Council Tax Court Costs

linux_cat

Afternoon all, I have a serious issue with my council and its more to do with principle!.

I am the landlord of a property and a few months ago my tenant moved out I rand the council and informed them, they told me I owed some council tax, I said fine ill pay it now. The representative declined and told me to wait for a letter with the amount and how to pay.

So I waited, and well never received anything, last week I got a court summons for the council tax owed of £78.67 AND £120 in court fees!.

I wrote to my council explaining that I had never received any letters, that I offered to pay the council tax on the phone at the time and was refused and that I feel with my payment history and the fact that I owed only £78 that is was unfair!.

They replied back saying the court costs where still valid as they had sent out the letters to my address so where following their policy to either pay in full or attend the hearing.

At this point I rang them, and was not allowed to speak to the debt recovery I did however pay the outstanding council tax of £78.67 but refused to pay the court costs, my hearing is next week but I can not attend as im self employed and taking a day off work is just not feasible for me at the moment and would add more cost!.

I am writing a letter that I will fax to the magistrates court outlining the above that will be given to the court clerk, I have also written to my local MP about this matter as I feel £120 for costs is way to high considering small claims court would only charge £30 for the amount owed, and this is just unfair to anyone that gets hit with this charge.

Is there any other advice you guys could give me?

bobajob_1966

Did you not think to contact them again when you did not receive the expected letter?

linux_cat

In hindsight yes, I should off. However that was my mistake im normally pretty organized, I still think im being treated unfairly though!

HappyMJ

linux_cat wrote: »

In hindsight yes, I should off. However that was my mistake im normally pretty organized, I still think im being treated unfairly though!

I agree but you'll have to go to the court and negotiate with the representative from the council and if that fails appeal to the judge. The judge will look at the facts. You never got a letter so you can't be expected to pay something you have no (written) knowledge of apart from a mention of some outstanding debt in a phone call (hearsay).

I also agree that £120 is too high. My council charges £39 for summons and then £22 for liability order and then £24.50 for a first vist to collect and £18 for a second visit to collect.

CIS

So I waited, and well never received anything, last week I got a court summons for the council tax owed of £78.67 AND £120 in court fees!.

Prior to a Court Summons being issued at least 1 demand notice and at least 1 reminder is sent - providing they've been sent to the correct address then they have been issued correctly in law.

The judge will look at the facts. You never got a letter so you can't be expected to pay something you have no (written) knowledge of apart from a mention of some outstanding debt in a phone call (hearsay).

Unless you can 100% prove they were never received then the magistrate cannot refuse the liability order as long as the council confirm that they were posted to the correct address. The magistrate has to make a simple yes or no decision, not a balance of probabilities decision.

The decision process between the magistrate & council goes along the lines of - : "Was the document posted to the last known address and not returned to council" ? , YES. " Was the document correct as per the Council Tax (administration & enforcement) regs 1992 ?" YES, "Is linux_cat the correct person to bill ?" YES - Liability Order is now granted.

CIS

£24.50 for a first vist to collect and £18 for a second visit to collect.

These aren't fees charged by the council, they are statutory fees for the 1st and 2nd visit by a bailiff.

linux_cat

Thanks guys,

Is there anyway I can sort this out without attending court? ive got a really important meeting on the day of the hearing and there is no way I can miss it.

I Fax a letter and maybe a statutory declaration to the court, would this suffice?

CIS

There is no requirement to attend court - if you do then you can speak to the magistrate but the basic case I outlined above will happen. Your best bet is to contact the council and ask if they will withdraw the summons and give the reason why you think it should be.

In my authority we will withdraw a summons in many cases if we are aware it went to an un-tenanted rental property and there is a doubt whether the landlord had previously supplied a contact address (usually we will do this only once to give the benefit of the doubt).

linux_cat

Got you, Ive already contacted them and written to them. It looks like im just going to end up paying this court fee, totally crazy in my eyes considering the circumstances.

Im guessing if they get a liability order more costs will be added to the original charge?

CIS

Im guessing if they get a liability order more costs will be added to the original charge?

It depends - some do and some dont.

With the £120 I suspect your council puts on all the fees at the summons stage.

linux_cat

Thanks for your help, ill write them a letter and fax it to them tomorrow, hopefully they will see I have paid the council tax and wave the fee's..heres hoping!

Thanks again