Council Tax - Council sent court letter

gazzebo69

Hi. Folks.

I will keep it brief so I do not lose anyone attention.

My dad has a rented house.
Tenant moved out
My dad informed council so he could basically take on the responsibility of the council tax.

He realised that he could not pay it on his usual council tax because his main residence comes with some sort of card. Now my dad does not use computers or deal in direct debits, this is where it gets tricky.

He phones up council and speak to some fella there who expressed he could not pay by cheque like he does with his own home, and that he needed to pay on a computer. My dad explained, he has never used a computer, does not intend to and that he can usually pay by cheque. The chap says, I can send you a card that will be tied to that address so you can bob down to your local post office and pay in the same way as your own home council tax, bingo, problem sorted. He says it will be about 2 weeks. Things are looking up.

A letter arrives a week later saying, pay your council tax in the next seven days, well he expected that the card would be with him by then.

A week later, a court summons lands on the doormat and saying pay the full year in advance and court costs of £54, plus some sort of £20 appearence fee on the 20th June.

At this point he is going absolute radar, on the warpath.

Phones council, explains to the lady who says that she will get a card in the post for the property so he can pay it, but in the meantime, he has to pay the full amount plus the court costs. I`m like, no way, this is their issue, they should deal with it.

Apart from that, the house will be rented out again in about 3 weeks and they are demanding that he still appears in court and pays the full amount.

To rub a little bit of salt in the wound, the woman says they will accept a cheque for the full settlement and court costs.

Any one else had the same issues, I`m with my dad on this one and I agree that he should take this further and make a full and official complaint, plus have his day in court and show how the judge what a farce this is.

Any advice would be great so he can take this further.

Regards
Gazzebo.
:rotfl::rotfl:

Guest101

My advice is speak to the council tax office on monday, explain the situation, that it is a residence which is normally rented, and will be again in 3 weeks, whereby the new tenants will take up responsibility of the council tax. Explain that he is happt to pay for the interim period, and that's it. Then write all that down and post it to them recorded, along with a summary of their response. If they refuse go to court, with a cheque for the amount owed and explain the situation to the judge, and show him the letter.

I know it's frustrating, but email really is your best friend in these cases as you have a direct link from each encounter.

Can i ask why he wont use a computer? It's just that you have all your correspondance and receipts saved for any future problems.

theartfullodger

Just remember: You can end up in jail for not paying council tax.

Dad should pay the whole sum, now, then argue about it. But now, he should behave in a calm & polite manner & learn to use a ru**y computer!!!

Council took me to court etc etc .. I paid the lot, wrote detailed email noting they knew who was in property when etc etc etc & they refunded the lot plus court fees. But I do, though I say so myself, write a good "I think your process could be improved" email... (ie not a ranting "complaint letter"...)

Don't complain, but advise them, in writing/email, how they can run their shop better & for less money in a calm & polite manner: They'll be so shocked at being treated in a humane manner you might get what you want...

Cheers!

gazzebo69

Guest101 wrote: »

My advice is speak to the council tax office on monday, explain the situation, that it is a residence which is normally rented, and will be again in 3 weeks, whereby the new tenants will take up responsibility of the council tax. Explain that he is happt to pay for the interim period, and that's it. Then write all that down and post it to them recorded, along with a summary of their response. If they refuse go to court, with a cheque for the amount owed and explain the situation to the judge, and show him the letter.

I know it's frustrating, but email really is your best friend in these cases as you have a direct link from each encounter.

Can i ask why he wont use a computer? It's just that you have all your correspondance and receipts saved for any future problems.

HI.

Many thanks for your reply. My dad is very old school. I have tried to show him how to use a PC, but he just does not get it. He only got a mobile phone last year and its painful watching him use it.

My plan this year is to buy him a PC and sit him down and show him how to use one properly. Am hoping to change him, but it really is an uphill struggle. I`m physically dreadding it.

He tried to explain all this to lady on the other end of the phone, that in no way has he not tried to pay this, and they know it will be rented in a few weeks as well, all explained over the phone. They were really awkward and were adamant that he has to pay the full amount and go to court.

What really annoys me is this is their fault but they just do not see it and he has tried numerous times to pay this without success prior to 7 day demand letters and court letters dropping on the doormat.

Thanks for the advice, very much welcomed.

Regards
Gazzebo.:T:T

ValHaller

Guest101 wrote: »

Can i ask why he wont use a computer? It's just that you have all your correspondance and receipts saved for any future problems.

Is that really central to this? As I see it, the core issue is the bloke at the council was trying to bully OP's father out of paying by cheque. They don't like it, but I don't see that they have any right to refuse it.

OP's father should have just asked for the bill and installments and paid by cheque if that is what he wanted to do

theartfullodger

I (almost always... except once..) email council & all utilities on ANY occupant changeover with names, dates, meter readings etc, then send hard-copy & file copies.


'phone calls?? Waste of time, unless you record them, and even then some might not accept the evidence... without written/email backup,

Cheers!

Guest101

My own experience with this almost exact situation is as follows (which is why i suggested what i did, it sounds like you've tried that though):

I was off sick for a while from work, and so was unable to pay, notified them of this and they didnt contact me for ages about it. I returned to work for about 7 weeks on a reduced hour basis. At which point i paid some of the outstanding amount. I was then constructively dismissed (the details arent really relevent), and so went onto JSA, which in turn has council tax benefit. This was paid for the time at which I i was dismissed, but i had the outstanding amount still to cover. I told them to send me a final bill and I would pay it, they never did this. And then i got a summons, I telephoned them, offered to pay £50 and then break down the remainder of the payments, they were absolutely fine about this. However here is the crux of the matter - this was the 3rd phone call i made, the first two were unhelpful and just said it needed to be paid, or the court date would stand. So moral is it pays to be persistant.

Also good luck with the it lessons, my mother is the same!

and TAL the laws are that you can go to prison for non payment, but in reality no-one does. at worst they apply to your employer to garnish your wage.

Werdnal

No need to force anyone into using a PC if they don't want to. Council Tax bills are barcoded - you just take it to the PO and pay what you want to. How long has the void been since tenant left?

I am very surprised the council have jumped on him so quickly to demand the whole year's payment. Are you sure this is down to the property being empty and transferred back to you dad, or is it possible the previous tenant left arrears and that is what they are chasing him for.

Either way, I think the time for phone calls to them is long gone. Sit down and write it all in a letter (keeping a copy), as you have here, and post it first class on Monday, or better still, hand-deliver it direct to the council offices. There is no way they should be bullying your dad into paying the whole year ... but suspect there may be more to this than meets the eye!

Guest101

ValHaller wrote: »

Is that really central to this? As I see it, the core issue is the bloke at the council was trying to bully OP's father out of paying by cheque. They don't like it, but I don't see that they have any right to refuse it.

OP's father should have just asked for the bill and installments and paid by cheque if that is what he wanted to do

Nope it's not central in the slightest, it was a question, followed by advice, which the OP was happy to explain. the only person seeing my post a a problem, is you my friend. If your hungry i think there's a chip on your shoulder

gazzebo69

Werdnal wrote: »

No need to force anyone into using a PC if they don't want to. Council Tax bills are barcoded - you just take it to the PO and pay what you want to. How long has the void been since tenant left?

I am very surprised the council have jumped on him so quickly to demand the whole year's payment. Are you sure this is down to the property being empty and transferred back to you dad, or is it possible the previous tenant left arrears and that is what they are chasing him for.

Either way, I think the time for phone calls to them is long gone. Sit down and write it all in a letter (keeping a copy), as you have here, and post it first class on Monday, or better still, hand-deliver it direct to the council offices. There is no way they should be bullying your dad into paying the whole year ... but suspect there may be more to this than meets the eye!

Hi.

The last tenant left having a zero council tax bill, they were on some sort of benefit and housing benefit, so at the time they left the property, the housing benefit all stopped and the council tax billing reverted to my dads name. So all seemed to be going ok when they refused a cheque like he does with his own house every month and they said they would send a card out so he could pay down the local post office.

Regards
Gazzebo

CIS

A week later, a court summons lands on the doormat and saying pay the full year in advance and court costs of £54, plus some sort of £20 appearence fee on the 20th June.

The fact that a summons came so quickly suggests that when you dad called up a reminder notice had already been issued before he called up.

The summons will be issued no earlier than 7 days after the reminder and a reminder notice will normally be issued no earlier than 7 days after a payment is missed (in theory it can be the next day but most allow time for payments to clear). Prior to a payment being required the council tax demand notice had to give 14 days notice (minimum) that a payment was required.

Once the demand notice/ reminder notice has been issued the council can send him a payment card but this is not acceptance that they are withdrawing the original demand notice / reminder or ceasing action in respect of it (unless the specifically agree to do so).