council tax arrears help

olibear18

i know this may be a long shot but i a while ago i read on these forums about someone had written to their council re unpaid council tax with an offer to repay their arrears stating that they were not refusing to pay as such....etc and i could really do with a copy of it as my council want me to pay £180 a month to pay this years council tax each month and to clear arrears from last year, would appreciate any advice as i know i cannot afford these payments (unless they expect me not to eat!)

elmer

Hi, we are usually happy to take an arrangement for arrears that will keep your current year up to date and at least £3.00 per week towards the arrears, as we want you to be able to pay us regularly, however if you have a record of defaulting, we wont make an arrangement, and will send the account to the Sheriff Officers (much more expensive!).
So perhaps if you phone and speak to them, and ask what the minimum they require is. If most of the £180.00 is this years CT, there probably isnt much room for discussion, however if you dont ask .....

Hope this helps

Elmer

CIS

If its got to the point where a summons has been issued then we proceed with a liability order (£62.00 costs) unless an offer can be made which will clear the debt before the court date. Pre court , we allow only 6 months (unless its exceptional circs) to pay the previous years debt, after court we can be more leniant.

The reason for this is that once the Liability Order has been issued we have more enforcement options and have less risk of not being able to recover the money. As Elmer says, most agreements will be made only on condition that the current year is paid and kept up to date.

olibear18

thanks for the advice, £90 per month is this years council tax, the rest is towards arrears. what would you suggest to offer?

andym765

tbh c-tax goes to magistrates so you wont get a ccj from it. £90 a month onto this years instalments!! If i was the council tax person you or write to i would take an arrangement but advise you that we will get a liability order for the debt so if you default we'll attach your earnings etc, and you would need to pay a further £98.00 of costs . I think theyve been reasonable already to let you get away with bringing that amount of arrears forward