Council Tax - Council sent court letter

CIS

Council Tax bills are barcoded -

Not always.

dancingfairy

he needs to either go in and speak to someone senior write a complaint letter to the council. For either he needs to record in as much detail as possible exactly when the tenant moved out, exactly when (ie times,dates, names) he phoned up etc and what was agreed (not agreed).
You will need to get it in writing that the summons has been cancelled.
Also whilst you are of course welcome to show up to court my understanding is that if the council can prove they have billed the person correctly (and that they are indeed they correct person) to bill then the liability order will be issued. AFAIK they don't tend to go into the ins and outs of why it's not been paid etc etc. WOrth a shot though but obviously it would be better if you can get something in writing from the council to cancel the summons ahead oftime.
df

CIS

Also whilst you are of course welcome to show up to court my understanding is that if the council can prove they have billed the person correctly (and that they are indeed they correct person) to bill then the liability order will be issued.

That's correct

gazzebo69

I think in this instance then it is up to my dad to highlight their extremely poor service and procedures. The phone call said it all, the card was his only of paying since he does not use/own a computer. It was meant to be on its way so he could go and pay at the post office.

The person on the phone obviously has not done the job here and not sent the cards. I do not understand what these cards are because my council tax is paid direct debit. My dad is the last of a dying breed who are technophobic, dont like or use direct debits and why should they, he gets by very well paying by cheque.

Funny thing is, they were willing to except a cheque when he called up about the summons.

I worked for the council for 9 years as a computer programmer and I am quite well aware of the stupid processes, red tape and do not care attitute, so its no surprise when they tend to blame someone else for their mistakes. Seen it all too often during my employment at the council.

I`m with my dad on this, Ive looked at the facts, seen how he has tried to pay on so many occasions and just hit as brick wall.

Thanks for all your comments, much appreciated.

Regards
Gazzebo.

jamie11

It's easy to pay directly into a council's bank account, even if you have bailiffs at the door, that way the bailiff is stopped dead in their tracks, I know you haven't reached that stage yet.

CIS

The phone call said it all, the card was his only of paying since he does not use/own a computer. It was meant to be on its way so he could go and pay at the post office.

Unless they specifically told him that it would stop the action regarding the payment that he was supposed to have made then, legally, the council have done nothing wrong.

You may be able to persuade them that they confused the issue though and get them to stop action.

sharp910sh

Just go to the council office and pay. Easy, i think your dad is messing around.

gazzebo69

No, he is not messing around, far from it. Unless my facts are incorrect, then the only options for him to pay it was by computer, by credit card/maybe debit card (which he cannot do because it is not tied to his rental business, for tax reasons) or by these cards they send out attached to the property.

So he arranged for 2 cards to be sent (for two properties, because one is coming empty in the next few weeks, and the one that has recently become empty). According to my dad, the option to pay at the council office was not available to him, I do not know why etc.

And like I said, when he rang to speak to someone to ask what the summons was all about, they gave him then the option to pay by cheque, which was not available to him in the first place, but now it is. He sent the cheque off as soon as that option became available to him for the council tax owed and the £50 quid plus court charge bla bla bla, now its all about getting back what is due to him.

The man in question here never ever failed to pay a bill, not even so much as had a parking ticket.

You cannot teach an old dog new tricks like modern tech if they cannot/do not want to, but the council can adjust their processes to cater for everyone, instead of this 'cant do' attitude, they should try a 'can do' attitude.

Like I say, the facts are what I have said in this post, no one has tried to not pay anything, and I do not understand what these cards are for a property, mine is automatically paid by direct debit.

So you can think he is messing around, it is quite the opposite.

What comments I was looking for on here was if anyone else has been screwed by the council tax office and how they dealt with it. If I thought for one minute my dad had simply forgot to pay, didn't bother paying, didn't want to pay etc, then I would not have posted for any advice. And he would have had to deal with that.

Regards
Gazzebo.

ViolaLass

Couldn't you do the computer payment for him?

CIS

If I thought for one minute my dad had simply forgot to pay

If he received the reminder a week after he called the council then the original demand notice was sent at least 14 days prior to the date he called the council - so there's at least a 2 week period in which payment could have been arranged before he called the council- and probably even longer as most local authorities don't send a reminder straight after the missed payment date.