority can provide proof of batch printing and postage of documents.
TBH nearly everyone I deal with claims not to have received paperwork, but the vast majority of these are trying to claim no receipt to get out of the court summons. The actual number of documents which go astray and are not returned to the council by the post office are minimal.
How on earth would you prove not receiving the documents? That sounds like one hell of a get out clause for the council.Money: that most mysterious and elusive of animals....
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With regards to you going or not going. It's up to you. If you don't go you will get a liability order granted. If you do go then you might have a chat with the council tax officer before the hearing then you get to hang around and then you get to state your case in front of the judge. Is it worth it? You have a slim (very slim chance mind) of the council not getting a liability order and the chance to save yourself from having to pay the costs. I think it's about 80 odd quid so for potentially a few hours hanging around it may be worth your while but it depends obviously on how much it will cost you to get there and if it conflicts with any interviews/jsa appointments.
dfMaking my money go further with MSE :j
How much can I save in 2012 challenge
75/1200 :eek:0 -
With regards to proof. All they need to prove is that they have been put into the postal sytem. A signature of receipt from the post office is deemed sufficient. The rights and wrongs of this are not going to help you and is not a defence.
Also everybody has to pay council tax and it is their responsibility to check it's paid not the council's I believe. I understand that in your case there was cross wires but sadly it is up to you to sort out and not rely on the council as far as I know.
dfMaking my money go further with MSE :j
How much can I save in 2012 challenge
75/1200 :eek:0 -
The legislation is based on the fact that very little post actually goes missing without being returned to the sender.How on earth would you prove not receiving the documents? That sounds like one hell of a get out clause for the council.
If a local authority had to prove delivery then the system could not work - If you think that many authorities issue 20,000+ start of year bills , then maybe reminders 2000 reminders/2nd reminder etc , maybe 500 summons and liability orders a month and in addition to probably 5-6000 bills for in year changes of liability.I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0 -
Hi,
Did they actually pay any attention to the fact that you hadn't had any notification until the summons? Was it worth going?
TBH no, but they werent rude or mean about it, they were just like "ok, well you do owe us money so whats the plan?" & I just said I would pay the full balance. I prolly could have offered installments but just wanted it done with.0 -
How on earth would you prove not receiving the documents? That sounds like one hell of a get out clause for the council.
As opposed to one hell of a get out clause for the "refuse to pay" people - they do exist and are distinct from the "simply can't pay" people - if they could claim for months on end to simply have never received a letter.
It's funny how much post gets lost when its to the benefit of the recipient for it to be lost in the post, and how little post gets lost when its to the benefit of the recipient for it to have arrived.
All these systems are imperfect. Sometimes it isn't a case of finding a good solution, but rather finding a 'least worst' one.If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything0 -
This is why i want a government run email service, they can then send them out electronically, so proof of delivery and read receipts. It would be cost effective to.Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies0 -
DarkConvict wrote: »This is why i want a government run email service, they can then send them out electronically, so proof of delivery and read receipts. It would be cost effective to.
E-mail? Oh heck no. You'll be surprised what kind of emails you can appear to have received, read, replied to and distributed to others by the time I've had just 10 mins alone with your email server logs and an appropriate editing tool.
We used to routinely send one another emails from all kinds of people as part of a course on "how email worked" at a university I used to work at.If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything0 -
well surely thats illegal and the person would have to give username abd passwords for you to gain access :OI AM A MONEY MAGNET, THEY ARE MAKING MORE MONEY FOR ME AS WE SPEAK:pMIKES MOB, DFW NERD 1071, DFW LHS 132!MIRACLES HAPPEN I'VE SEEN IT WITH MY OWN EYES. LBM 08£77240.69 Current outstanding total £36083.01 Paid so far = £41157.680
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