Courts summons re non payment of council tax

Lorna1980

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nats3006

hi ur best bet would be to give them a ring and just explain, i doubt it very much they wud take anything from ur benefits at all.
hope u get this sorted

CIS

You can attend court and speak to one of the attending council tax officers if you wish to come to an arrangement, but you don't have to attend court - apart from going to meet with council staff, the only other person to see is the magistrate and you almost certainly will not have a strong enough case to get the magistrate to refuse to grant the Liability Order (its almost impossible to get it thrown out)

Attachment of Benefits can only be set up after a summons and Liability Order - ie after its been to court and had costs applied (we charge £62.00 in our dept).

IIRC the attachment of benefit is £2.90 or so per week but only available on IS/PC and JSA.

You need to contact to sort out arrangements otherwise ultimately it could be bailiff action and then possibly committal. (depending on if your council does this)

CIS

Once its got summons stage, a special arrangement can be set up as a longer term payment option - ring your Council Tax dept. and ask.

You might also want to make sure that the acct they are summonsing you on is correct as far as dates etc. go - you may be able to reduce the amount outstanding.

shameless-about-money

You need to complete the Court forms - the Statement of Affairs is very important. There is a section asks how much you can afford to pay per month - just put £5 per month.

Then send it to the Court - it is within 14 days from the date of issue - on the front of the Court Claim.

You don't go to Court.

After the 14 days are up you will get a letter telling you the decision - but it might be three months' later before you hear anything.

Don't worry about it.

If they say you must pay £10 per month you put a dispute in. If and when that time comes just go to the CAB and they will help you with this free of charge.

Eager_Elephant

Ho Lorna1980

I think shameless-about-money is getting confused with a CCJ and a summons order for Council Tax.

Fill in the questionnaire and send back to the council, I would assume if they have your ex boyfriends address they will have written to him as well.

They will want a financial statement from both of you to assess your ability to pay.

IF you make an offer of payment make sure it is only small though as special rates apply to people on benefit.

There is no need to be worried, even if you fill in the form the case will still go to court unless you can pay the full amount in one go. As mentioned there is no point going to court because you don't get to speak to the magistrate only a Council Official. I suggest putting your offer in writing and waiting for them to come back to you.

If you know your ex's address and where he works tell the council, providing he has a higher income than you they are more likely to chase him as they could get more money.

As an aside to all this - are you single at the moment? If you are and your only income is IB and DLA I suggest you also apply for Income Support as receiving DLA means you qualify for a disability premium so will get IS. If the above is correct see if they will backdate it as the assesssing officer should have picked up about your DLA, they can only go back 3 months unless it is official error.

EE

CIS

IF you make an offer of payment make sure it is only small though as special rates apply to people on benefit.

Only if your on IS/JSA/PC and then its at £2.90 per week, otherwise its at the Councils discretion whether or not to accept an offer.

Eager_Elephant

Hi CIS,

Yes I agree with your comments but a lot of Councils will already know that if you are receiving IB/IIB or any other benefits you still won't have much income and so should be as lenient as with people on IS.

If the above is not the case then I suggest you ask to speak to a supervisor and point out that DLA is an income to help with disability and not to help pay debts.

EE