council tax charges..........when late paying...

magoogy

getting information for a mate.......im sure this cant be right

she told me she has;

been charged £75 by bfd council,for not paying my monthly council tax bill on time..im only £30 behind...

so, i asked her - she said she was a week late and is only in arrears by £30 ......

surely they cant justify a £75 charge for this?????? ive told her ill post this and see the reply tomorrow as im absolutely sure they cant - surely its AN UNFAIR CHARGE to charge more than youre in arrears by???

id be grateful for any help.....

AnxiousMum

magoogy wrote: »

getting information for a mate.......im sure this cant be right

she told me she has;

been charged £75 by bfd council,for not paying my monthly council tax bill on time..im only £30 behind...

..

Why is she having to pay your council tax......would you be better off paying it yourself and having it done on time?

wornoutmumoftwo

Only time I got charged bt council was when it went over for debt collection (10% statutory charge). Never had a charge being late when it was with the council though.

niccatw

My council will charge you a late fee if you are late twice within the same council tax year. If she's made late payments previously, these may be going against her?

CIS

The charge (assuming your in england or wale) is for either the issuing of a court summons or liability.

If a reminder has been issued and not paid within 7 days then the council can legally issues the court sumons (along with costs).

System

CIS wrote: »

The charge (assuming your in england or wale) is for either the issuing of a court summons or liability.

If a reminder has been issued and not paid within 7 days then the council can legally issues the court sumons (along with costs).

This is the most likely reason for the charge, I assume that all councils work the same and that the £75 is 10% of her whole balance due. If you fall behind a couple of times and dont bring it up to date in my council area you will be issued with a summary warrant statutory penalty of 10%

You do get an overdue account notice advising you this will happen if you dont bring your account up to date prior to any summary warrant being issued. They dont just give you the charge for being a week late in paying.

Some people think that you have the whole month to pay your bill, when actually it is due on the first of the month as it says on the bill, so maybe this is where your friend is getting confused, thinking she/he is only a week late?

Dabooka

I had a problem about 6 years ago when the DD wasn't set up correctly. After two months, they issued me with a bill for the whole year's tax and a £60(?) fee for what I recall was a potential court cost. I managed to get the £60 removed and they re-instated the DD to cover the arrears in the usual time, but I was really lucky as they could see the !!!! up was at their end. I doubt from what you've said this is the case for your mate, and that she's probably been late and in arrears previously.

My point is, if she's able to bring the account up to date quickly, they might cancel the fees (especially if she goes to DD, but she'd need to ensure the money was there or she'll get fees from her bank).

magoogy

anxious mum - most people got that i had actually copied her brief convo to me.........it was her council tax.........

thanks everyone - i think maybe she must have been late before or is in worse trouble than she says - ill pass the comments on and your advice and hopefully she will get herself sorted out, but, giving her the benefit of the doubt and if it is her first time of being late i will definitely tell her to enquire about it as it doesnt sound right...

thanks again...

CIS

This is the most likely reason for the charge, I assume that all councils work the same and that the £75 is 10% of her whole balance due. If you fall behind a couple of times and dont bring it up to date in my council area you will be issued with a summary warrant statutory penalty of 10%

In England and Wales the charges are a flat rate rather than a % of the fee. The fees can vary from around £50 to around £100 depending on the area. Its also the case that some councils charge for a summons and a L/O, some just for the summons and some just for the L/O.

A % charge would probably be better for us as it better reflects the amount of the arrears.

CIS

giving her the benefit of the doubt and if it is her first time of being late i will definitely tell her to enquire about it as it doesnt sound right...

A Court Summons can easily be issued even if its the first late payment. If the payment wasn't brough up to date after the reminder then summons will be issued.