Council tax court summons

Uggable1

Hi there, any advice appreciated.

My mother is having problems with her council tax.

She was late with a payment and ended up paying two months (April/May) together at the beginning of this month. Shortly after this she received a letter saying she would need to pay the whole year in advance. She ignored this letter (as she had made the two payments), and today recieved a court summons, for a whole years worth of payments and also a £70 summons fee on top of this.

They don't seem to have acknowledged she has made any payments at all.

If anyone could advise what to do next I'd be very grateful!

vax2002

Firstly she wont be going to a court, it will be a room in the court hired out privately by the council, it may be in a court room but they are all council staff, they may even have people sitting at the magistrates desk writing, they are just council employees.
She will be asked to sign in at the front desk, just mark an X, it will take too long to explain otherwise.
Turn up, let them know immediately that you know this is not a court, just a hired room in the building and show the receipts from the payment, tell them you will not be paying a summons fee because you have not "been" to court, just a hired room, that the debt is clear, any future bills will be paid on time and that is that.

They will do what they like however.
But if you are lucky they should cotton on you are not falling for the sham and just let you pay up monthly .

Uggable1

vax2002 wrote: »

Firstly she wont be going to a court, it will be a room in the court hired out privately by the council, it may be in a court room but they are all council staff, they may even have people sitting at the magistrates desk writing, they are just council employees.
She will be asked to sign in at the front desk, just mark an X, it will take too long to explain otherwise.
Turn up, let them know immediately that you know this is not a court, just a hired room in the building and show the receipts from the payment, tell them you will not be paying a summons fee because you have not "been" to court, just a hired room, that the debt is clear, any future bills will be paid on time and that is that.

They will do what they like however.
But if you are lucky they should cotton on you are not falling for the sham and just let you pay up monthly .

Thanks, can she not call them and send a bank statement or something like that? Is there not another way of resolving this? I would feel terrible if this had to go to the court, as it is probably the stress of doing so much for me and my kids that caused her to miss the first payment in the first place!

McKneff

She really shouldnt have ignored the letter to be honest.

If she reads the terms and conditions of Council Tax it says that if a payment is late during the year then the whole of the balance of the council tax is due.

Payment monthly is not a right, its an incentive/perk so that its easier for people to manage over the year.
Hope things go okay for her.

CIS

When did she make the 2 payments compared to the date of the Council Tax Reminder she was sent ?.

As an aside, ignore Vax2002 - he/she has a hatred of council tax and comes out with the same load of rubbish every time its mentioned.

Uggable1

CIS wrote: »

When did she make the 2 payments compared to the date of the Council Tax Reminder she was sent ?.

As an aside, ignore Vax2002 - he/she has a hatred of council tax and comes out with the same load of rubbish every time its mentioned.

Thank you. I confirmed the details with my mother. She missed the April payment and made two payments at the beginning of May. Days after this she received a letter requesting the full amount. She did not respond to this letter and today received the court summons.

vax2002

Prove what I say about the false courts to be untrue.
They are but rooms hired by the council in court buildings.

CIS

Prove what I say about the false courts to be untrue.
They are but rooms hired by the council in court buildings.

Prove that your allegations are true...

HappyMJ

Uggable1 wrote: »

Thank you. I confirmed the details with my mother. She missed the April payment and made two payments at the beginning of May. Days after this she received a letter requesting the full amount. She did not respond to this letter and today received the court summons.

Did the court issue the summons?