Court Summons for Non-Payment of Council Tax

chesky369

How old is your son?

rugbychick81

Broadband and phone package (work) - £15
Home phone - £10
Mobiles x 3 = £6

Can you cancel your home phone if you all have mobiles?

HappyMJ

spring_chicken wrote: »

Ok, erm not sure how to set this out but coming in each week we have (after tax)

hubbys wage - £220
my wage - £50
tax credits £50
child beneft £20

which amounts to £340


then each week going out we have

mortgage £98
Gas £20
Electric £20 (both are key meters)
petrol - £30
Toll bridge costs - £15
School bus fares - £12
TV Licence - £2.78
Broadband and phone package (work) - £15
Home phone - £10
Mobiles x 3 = £6
Water - £12
Sewage - £9
credit card bills - £30
catalogue - £5
Insurance - £10
car insurance £5
car breakdown cover - £3
council tax - £31

by my maths, that alone comes to £322 per week, and thats before food, and other things I need to list (boiler breakdown cover, food, etc)

The one we use here seems to be the one on this website it's a monthly calculator. http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

You need to prioritize bills and that means if all else fails to pay the council tax first and not pay the credit card bills at all.

Some of your figures look very high for weekly figures. Gas and Elec are very high you need to start turning things off and set the heating lower.

You OH is paying £53 to get to/from work every week for a minimum wage job. It's good that he's working but it's not sustainable to spend that much on transport. You'd be better off on benefits.

Are you sure water/sewage is weekly that's about £90 per month it's very high.

HappyMJ

spring_chicken wrote: »

The utitilies are high because we were unable to pay the bills (the dd kept bouncing) so I asked to go on pre-pay meters, that way we can also pay back the arrears. The mobiles are for me, my husband and son, we all need them, husband cos he has to be contacted whilst he is working (he is a delivery driver now) I need mine for work purposes, and my son has one, which I like him to carry for safety reasons. I could never re-home my dog, she is 8 years old now, I have had her from a puppy, and I would rather die than get rid of her

You should be paying no more than 10% of your income on fuel bills such as gas/elec so ring the supplier and get the amounts reduced to a combined amount of £34 per week so that the arrears are paid over a longer time.

billywhizz88

I work in this area and therefore know hat the council are likely to do

Looking at your circs you will not get any help in council tax benefit as you have identified

You are currently having your two free months in theory so you need to get up to date as quick as possible as your new payments will start in April 2011 abd you will fall behind on those payments and be summonsed in june next year at the latest

If you are paying £200 per month it suggests you are living in a Band E property or above unless this was more than one month

If this is not the case I suggest you visit the council and try and get them to agree you paying an arrangement so you can keep your 2011/12 up to date so you do not incur any more summons and liability order costs (as much as an average of £100)

This may mean paying your ongoing liability plus some off the arrears

Looking at your husbands wages, of £220 (if net) the council could apply for an attachment on your husbands wage which would be taken at 12% or 17% dependent on the pay band he sits in, This would mean significantly higher deductions than what you are proposing. You will need to find it as the council will either enforce the AOE or instruct a bailiff and that is more costs (2 potential viist fees of £40, walking possession fees (these are set - costs for listing goods plus a percentage of the debt value). Could easily incur another £100 or so

My advice

Give them your income and outgoings and suggest a liability plus arranngement

Do in person of possible or over phone

If you do not get anywhere with the first person ask to speak to a supervisor. May be more reasonable. If still insistent on payments you cannot afford consider involving your local councillor - sometimes carries weight

Reorgnaise other finances to make an offer that the council can see you will clear all debts by march 2012 and this is likely to be less than what they could take from your husbands wages. You wull need to give these in the event of you defaulting in most cases

MOST IMPT - ACT QUICKLY

Whilst attanding court isnt necessary it is the only way to get costs possibly removed but it is at the disretion of the magistrate (depends how they fee and the reasons why you think costs unreasonable). But you will have to appear take oath and stand in dock - my be too daubnting for some

Hope that is of some help

Voyager2002

A little detail that might help:

You are paying too much for home telephone, broadband and line rental. My package, from virgin Media, is about twenty pounds a month, and includes unlimited broadband, telephone line rental and most calls that I make from my landline. (It also includes digital television.) That gives you some idea of the deals that are available, and the savings that you could make by switching supplier and/or negotiating with your current provider.

jayss

Your work is costing you an awful lot of money relative to how much its bringing it. Is there potential that the amount will increase?

saffronflowers

All the advice above is excellent, if you allow the council to obtain a liability order then you will be oing down the root of the Bailiffs, which is not only costly but is extremely stressful. I agree with others, that the costs for you to do the jobs are not substainable against the income you are receiving.

How old is your son? In times like this if he is old enough to get a weekend evening job then he should and contribute to the house hold expenditure. The problem is that you are going to be in a downward spiral unless the areas are addressed, the new C/T starts in April and you really dont want to have two liabilities against you in a period 4 months or so.

I am sorry that you are having a hard time but you will get the help you need here.

SFx

dancingfairy

Spring Chicken - please do not worry too much about the council tax - yes it is a bill and yes you owe it. A liability order is not the end of the world - worst thing is the added cost of it all (about 80 I think). I got a bit confused but according to your budget your are paying 31 a week? is this correct?
Also as council tax is a priority debt you probably should be paying your credit cards and catalogue 1 pound per month as a gesture of goodwill whilst you get on top of the council tax.
You need to try and get a repayment plan in place with the council - preferably before the liability order but the council may want the liability order in place first before they will negotiate.
Sadly liability orders are handed out like confetti - in fact some people won't pay until they get a liability order against them. It is basically a rubber stamping exercise for the council - are you Mr and Mrs X, have the council billed you correctly, do you owe the money? that's it - the council have to prove they have followed procedure - it's not really relevant at this stage why you have/have not paid. The council want to get the liability order so they can either get bailiffs/or attach wages/benefits or come to an arragement with people. It is more designed for the won't pay's rather than the can't pays I'm afraid but you are stuck in the system. There is really very little point in turning up to the hearing as the judge will only care about whether you have been billed correctly and you should have been in contact with the council before then.
Good Luck
df

wornoutmumoftwo

mortgage £98
Gas £20
Electric £20 (both are key meters)
petrol - £30
Toll bridge costs - £15
School bus fares - £12
TV Licence - £2.78
Broadband and phone package (work) - £15
Home phone - £10
Mobiles x 3 = £6
Water - £12
Sewage - £9
credit card bills - £30
catalogue - £5
Insurance - £10
car insurance £5
car breakdown cover - £3
council tax - £31

I've been in trouble with council before, last year I was paying two lots of council tax at the same time but up to date now. I know how stressful it is getting those letters.

Last year I had my council tax split over 12 months (just so I could get back on track for this years), so I haven't had my 'free' two months.

Regarding your SOA. I would suggest speaking with b/band/tv/phone provider to check you are on the best pacakage price for what you have. (I'm with virgin and ring up for a new deal all the time to keep my costs down).

Also, if you have a good credit rating you could try gettin 0% credit card and shifting the debt around (I can't do that and have no actual experience of it, but many on here have and it might buy you some time).

I'd look into car insurance and see if you can get a lower cost (we used to stay with the same company and it cost us more)

All the best