Missed court date for non-payment of Council Tax

Dumbledore55

Hi All - hoping for some advice for a friend of mine.

My friend moved in with her boyfriend and left her grown-up daughter living in her house and covering all the bills. Daughter moved out about 8 months ago and the house has remained empty.

My friend hasn't been going around and collecting the mail and didn't tell the Council her daughter had moved out. She has been suffering with depression and doesn't function well. she buries her head in the sand and hopes it will all go away.

Collects the mail yesterday and finds a court summons for non-payment of Council Tax and she should have attended court on 24th May!!

Also bills from Gas, Electric and Water - all estimates, all unpaid and threats from British Gas to get a warrant to come in and read her meter.

I've advised her to start speaking to the utility people asap and that there will be standing charges even if she's not living in the property.

She says the house is inhabitable now. Since her daughter moved out there have been two water leaks. One ruined the kitchen, daughter's boyfriend has pulled out all the cupboards and they haven't been replaced. The second leak was under the bath so the water supply has been turned off inside the house.

1. She has no money to pay the bills or repair the leaks
2. She isn't on a water meter so will she still have to pay that bill when the house is empty?
3. What does she do about the missed court date? She says that the letter says a warrant will be issued for her arrest.
4. She has about £30K equity in the house but it has been up for sale for over 2 years and not sold and now isn't in a condition to sell

She's worried that any 'black marks' will go against her boyfriends address and she hasn't told him any of this.

I've told her to tell him but he too has had problems at work and depression and she doesn't want to worry him.

Due to her depression she only works very part time and earns no more than £3K per year. Her boyfriend supports her financially for everything else.

I want to advise her but have no idea where to start with all this.

Your help would be greatly appreciated x

dancingfairy

Has she told the council that the property is empty? She should be eligible for 6 months free council tax if the place is totally empty AND unfurnished.
First you need to establish how much council tax is actually due - if it's merely empty but furnished then she may qualify for 2nd home discount if she is on the council tax at the boyfriends address.
What paperwork exactly has she had with regards to this council tax? It would be strange that they would go for a warrant of arrest so soon. I wouldn't be surprised if it merely mentioned it as a possibility but you should check the paperwork closely- was the daughter paying the council tax? do the arrears go back several years?
She really needs to go to the council and speak to someone senior in council tax and sort out the situation with them - come to some sort of arrangement (making sure she has obtained any discounts she is entitled to). Arresting someone is a very last resort so if they can come to an arrangement then they should do.
She needs to get some proper advice from one of the debt agencies such as National Debtline, CCCS or her local CAB. She also needs to claim all the benefits she is entitled to - check the entitled to website to find out more.
Best of Luck
df

dancingfairy

This factsheet from National Debtline regarding council tax should be useful to you:
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=02_bailiffs_and_council_tax
df

Dharma_Bunny

Is the boyfriends house in a saleable condition?

It would be much cheaper to get her house inhabitable if messy and cupboardless than get it ready for sale, so any equity in his place would cover more iyswim. Obv. get some contracts to show what he has contributed the house.


Getting an appointment with the CAB would seem the best plan for the bills problem.

CIS

Can you clarify further over the threat of an arrest warrant - what was the document this was shown on as it makes a big difference.


If it was a summons for a committal hearing then 8 months would tend to be a bit sharp for that stage - normally your looking at around 3 months to get to a Liability Order from the initial bill (about a month from the summons being issued) , another month for any action following that and another couple of months to allow a bailiff to try and collect the money before it gets anywhere near a committal court and that's assuming the council has worked the case straight through. Normally cases will sit around for a few more months and a few more letters written before its even considered for committal.

The Request For Informations Forms and letter from the bailiff (especially ones to inform you they have tried and failed to collect the money) will warm you of possible committal action.

Dumbledore55

CIS

Thanks for your reply. The comment about an arrest warrant being issued was on the correspondence telling her the court date. It said that failing to attend would result in a warrant for her arrest being issued.

She didn't attend because she didn't collect her mail and is now scared that a warrant is going to be issued.

I spoke to her yesterday and got her to make an appointment to see her GP about the depression, not heard how she got on yet.

She was calmer so I got her to ring the Council Tax people again. They are going to ring her to make an appointment to view the property and see if they think it is inhabitable.

I've also given her the debt helpline numbers for her utility suppliers and told her that she must start speaking to them to sort the mess out. They've estimated her bills thinking someone is still living there so she could owe a lot less than she thinks.

I'm not sure what happens with water rates when a house is empty. She's not got a water meter so I assume she still has to pay something.