Please help, massive council tax arrears! SCOTLAND

Eager_Elephant

Here is the factsheet from National Debtline regarding Council Tax in Scotland - http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/scotland/factsheet.php?page=03_recovery_of_council_tax

Eager_Elephant

Not sure if you saw RAS' post as it looks like you cross posted:

RAS wrote: »

You can do a Statement of Affairs here http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html.

As a newbie you are not allowed to post links, so you need to "Format for MSE" and then remove the link to MSE at the bottom, before it will allow you to post it.

Can you make plain in the title to your thread (go to advanced edit) that this is in Scotland, as the law is very different there.

Eager_Elephant

pinklipy wrote: »

The man i spoke to at council seemed to imply that something new had come into place and that a lot of people would be receiving these letters (maby a new Scottish law). Someone else I know also received the same letter today for £9000 so it must be happening to a lot of people.

I just did a quick google search and it seems that the Scottish Parliament (?) have decided that they need to get tough on Council Tax recovery so have changed the rules on collection etc

Would be worth you reading the scotland.gov.uk website which has got lots of information on the new changes.

pinklipy

Thanks everyone,

Will I still fill in an SOA for you all to see or not? I thought an offer of £300 would be reasonable as really I would like to avoid going to court altogether especially as I'm due 2nd baby in January and don't want to put my home at risk.

Thanks

Eager_Elephant

I think you should post the SOA so we can look at it and say whether £300 is reasonable.
Council Tax will not like you paying out for non-essentials as they are priority.

Also please get some valuations done quickly so you know whether you have equity because if you do the council are likely to go for bankruptcy.

On the National Debtline sheet I linked to it mentioned DAS - Debt Arrangement Scheme - please see if you can get some advice about this tomorrow as it may be suitable for you and will save all the aggro from the council.

pinklipy

Really? So they wouldn't want me having sky, mobile phone, hp car etc? So if the 1st property has equity in it they may not even give me a chance to pay monthly and just go straight for bankruptcy? Can they do this even when the property is jointly owned? Also I have been told (not an expert so they could be wrong) that they cannot evict someone from their house if they have young children? Is it a Scottish thing?
I will defiantly look at the link mentioned and post a SOA although that might take me some time so might not be able to post it untill tomoro.

pinklipy

Just had a look at the debt Arrangement scheme and it might be an option for me, will the CAB be able to assist me further with that? Does anyone know anymore details about these or used one before? Can I use it only for my council tax arrears or would all my debt have to be included in it? As I have elec debt but manage that fine and a car on hire purchase which I also can manage myself.

Thanks

Eager_Elephant

Have a look at this website - http://www.dasscotland.gov.uk/home

It has some links to approved people who can advise and then set up the scheme for you.

pinklipy

Thank you,

I have had a look at house prices similar to my 1st property (inherited) and it would seem that their is some equity in it although my sister jointly ownes it with me. Will they realise this and just make me bankrupt anyway no matter how much I can offer on a payment plan?

pinklipy

Also am I better trying to negotiate with the council first before entering into a DAS?