council tax

kazbev

in 2004 i became a single mum of 4 all my children were under 16 and still in school i received income support i have been charged over the years thousands in council tax which as far as i know i should not have had to pay i have now had bailiffs out saying i still owe council tax i have had deductions made from my benefits since 2004 and i am still having deductions made should i be paying this and if the council are taking money from my benefits surely the bailiffs should not be entitled to any money please help

Tixy

Hi

Did you claim council tax benefit at the time?
Do you have all the paperwork etc to work out what years council tax you are behind with. Its possibly you may be paying back some years by deductions from your benefits but other years have not been collected through that method so bailiffs have been appointed.

If you don't know what year is what I would suggest trying to talk to the council - they may be able to send statements of each year you owe for and how much you have paid towards it. You may even be able to get the debt taken back to them from the bailiffs if you can agree a repayment plan with the council.

dancingfairy

Like Tixy said - you need to find out from the council how much you owe for each council tax year and what method of collection is being used for each one - they can collect one year from benefits and another year might have been sent to the bailiffs.
Also just because you were on Income Support does not as far as I know mean you don't have to pay council tax. You still would have needed to apply for council tax benefit through the correct channels - did you do this?
You also should be claiming the single person discount if all the children are under 16. I can't think the council will backdate the benefits but they may (if they are feeling kind) be able to back date the single person discount - particularly if you have proof - perhaps copies of application forms you gave for the other benefits would help?
With regards to the bailiff you absolutely must not let them - not for any reason what so ever - not to use the loo, make a phone call, do a levy etc. This is so vital as otherwise a) they can legitamately charge a lot more in fees - several hundred I think :eek::eek: and b) once you've let them in they will levy on your goods which means that if you then fail to make any payments you have agreed with them then they can break in and take the goods I believe. With no entry the max. they can charge is 42 pounds I think -although they may well try and fool you and charge more :eek:
Hope this helps. If you post back with more details someone can advise further.

df

dancingfairy

You may also be able to persuade the counil to take the debt back that's with the bailiffs and attach that to benefits as well. This is worth a try. The amount they can take from benefits is set down in law I believe.
Are you now claiming every benefit you are entitled to? You really need to try and make sure the council tax bill from April is kept up to date as best you can as otherwise you will end up being taken to the magistrates court again and have to pay more costs and it's a vicious circle.
Hope you can get this sorted.
df