Taken to court for Council Tax??

rara879

Hi Guys,

I had some financial problems and stupidly ended up receiving a court summons for non-payment of council tax. I paid the outstanding council tax pretty much as soon as I received the summons, however I couldnt afford to pay the charge for the summons (nor do I really think it was just to pay them £104 for sending me a letter!).
I phoned them up to find out if they were still going to take me to court seeing as I had paid the outstanding council tax and the woman I spoke to didnt really sound too sure but said they would still take me to court but basically that it was no big deal and to just pay the £104 when I could afford it.

Can anyone tell me if it is right that they would still take me to court just to pay the court charge as that seems a bit stupid?
Also, am I meant to receive some kind of letter once they have taken me to court to tell me the outcome?
The court hearing was supposedly 11 days ago and I still havent had anything.

Help would be appreciated.

Many thanks

CIS

If costs are added to your account at the summons stage then they become part of the balance due and are recoverable via a Liability Order even if you have paid the council tax outstanding. The costs can be recovered in the same way as council tax (bailiff, attachment of earnings/benefit etc).

The council are under no obligation to notify you that a Liability Order has been granted however most will send a notice under regulation 36 , a 'Request For Infromation Form' which asks you further details regarding your employment/state benefits you receive. This can be sent at any point after the granting of the Liability Order.

Before an account can be issued to a bailiff you must be issued with written notification giving at least 14 days warning. This notification is usually combined with the regulation 36 notice.

adi_clarke85

Can't give any more info other than what CIS gave (I also work in council tax recovery), other than some councils will cancel costs of summons if the original amount is paid in full before the liability order hearing. The authority I work for does this. Ring them and find out.

If the Council don't do this, you may have a bailiff visit - the council have to issue a notice as CIS said but are under no obligation to prove it was received.