New worrier - court summons, defaults, arrears and husband with no job

hallowitch

hallowitch wrote: »

once you phone the council back up your call with an e-mail and get the agreement to pay in writing (an agreement to pay wont stop the council going for the liability order

this is what I would do
If the £200 has been allocated to last yrs account I would pay the reaming £128 (+ summons cost if they have not been added to the balance outstanding)before the court date
this would leave you with 1 liability order for this year

If the £200 has been allocated to this yrs ask if you can bring your account up to date and continue with the usual monthly council tax payment
if this is agreeable again it will leave you with 1 liability order

I don't know if it possible but if the £200 has been allocated to this yrs and they still insist in stopping you right to pay by instalments and intend to peruse the liability order
I would ask them to reallocate the £200 payment to last yrs and try pay the £128 before the court date

hopefully that way you only end up with 1 liability order

as I said whatever is arranged or agreed over the phone I would follow it up with an e-mail and get the agreement in writing

bouncydog1

Could I also suggest that you post up a statement of affairs using the sticky at the top of the page as it might be possible to help your money go further.

Thistlewhistle

Hi Kaah,

Lots of good advice from the lovely people on here about how to deal with the council etc. that's great.

Along side this, could you find ways of raising a little money to help with the debts? Do you have anything you could sell on eBay, or at a car boot sale? A great chance to declutter and doing something positive towards sorting your issues will make you feel better and keep your mind active so you don't worry as much. If the £200 is allocated to last year then with £128 left to find, you could raise that much before the end of the month and that would make you feel so much better to have cleared the whole thing off.

Other ideas: drop a brand at the supermarket eg. Aldi beans instead of Heinz, Stardrops instead of Flash, that kind of thing. I regularly save quite a bit of money each week by doing this and you don't notice much of a difference.

Could hubby do any odd jobs for friends and family to raise a bit of cash whilst he's looking for work? I know there's rules about this kind of thing - how much you can earn etc but its worth looking at.

I hope you get sorted. I know it's no fun and the worry is crippling you, but take heart - if you're doing everything you can to sort it, you'll feel like you're moving forward and that might make you feel a bit better.

Good luck Chuckie Egg!

Thistle x

CIS

In theory the council could push for committal on the basis of 'culpable neglect' or 'willful refusal' but they would have to convince the court of this - its very unlikely they would succeed based on what you have posted.

My husband was made redundant a few months ago and still hasn't found a job. I have received a court summons for 328 unpaid council tax from last year and also a final notice for this years arrears (207)

Unless you can clear the final notice amount quickly then its likely the council will issue a summons and obtain a liability order so you are looking at the costs for this being added.

Without knowing exactly what your council charge for costs you looking at circa £600.00 in total once they are added (for the entire outstanding balance)

Once they have the liability order they'll generally be more willing to look at giving you a longer term payment arrangement - if you can offer them an arrangement from June 13 through March 14 then that should only be about £60.00 or so per month. The recovery policy for many council's is to take any arrangements that will collect 'in year' so it's worth a go.

CIS

Thank you for replying. We aren't entitled to council tax benefit I'm afraid. I don't know why or how they work it out.

Have you tried applying since 01 April 13 ? - the council tax benefit scheme ceased on 31 march 2013 and was replaced with a localized scheme from 01 April 13. Its unlikely you'll qualify if you didn't under council tax benefit but there's no harm in trying, the worst they can say is no.

matttye

kaah wrote: »

Thanks. I will phone on monday and hope for the best. I can pay the arrears, just not in such a short space of time. Hopefully they will give me a little longer. We do have other debts that have defaulted and we have agreed payment plans with the collection agencies. Not ideal but I'm not as worried about them as the caouncil tax. I earn just over 1000 per month. I have checked our entitlements to other benefits but we aren't entitled to anything. Not even tax credits because they are based on last years income.

Thank you both for your replies. I'm feeling a bit better now.

The Council Tax is a priority debt, and if you're paying any more than £1 a month to your other creditors you should offer them £1 token payments until you get this Council Tax situation sorted out.

Credit cards, loans, etc., all have to take a back seat while you pay the Council Tax arrears. Contact a debt charity like Stepchange, or the Citizen's Advice Bureau, if you don't want to contact the creditors to offer token payments yourself.

worried48

I was once in court for alleged non-payment of C Tax (as it happened, I won). Please try not to get too stressed about this. You will be one of many and before anyone goes into court, the council official comes round and asks you all if you really want to go to court and if not they will work something out with you on the spot. Those who choose to go to court invariably defend themselves on the basis that they cant afford to pay, don't think they should pay, etc., then after a couple of minutes they get ordered to pay and out they go. Jail? No way! Forget it!

Yes this is a priority debt but in practice there is no way you will go to jail over it - jail is for those who won't pay, not those with difficulties.

sugarplum10

Im a bit confused, if your husband is entitles to job seekers then you should have his eligibility for CT benefit as job seekers gives an automatic eligibility. Unless he is not getting JSA and something else.
usually people dont get JSA if the spouse is working. Just as a wife can be at home with hubby at work the hubby can be at home with the wife working.
If you are receiving this benefit I would seriously double check that it is the correct entitlement as I have never heard of one partner getting this before when other is earning.
If they have made a mistake you will be liable for the benefit overpayment so PLEASE double check this.
If this payment is correct then he should also be eligible for CT benefit (25% discount off your total bill as you are working).

CIS

Im a bit confused, if your husband is entitles to job seekers then you should have his eligibility for CT benefit as job seekers gives an automatic eligibility. Unless he is not getting JSA and something else.

It depends on the type of JSA and the partners income would be taken in to account for the claim.

usually people dont get JSA if the spouse is working.

Contribution based JSA takes no account of the partners in come for up to 6 months.

CountingPennies

CIS wrote: »

Contribution based JSA takes no account of the partners in come for up to 6 months.

Was just gonna say this. Sounds like OP's partner will be getting contribution based, not income based. Totally different.