interview for not paying council tax

welsh-dragon_3

Ive just had a letter this morning for not paying my council tax,
I was claiming job seekers and didnt have to pay council tax,

but when i started work 3 weeks later i phoned the council tax office, to say i had started work and they said they where waiting for infomation from the job center to say i had started work,
few months went by,
and i phoned again to ask what was happening, they said they would send me out a direct debt form,

one week later a form came no letter with it but i just had my local council name on the company to pay, but no amount, there was no letter with it just the form.. So i didint fill it in, i phone again to say PLEASE send me a proper letter stating the amount i will be paying a month.. no letter came ..
now it has been 8months,
and yes i know i am to blame as well,
but now ive had a letter sayin ive got to go for an interview and it will be conducted under the police and criminal evidence act 1984 and there could be criminal proccedings against me..
I dont like to sound of that, ive never been in trouble before, what could happen in this interview.
many thanks
ps the interview is on 22/9/10

HappyMJ

You don't have to attend the interview if you don't want to. I'd get the letter writing started. Don't phone the council whatever they say on the phone can't be proven. Have you been saving the amount that you think you should have been paying?

welsh-dragon_3

I was going to go along and just get it over and done with, ive never tried to get out of paying it or anything like that,,, i can get hold of the money to pay it, am thinking it will be about £500 as my yearly bill used to be £998.. I was thinking there going to try and make me pay a lump sum back but am going to push for monthly payments,,
why would i not attend the interview to at least speak to someone face to face, as they seem a nightmare to sort anything out by post or over the phone...
thanks for your input happy.

HappyMJ

Only because it's done under PACE and the threat of criminal proceedings means you might put your foot in it if you know what I mean. You could go to council face to face if you want but don't do the interview under PACE.

welsh-dragon_3

thanks for the info happy, heres the letter hope you can read it, might shed bit more light on the matter..

real1314

The interview is NOT about you failing to pay your Council Tax.

What it IS about is the council continuing to pay your Council Tax through Council Tax Benefit.

Do you still have the letter / form they sent for the Direct Debit? If so, you should take that to the interview as it may show that you had notified the council that your circumstances had changed.

Also, the date they are investigating is Nov 2009, which is more than 8 months ago. If you started work 8 months ago in Jan 2010, was there anything you may not have told the council in the months before that?

welsh-dragon_3

Am feeling that it maybe be better to send letters as am not to happy about beeing interviewed under the police and criminal evidence act.. am not to sure if ive still got the direct debt form i will have a look asap..
ive just check my pay slips and it was nov 2009 i started work,

I was going to phone the interviewer and say i will not be attending the interview and will be sending my account or the matter by letter and, and its 100% they are ivestigating me starting work..
and i will state in my letter i have contact the council office to make arrangments to make my council tax payments. And i dont understand why it has come to this, when they just needed to send me the proper paper work with the stated amount, and if i was trying to avade paying council tax i wouldnt of contacted them in the first place.

am the one who informed the council of me starting work, and then phone twice again once you told me you where waiting to hear from the job center..
Then the second time i rang you said you will send me out a direct debt form, then you sent me no letter just a direct debt slip with no amount on it... and then say if you need any more infomation to help the investigation please contact me my letter.

CIS

and i will state in my letter i have contact the council office to make arrangments to make my council tax payments. And i dont understand why it has come to this, when they just needed to send me the proper paper work with the stated amount, and if i was trying to avade paying council tax i wouldnt of contacted them in the first place.

Its not about paying your Council Tax (as Real1314 as already pointed out) , its about your Council Tax Benefit claim and information you have provided them with. For Council Tax purposes you will not be interviewed under caution but you will for suspected Council Tax benefit fraud.

welsh-dragon_3

I only provided information when i was claiming JSA, and when i started work I phoned a few weeks after as i was on trial at my new job...When i phoned the council offices i was told my JSA claim was still live, and it may take a few weeks for them to recive confirmation from the job center that i am now working,
I understand its about my claim, but i told them i was now working and never said at any point i wish to continue claiming council tax benefit.

And i spoke to them again over the phone and they told me my JSA claim was still live, i told them again ! ive started work,
am not going to attend the interview and am going to send a recorded delivery letter out on monday.
Since I phoned the council office in the first place in nov/dec ive only ever recived one letter and this was the direct debt form, with no amount or attached letter.
I will be asking the council what letters they have sent out to me since nov 2009, because am sure they should of sent me a letter before this interview letter.

In your opinon CIS what could be the outcome.
thanks

CIS

TBH I cant see why the overpayment wont be recovered as a minimum . Whether they take any further action is dependent on how they take your side of the story as you spoke to the dept and then waited several months. I suspect they will not see this as a reasonable cause of action as you were aware the CTB was being paid when you were no longer entitled to that rate of CTB but you did not re-contact them for seveal month.

They may just give you a warning but its impossible to tell without access to the information they have.

welsh-dragon_3

Thanks CIS, i understand i have a big part in this to blame, so worse case is i pay the owed amount , and a fine, i hope,
if i recive a criminal record i could lose my job due to me working with the MOD.
I can see there side of they think now that am working i wish to still recive CTB, but surely they should see ive contacted them a few times to state i am now working and wish to pay CT..
am going to reply by letter on monday and see what the out come is.
thanks CIS for the info and input.