Council Tax Problem

KurtStudent

Hi, thank you for the responses, and apologies for the delay in responding. I am currently working in the far east and it appears that the internet is not as good as i expected, so again i will be as straightforward as I can.

I havent seen the letter, my wife cant scan the document, she says it simply states we must pay £470 a month until the new year starts in Jan.

After all bills and food are paid we only have £70 spare a month. That is for everything, kids clothes, shoes, house/car maintanance etc etc.

Therefore, if it is necessary for me to pay the council tax back, then I can only afford £20 a month until finances pick up as my career develops.

However, the historical situation was this:- Mid March I lost my job, I put on hold all bills, such as elec, gas, tv/internet/phone, etc. The council tax was a benefit as part of the JSA stuff. Our full entitlement was £70 a week, which reduced to £20 a week later on. (incidentally this annoyed me as we were forced to survive on £20 a week!!!!!)

I started work again in early August.

My wife, despite working 30+ hours a week, only recieves money if she sells a product on her website. We had no money to promote the website, this meant she could only design her products and hope that someone stumbles accross her website. so over that period I was unemployed she earnt some £100. Net profit £60.

Not great, but better than nothing.

My council tax bill for the year is £186x10 = £1860 approx. I cant tell as im 1000's of miles from home.... thats all i can remember im afraid.

I signed on in mid March, I closed the claim, Early August.

I worked out that I paid 3 x 186, then was out of work until august. that 5 x 186 = 930, leaving a balance of 372 for the remaining months, i.e. Sep, Oct.

However, my gripe was that my wife called to explain we dont have much cash spare. The council were rather rude with her and basically stated they dont care that we dont have the money we must pay £470 for Oct, Nov, Dec. - Good bye Christmas, my daughters 1st birthday, and the birthday my wife organised for me (the latter I dont really mind as I dont like being reminded that i am another year younger). For my wife this is very distressing, as we dont have that much spare money. We are doing the best we can do...

My salary, tough one, its significantly lower than I WAS on, however, it is above the national average. All, I can say about it is this:-

My bills, including travel to work, kids to school, and food for the 4 of us = is now in the region of £2,000 a month. Most of which are now repayment plans lasting up to 4 years because of the accrued debt. This leaves us with £70 a month for the next 4 years or so, possibly less as the salary increase rate is 3%, whilst the actual rising cost of living is more 6%... thats another story.

I have honestly looked into reducing the costs of everything, I have made calls, and emails, etc etc at length and have as much discount as possible. However, as the single bread earner in the house, there isnt much we can do until daughter no.2 starts school. At that point my wife can return to a more full time work committment. I know some may be thinking, why dont you put kids into nursery/childminder... unfortunately, the cost of this is greater than the mothly salary my wife would earn if she were working full time too. We have already been down that road before and it makes us worse off...

Therfore we are where we are. It makes no difference on my salary, the council consider im a high earner, with no consideration of the debt we are in. If we had £500 spare a month, i would not bat an eyelid and pay it. noo fuss. but we are not in that boat.

So, I return to my original question. If I recieve council tax benefit for the period I was unemployed, why am I paying it back?? surely there must be a mistake?

I worked out a balance of 372, which would bring me up to date by October.

I am writing a letter to the council now, which i will email, however, what should I be asking, can I ask them NOT to take payment until the dispute is settled? We simply cant afford an additional £470 taken out of our account or we will default on debts... this is bad... especailly if the mortgage is the one that defaults.

How can I effectivley explain this to the council?

Sorry for the long post but this is causing me a significant amount of stress bearing in mind my remote location.

Kind regards

P

00ec25

KurtStudent wrote: »

My salary, tough one, its significantly lower than I WAS on, however, it is above the national average.

Therfore we are where we are. It makes no difference on my salary, the council consider im a high earner, with no consideration of the debt we are in. If we had £500 spare a month, i would not bat an eyelid and pay it. noo fuss. but we are not in that boat.

if you have expereice of existing debt then surely you know that CT is classed as a "priority debt" and should be paid before other things , and yes that does include having to go without Xmas and birthdays

KurtStudent wrote: »

So, I return to my original question. If I recieve council tax benefit for the period I was unemployed, why am I paying it back?? surely there must be a mistake?

I worked out a balance of 372, which would bring me up to date by October.

as you have not seen the letter, and unless it was a typo you do not seem sure of the calculation (is 400pm or the 470pm in your latest msg?), its difficult for us to advise what is going on

yes wyou do not have to pay CT whilst on JSA. But your wife has earnings and if this has come to light then your CT benefit may now have been retorspectively adjusted so putting you in arrears???
remember that CT runs from April to March so as you signed on in April 12 I am assuming that you do not owe any arreas from the previous year as that should have been apid off with the last instalment in Jan 12 (the 10 instalments runijng Apr - Jan inclusive) therefore your liability for 12/13 tax year is:

April - (early) Aug: on JSA so in receipt of CT benefit so , in theory, should owe nothing

(late) Aug - March 13 liable for CT with payments due over the remaining normal collection period Aug - Jan 13 ie approx 5 1/2 months depending on how they treat Aug's ending of CTB. So for yuou to be asked to pay 470 when your "normal" instalemtn is 186 means you owe an impossibily large arreas figure becuase that's an extra 284 per month whaich is more than you'd owe for the entire year -

I think your figures have got mixed up somewhere, the only way you can owe (approx) 470 per month NOWE is if :
a) your entire claim for CTB has been rescinded ; and
b) you have not made any payments at all since going back to work
if that was the case then you owe the entire 1860 for the year but the council is collecting it over the remaining months Oct - Jan , ie 1860 / 4 = 465 pm

CIS

I think your figures have got mixed up somewhere, the only way you can owe (approx) 470 per month NOWE is if :
a) your entire claim for CTB has been rescinded ; and
b) you have not made any payments at all since going back to work
if that was the case then you owe the entire 1860 for the year but the council is collecting it over the remaining months Oct - Jan , ie 1860 / 4 = 465 pm

I would agree that it seems that it is one of these 2 that has happened.

The OP needs to speak with the council's benefit team and see why his CTB has been removed - there would have been notification sent out but the council should be able to advise as to why if he contact them.

KurtStudent

yea, as i thought.... letter is on the way asking why this has occurred.

incidentally, they did attach someonelses council tax information and history within our letter... which i feel is rather odd.

Caz3121

KurtStudent wrote: »

I worked out that I paid 3 x 186, then was out of work until august. that 5 x 186 = 930, leaving a balance of 372 for the remaining months, i.e. Sep, Oct.

The council tax year runs April to April so the payments you made in Jan/Feb/Mar were against last years tax.

As before the council tax benefit will have been based on £155 per month so it may look something like this

Total due 1860
4 months council tax benefit = 620
remaining 1240

less payments made since starting work in August = ?

If you have not made any payments since you went back to work in August then the number sounds about right with the balance being paid over the next 3 months

Their next letter will be to request the payment in a single payment and then they involve the courts

Council tax is a priority debt and should be paid before many other things

Wywth

KurtStudent wrote: »

ah ha!

excellent.

thanks. i will post there in the morning.

thanks

As soon as you like.

The earlier you post it, the sooner someone there will be able to help you

CAB_Swansea_Bay_representative

Hi Kurtstudent, thank you for your query regarding council tax problem.
Firstly let me say you have done the right thing in explaining the situation to the council tax department and making an offer of repayment based on your available income. It sounds like council tax recoveries are trying to make you clear the whole of the arrears by next March which you have said is not possible with your reduced income. Usually if you cannot clear all of the arrears before the end of the financial year council tax recoveries will get a liability order against you which means they can enforce the debt by means of an attachment of earnings, charging order against your property or send it for collection to a bailiff but it also means they can accept the repayment of the arrears over a longer period of time. I would suggest you write to the council tax recoveries explaining your situation and enclosing a income and expenditure and making the offer again. It is important to remember that this is a priority debt so should be paid before payments to non-priority creditors such as credit cards and catalogues. If the council tax department won't accept your offer or if you have other debts you are struggling to pay I would suggest you seek advice from a specialist debt adviser who can discuss your options, negotiate with creditors and also check you are receiving all the benefits which you are entitled to. You can find more information about completing an income and expenditure and template letters to send to creditors at www.adviceguide.org.uk and you can find your local Citizens Advice Bureau at www.citizensadvice.org.uk.
Hope this is of assistance.