council tax summon charge (unfair)

stranger12

I haven't emailed the council memeber yet. I had a call from them today after emailing them and they with their very pooor service getting back to me after 18 days saying that the charge will stand as is

I explained the situation and the fact that I shouldn't be hold responsible for royal mail failure .
I said that over the years I have always paid on time.


Before receiving this call i was advised by the council customer service to make an alternative arrangments to pay which added £95 to my bill (£70 summon cost and £25 liability order) and do not need to go to court

The woman over the phone said that the court will still go ahead with or without my presence as the liability order need to be obtained.
She said i can go there if I like to and explain the situation to judge.

Legally, would I waste my time going ? as someone mentioned all council have to do is print a bunch of documents just proving they have printed and sent some letters which is really silly as how can that gurantee that each individual would receive the copy on time

any way the council argument is , they have sent two payment instructions on march (before the new tax year) and one in april. they then sent a reminder in 2nd june and then summon on 26th
so charges will not be waived and i am held responsible for it ( this is what they say)

I, i have not received anything , received the reminder on 24 and paid within the 7 days timescale but then received a summon the following monday so overall unhappy as council has not used a reliable mean to ensure i have received the document.

Do i have any change or just pay the charge ? I am so annoyed.



what i do not want to do is have a court agaist my credit profile, would that be listed on my credit profile ?

CIS

Legally, would I waste my time going ?

Pretty much - unless you can prove there was a defect in the notices which were posted out or that you didn't receive the documents.

some letters which is really silly as how can that gurantee that each individual would receive the copy on time

They have to be posted at least 14 days in advance of the hearing - this is sufficient time in law for the documents to be make their way through the postal system.

received the reminder on 24 and paid within the 7 days timescale but then received a summon the following monday

You would need to check when the paperwork is dated - presumably you mean you paid the reminder within 7 days of being received rather than by the date posted ?.

what i do not want to do is have a court agaist my credit profile, would that be listed on my credit profile ?

It has not affect on your credit rating.

stranger12

thanks for this .
last point was the one which made me really worried(credit rating record or county court judgment)

does this mean county court judgment is only for criminal ? i thought it is for anything that you owe money on

So I take it , it is better not to attend the court as it will be time wasted and just pay it and chase it through their complain department and member of council

CIS

does this mean county court judgment is only for criminal ? i thought it is for anything that you owe money on

Its not a CCJ that is used for council tax, its a liability order (through the magistrates court).

With a CCJ the court effectively manage recovery of the balance - each time an enforcement option is used the court have to agree and there is a charge. With a Liability Order the enforcement action (within a range of allowed powers) is handed back to the council and they don't need any further approval from the courts (for most action).

So I take it , it is better not to attend the court as it will be time wasted and just pay it and chase it through their complain department and member of council

Its your decision but ,as above, to convince the magistrate you would need solid proof.

stranger12

Just to update so people in same situation as me know this,

I emailed the council and they got back to me saying they can not wave it then I raised a complain which the officer agreed to remove the cost if I pay all installment on time until next year at which time the charge will be removed.


Thanks all for your advise