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Council Tax are threatening court action
yvonne13_2
Posts: 1,955 Forumite
Hi I am posting this on behalf of my friend as I don't know how I can help her.
Early last year she had been paying her council tax and out of the blue they wrote and said she was incorrectly billed for the year previous and sent a new bill. She disputed and asked them to show her all her payments she had made and some was missing luckly she had kept all her receipts and they admitted she was billed incorrect.
Anyway she lost her job at Christmas as the company she was working for went bankrupt. She claimed and still claiming JSA whilst looking for work and claiming council tax.
Once again they have sent conflicting bills with the one she got today saying she owes £169.54. She sent them an email explaining she wasn't working and is only getting money every fortnight from JSA. They said they are aware she is on benefits but they said they want there money by 21st March. They want £85 this month and the balance in March or they will take her to court and she will also be changed £74 costs.
She has been getting help from CCCS and they advised her to offer them £10 a month.
She has just been on the phone to me in floods of tears as she received an email from the council tax people saying they will not accept the £10 she is offering they want the full £169.54 by March.
How can they expect her to pay this when they know they will be taking all her JSA leaving her with £25 a week to pay all her other bills plus mortgage plus food?
I don't know how I can help!!!!!
Early last year she had been paying her council tax and out of the blue they wrote and said she was incorrectly billed for the year previous and sent a new bill. She disputed and asked them to show her all her payments she had made and some was missing luckly she had kept all her receipts and they admitted she was billed incorrect.
Anyway she lost her job at Christmas as the company she was working for went bankrupt. She claimed and still claiming JSA whilst looking for work and claiming council tax.
Once again they have sent conflicting bills with the one she got today saying she owes £169.54. She sent them an email explaining she wasn't working and is only getting money every fortnight from JSA. They said they are aware she is on benefits but they said they want there money by 21st March. They want £85 this month and the balance in March or they will take her to court and she will also be changed £74 costs.
She has been getting help from CCCS and they advised her to offer them £10 a month.
She has just been on the phone to me in floods of tears as she received an email from the council tax people saying they will not accept the £10 she is offering they want the full £169.54 by March.
How can they expect her to pay this when they know they will be taking all her JSA leaving her with £25 a week to pay all her other bills plus mortgage plus food?
I don't know how I can help!!!!!
It's better to regret something I did do than to regret something that I didn’t. :EasterBun
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Comments
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Is she now claiming council tax benefit? If this is an outstanding amount from before she claimed then she has to negotiate repayment of the debt. They generally want their money before the end of March so try and pay something and show some willingness to pay. They may extend the time before taking court action.:footie:
Regular savers earn 6% interest (HSBC, First Direct, M&S) Loans cost 2.9% per year (Nationwide) = FREE money. 0 -
she said she started her claim from 03/01/12 and she gave them the ref number for the CCCS and sent them copies of all all other debts and they refused to take the £10.It's better to regret something I did do than to regret something that I didn’t. :EasterBun0
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she said she started her claim from 03/01/12 and she gave them the ref number for the CCCS and sent them copies of all all other debts and they refused to take the £10.
There's no requirement for the council to deal with CCCS or accept any payments below that shown on the council tax demand as legally that is the instalment amount due .
What will happen is that a Liability Order will be granted and the council will look again at payment options as the arrears have been secured by the court order - you can pretty much guarantee they wont accept less than £3.40 per week as this is the amount which can be taken direct from her JSA for council tax arrears (once a Liability Order has been granted).I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0 -
OP you didn't state where your friend lives - I dont know the rules governing England & Wales, but in Scotland, if your friend is claiming benefits and has council tax arrears she can call the council tax department and ask for them to begin taking deductions from benefits, £3.40 per week.In Scotland, she would be served with a 'Charge for Payment' by a Sheriff Officer - additional costs of approx £50 are usually added. Once a Charge for Payment expires, this then allows a Sheriff Officer to carry out a wage or bank account arrestment - as she is not working, neither of these would affect her, providing she does not have a large sum of savings in her bank (which I am assuming she doesn't). If a bank arrestment were to be carried out, the first £400 odd is protected (i cant think of the figure off the top of my head) therefore, being on benefits it is unlikely that she would have more than this in her account at any one time. If I were her, and if she lives in Scotland, she should call her local council and request a deduction from benefits (which they cannot refuse) asap to prevent the case being passed to the sheriff officers and additional costs being added.0
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She lives in Manchester, so does that mean if she offers them £3.40 a week they will accept it or could they still say no? i know it £3.60 more than she has but she will have no choice I guess.It's better to regret something I did do than to regret something that I didn’t. :EasterBun0
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She lives in Manchester, so does that mean if she offers them £3.40 a week they will accept it or could they still say no? i know it £3.60 more than she has but she will have no choice I guess.
They can say no but on that level of arrears I would accept the arrangement without an issue.I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0 -
They can say no but on that level of arrears I would accept the arrangement without an issue.
Ok I said I will go and see her in the morning so I just want to confirm before I say anything to her.
Should I tell her to offer them £3.60 a week?
If they say no should she still pay it?
Or do you mean try and find the £169.54 before 21st March?It's better to regret something I did do than to regret something that I didn’t. :EasterBun0 -
I would always advise here to pay as much as she can but in respect of an arrangement at this stage, unless she can clear the balance by the court date, then any arrangement would only be made with the court costs included.
I would suggest that she offers them the £3.60 on this basis it is higher than they would get by taking deductions from her JSA and see what they say to that.I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0 -
She lives in Manchester, so does that mean if she offers them £3.40 a week they will accept it or could they still say no? i know it £3.60 more than she has but she will have no choice I guess.
Going by what others have said, deductions from benefits seems pretty much the same in England, therefore I would get your friend to call the council tax dept directly and request that they begin taking them to prevent it going to court. Hopefully, they should be able to do this for her, £3.40 is the legal amount that can be deducted from someones benefit to pay a debt i.e rent or council tax arrears.0 -
Also, there are only two grounds where this request would be refused -
1. She is on contribution based JSA - deductions from benefits cannot be taken whilst on contribution based JSA, must be income based.
2. There are already 3 other creditors getting deductions from her benefits.0
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