Council Tax Support 500% increase in Council Tax - not so supportive

Gaz1971

My council did a consultation but the letter said 'We will be changing council tax benefit......' not 'We plan to change......', in other words, the consultation was a waste of time as they had already made up their minds.

Im hit by bedroom tax also, while on JSA, they have no chance of getting a penny out of me. Ill take my chances, they dont jail rapists, peedos or serial burglars these days, doubt they jail me for non payment of council tax.

If they do they will shoot themselves in the foot as it will cost the govt more to put me up in jail than to pay my council tax.

princessdon

Gaz1971 wrote: »

My council did a consultation but the letter said 'We will be changing council tax benefit......' not 'We plan to change......', in other words, the consultation was a waste of time as they had already made up their minds.

Im hit by bedroom tax also, while on JSA, they have no chance of getting a penny out of me. Ill take my chances, they dont jail rapists, peedos or serial burglars these days, doubt they jail me for non payment of council tax.

If they do they will shoot themselves in the foot as it will cost the govt more to put me up in jail than to pay my council tax.

I obviously can't comment for your council but they did the same to ours. I was one of the "none affected" that volunteered for an opinion. I will be honest, there were many groups who all said "I should be exempt" and looked out for their own interests (natural). A few of us suggested that after stopping some items for higher earners (ie 2nd homes, dependants on high incomes), we could charge £1 a household and have the same net result and gain from additional funding.

End result was £1 a week for all, for everyone.

It seems to have been well appreciated without a huge concern.

Not all ideas were set in stone - consultation goes both ways, but saying "I won't pay" - like many did during our consultation didn't offer viable alternatives. Putting an alternative in place did.

Simon7685

Gaz1971 wrote: »

My council did a consultation but the letter said 'We will be changing council tax benefit......' not 'We plan to change......', in other words, the consultation was a waste of time as they had already made up their minds.

Im hit by bedroom tax also, while on JSA, they have no chance of getting a penny out of me. Ill take my chances, they dont jail rapists, peedos or serial burglars these days, doubt they jail me for non payment of council tax.

If they do they will shoot themselves in the foot as it will cost the govt more to put me up in jail than to pay my council tax.

Unfortunately you won't have a choice, your LA will likely go to the magistrates for a liability order, which they will charge you for and then apply for an attachment to your benefit. The DWP will deduct around £3.45 a week out of your money as long as you are on benefits. Then if you get a job they can deduct from your wages direct from your employer.

I agree with your point and everyone elses, this whole thing will end up in a massive disaster for local authorities and cost them millions in the long run but in the short term they will just deduct from peoples benefits at £3.45 a week.

What I am personally waiting to see, is someone who is expected to pay over 10% of their bill to take a council to court because the Govt is only reducing the amount given to the LA's by 10%.

So in effect they are still funding 90% of everyones benefit, so I fail to see how a LA can charge someone more than 10%. It could make for some interesting cases, clogging up the court system.

Although I expect there will be a legal loophole for LA's to sneak through somewhere and get away with it.

pjvenner

I have recently become unemployed and shortly after getting the letter stating that my council tax would be fully covered I got a letter informing me that I will be liable for part of my council tax bill when CTB is replaced by CTS.

The letter stating my JSA entitlement said something about this being the minimum amount that the law says I need to live on and that I can appeal, and if I don't find satisfaction with the DWP internal appeal I can request an independent tribunal.

I'm not sure just how 'independent' this tribunal would be but I would have thought that if you are stung by a new outgoing, then the minimum amount that you need to live on should be adjusted proportionally?

Would an independent tribunal uphold this view? more importantly, could they enforce it or would it require an act of parliament or high court ruling?

domdomdar

Hi there , looking for help!
Have questioned my ct band ever since my house was first flooded in the late nineties . Bought house in 1984 for £18000 , renovated property and when ct banding was introduced band G was allocated . Thought no more about this until house was flooded ( my father was in habit of kindly paying ct in early nineties) . Contacted council about banding complaining that it was too high it was only a detached cottage, and since it had been flooded did it have any sell on value as nobody else was going to get insurance if they bought it.
Property has since been flooded twice since then , last time July2012.
I have contacted every type of councillor, mp for help ---they write to council who reply as they do to me that I should have questioned ct band in the 6 month period initially.
My local council Scottish Border Council have done nothing to help my situation (preventing flooding ), don't listen to anyone---a bog standard reply is given every time.
My issue is that my house has little value as no one in their right mind would buy a house that regularly gets flooded and can't be insured( i tried changing insurance many times and not one other company would consider it).
I would appreciate any advice/ help...would going to court help?
Thanks

mysterywoman10

domdomdar wrote: »

Hi there , looking for help!
Have questioned my ct band ever since my house was first flooded in the late nineties . Bought house in 1984 for £18000 , renovated property and when ct banding was introduced band G was allocated . Thought no more about this until house was flooded ( my father was in habit of kindly paying ct in early nineties) . Contacted council about banding complaining that it was too high it was only a detached cottage, and since it had been flooded did it have any sell on value as nobody else was going to get insurance if they bought it.
Property has since been flooded twice since then , last time July2012.
I have contacted every type of councillor, mp for help ---they write to council who reply as they do to me that I should have questioned ct band in the 6 month period initially.
My local council Scottish Border Council have done nothing to help my situation (preventing flooding ), don't listen to anyone---a bog standard reply is given every time.
My issue is that my house has little value as no one in their right mind would buy a house that regularly gets flooded and can't be insured( i tried changing insurance many times and not one other company would consider it).
I would appreciate any advice/ help...would going to court help?
Thanks

Hi Domdomdar welcome to MSE benefits board

It might be worth starting a separate thread for this topic? So you can get more specific answers and it doesn't get lost in the Council Tax benefit discussions.

Really sorry to hear about your problems though, it really is a nightmare for people who are in this situation and no one really seems to be doing anything to help the problem. I'm not sure what the system for appeals CT is in Scotland presumably though you have already been through this process?

domdomdar

Thanks Mysterywoman10- You're right that I'm on wrong thread , I'm new here , how do i redirect myself to the right place?

anniemf2508

Just had our council tax bill, works out we have to pay 20% of the bill...although i need to update them due to my husband being a student, so that'll reduce it by 25%.

mysterywoman10

domdomdar wrote: »

Thanks Mysterywoman10- You're right that I'm on wrong thread , I'm new here , how do i redirect myself to the right place?

Hi sorry for delay!

To be honest that is a good question re the best board/place to post it on because it is an issue of insurance, council tax rebanding etc. are there any benefit payments involved as well?

If you copy and paste the orginal post and start it as a new one here in this forum someone will hopefully help and then point you in the re direction.

KxMx

princessdon wrote: »

I obviously can't comment for your council but they did the same to ours. I was one of the "none affected" that volunteered for an opinion. I will be honest, there were many groups who all said "I should be exempt" and looked out for their own interests (natural). A few of us suggested that after stopping some items for higher earners (ie 2nd homes, dependants on high incomes), we could charge £1 a household and have the same net result and gain from additional funding.

End result was £1 a week for all, for everyone.

It seems to have been well appreciated without a huge concern.

Not all ideas were set in stone - consultation goes both ways, but saying "I won't pay" - like many did during our consultation didn't offer viable alternatives. Putting an alternative in place did.

Yes, our local council asked people to support one of four options.

They are now implementing 3 of those 4 so they obviously already knew what they were going to do.