Council Tax Debt Recovery

Ulysses1982

Hi,

I owe £500.00 council tax and I am currently being chased by a debt collection agency for the money. I don’t dispute the debt and I have confirmed to them in an email that I am willing to pay the debt, but I cannot afford to pay this off as a lump sum, instead I will need to pay this in monthly instalments.

My question is what is the minimum that I can pay off per month? I only earn £15k per annum and my girlfriend whoi I live with is a full time student. Rent, bills and food take up almost all of my monthly wage, so I can only repay a small amount.

As the debt is for unpaid council tax, I am assuming that if I don’t pay off the amount the debt collection agency want me to pay off, they will simply come to my flat and sieze possessions (they wouldn’t get £500 for the entire contents!).

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Ulysses.

PS I have contacted the council directly to pay the debt through them, but they weren’t having it, despite the fact I now pay them directly for my ongoing council tax.

RAS

Which country are you in as the situation may be different in Scotland.

Have you got the single persons discount, given your GF's situation?

This is not likely to be debt collector, more likely to be bailiffs who can sieze goods if you let them in the house. They also routinely add illegal fees. How much is the liabilty order for?

HappyMJ

They coud get an attachment of earnings order which would be levied at 12% of your net earnings (assuming you do earn £15,000) that would then come to £125 per month. I'd offer that much before they went that far or provide the council with a statement of earnings and expenses proving you can only pay whatever your offer is and make sure you pay it.

Naf

if it's gone to DCA the council must have been chasing you for a while and receiving no, or sporadic payments?
I owe about £800 on my CT arrears and I still deal direct with the council for my payments.
I don;t think the DCA can get an attachment, only the council themselves could, and they're refusing to deal with you because it's with the DCA now (been there once before, because the council told me one thing and did another). Make up a full income/outgoings statement to send to them. And, as above, check exactly what the liability order was issued for. Unfortunately at this point there would be little you could do with regards reducing it if you hadn't been getting the single person discount, as to do that you would have had to turn up in court and present it as a defence.

CIS

Its most likely a bailiff rather than a debt collection agency (DCA) - its unusual for a council to use a DCA as they have no powers whereas a bailiff does.

The amount that they will accept will be based on the guidelines which are set by the council - usually the guidelines will give a 6 month or so window for a payment arrangement.

HappMJ has suggested the possibility of an Attachment of Earnings however its extremely unlikely that the council will withdraw the current action to go for an attachment instead. The bailiff cannot attach your earnings.

The only way they may consider it would be if you paid any costs incurred by the bailiff before it was withdrawn otherwise the council will end up footing those costs. It would be at their discretion.

You would have had no defence at court as the balance is due by yourself and there's no dispute that you owe the money. Any discount or exemption queries cannot be ruled on by the magistrate (its for a Valuation tribunal to deal with those disputes).

Are you getting your 25% discount on your Council Tax ? , if not then its not too late to apply for it (including any backdating).

Ulysses1982

Thanks to everyone here who has replied, I very much appreciate all of your input.

In response to the above, I am in England and the debt has been passed to Rossendales by Colchester Council. We do get the discount due to my GF being a full time student, but missing a few CT payments to cover more important bills soon racked up a £500 debt.

My concern is that when negotiating a repayment, Rossendales will just say "Pay us XXX or we'll just come round and take your stuff" and will be legally allowed to do it, as the money is owed to the goverment. £125 is way more money than we have available each month. I could pay £50 per month, but I don't think they'll go for it.

RAS

Rossendales are bailiffs.

Have they been in the house? Do you have a car?

CIS

We do get the discount due to my GF being a full time student, but missing a few CT payments to cover more important bills soon racked up a £500 debt.

Council Tax is a priority debt in law.

Naf

They can legally take your stuff, yes, but they can't legally break into your house, you need to open something large enough for them to get through.
I think you might be able to persuade them on £50 per month... believe me they'll have plenty people paying much less than that on higher balances so clearing it within a year will sound very good to them I would suspect. Contact them and see what they are prepared to accept, if it's too high, write to them with your full income/outgoings and your reasonable offer.

Naf

CIS wrote: »

Council Tax is a priority debt in law.

It is, but as an individual you have to prioritize rent, utilities and food above it under any circumstances. Sometimes you could also argue for fuel/car insurance/tax/MOT any any car finance if it is absolutely vital to your job.

RobertoMoir

Ulysses1982 wrote: »

We do get the discount due to my GF being a full time student, but missing a few CT payments to cover more important bills soon racked up a £500 debt.

I don't want to scare you because its very unlikely to actually happen but I do want to share something with you about the the relative "importance" of council tax payments compared to other debts:

There are very few debts that can cause you to actually be sent to prison for not paying. Council Tax is one of them.