Court summons for council tax - But fulltime student @ 18hours per week of modules!!!

Autumn86

Im a fulltime mature student doing a 2year HND degree.

As i am doing a fulltime course (as defined by ucas) i am getting full student loan + student grant money,
and so i believe that i am also exempt from paying any council tax since my course is fulltime.

Yet i have a court summons for wednesday, as the arrogant idiots at the council are claiming that my course isn't fulltime!! :mad::mad:


I gave the council my student certificate 3weeks ago which clearly states that im a fulltime student.

The certificate said that im only doing 12hours per week, however i have counted my new timetable (as was updated by head of department 4weeks ago) and im actually timetabled to be in classes for 18hours 15minutes per week.


I spoke to the council tax department today and they claim that my course isn't fulltime, accused me of lying about the hours and days i attend, and accused me of lying about when i give them my student certificate even! :mad:
And say that you need to be doing 21hours per week to be fulltime student.

I then spoke to the uni's student services department and they say i need to speak to my head of department tomorrow and ask her to update their/my database on the uni's system to show ALL the classes that im timetabled to do,
as my student certificate should then show 18 hours and 15minutes per week of classes.

(And this does not include lunch breaks, or even the 15minute break inbetween classes)



I am completely disputing any liability to pay council tax,
since what percentage of university students have 21hours per week of lectures timetabled??!! :mad:

I have 18 hours 15mins per week of pure classes
+
i then ofcourse have to do all my coursework at home in my own time.

But so when i contest be liable for council tax how much legislative backing do i actually have in regards to being classed as a ''fulltime student''??



As whilst the council say you need to be doung 21hours per week minimum,
most uni students only have 12-16hours per week of timetabled lectures,
but are expected to then spend another 12-16hours per week doing home study/coursework.

And so me having 18hours 15mins timetabled should mean that i am only expected to do 3hours per week of home study/coursework!

But yet whilst the council accept that every other student will do 12-16hours per week of home study,
they are refusing to accept that my course will even require 3hours!

Autumn86

And on a 2nd defence even if the coucil refuse to accept that i qualify as a fulltime student,
and therefore must be a partime student.....,

If i tell them that i work (self employed for 9hours per week @ £14 per hour) so around £90 per week after tax,
would i THEN be exempt from paying council tax (recieve full council tax benefit)??

Since i would be classed as a partime worker.

atypical

You should be exempt (based on what you've said). The 21 hours requirement includes expected study in your own time as well as contact time.

Your university/union should be easily able to help you with this.

V_Chic_Chick

Councils can be somewhat incompetent when it comes to this sort of thing. I had to tell them three times that everyone in my house was a full time student before they finally grasped the concept that we really all full time students - and I, too, came one letter away from a magistrates court summons.

If it comes to it then I would suggest turning up to court with your own student ID and a student certificate from your university to say that you are full time - and obviously the same documents from anyone and everyone that you live with.

agrinnall

If you have a certificate from your university saying you are registered as a full time student then the council should accept that, no arguments. I would suggest you raise this with your local councillor and get them to give the council employees grief for not doing their job properly.

CIS

There is already an active thread on this - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4516425

Fire_Fox

You are legally obligated pay your council tax up to the point that your exemption certificate is accepted or your assessment for council tax benefit is complete, up until then you legally classed as the liable person. If you have a court summons already I would suggest you have failed to do that and have not been paying for some time. Given you are a second year have you not paid and not supplied a certificate since the autumn??

Pay up to date, get a new certificate which accurately states your hours of attendance and that you are classed as a full time student then dispute their claims. If you go to court with your timetable you will lose the case and have costs added. Really foolish course of action.

amiehall

You're at a university? They MUST have a lot of experience in providing exemption certificates for students. My certificate has very little about my course on it so no grounds for dispute, it just states my name, address and confirms my status as a full time student. Why the university is messing about updating timetable databases etc. and writing exact numbers of timetabled hours on the thing is beyond me as it seems to be confusing the issue.

I didn't notice that you only provided proof 3 weeks ago. Is it possible the the proceedings were started before the council received this? You've been living there since July/September? It's possible your certificate hasn't yet been processed.