Council Tax Benefit problems

Housing_Benefit_Officer

underclasspeasantscum wrote: »

My Council is Boston Borough Council. Actually, I no longer care if any staff are reading this thread as I'd like to give them a piece of my mind.

seven-day-weekend,

Well, since the Council insisted that I make an appointment to claim Council Tax Benefits, stating that any forms I sent via the post would be binned, and that they could only offer me an appointment around 6 weeks after they posted these forms to us, I'd say that it IS their fault. It is also THEY who get to set the criteria on what is and is not acceptable forms of ID.

Oh, and when I turned up for my appointment, I was told there was no trace of any contact with me and that I was simply lying when I said I'd made an appointment DESPITE my appointment details being visible on the self-booking computer. She then decided she didn't want to backdate my claim until later than a month.

Some weeks later I was informed via post that whilst my claim had been accepted, my sister would also have to claim to recieve her half of the Council Tax Benefits which, they decided, would not be backdated. And then of course, my sister is not able to claim Council Tax Benefit due to lack of proof of income.

So, unable to pay, I was given a liability order and made to pay the Council Tax arrears (which were technically my sisters'!) out of my JSA.

Frankly, I've had enough over the whole matter and I wish to dispute the matter over the magistrates. However, the Council, drunk on their own power and self-importance, will likely not give me the opportunity to do so.

Sorry that I don't have time to reply to you all.

You can send in a claim form any time you want you don't need to make an appointment.

This problem is solely your fault for failing to make a claim at the correct time.

Magistrates won't do a thing. There is a route for benefit disputes called the Appeals Tribunal - you would need to go down this route - unless you have failed to appeal within one month of the decision being made?

CIS

Frankly, I've had enough over the whole matter and I wish to dispute the matter over the magistrates

The magistrates have no jurisdiction in the matter of your council tax benefit/reduction - they can only rule on whether an amount of council tax is outstanding or not (which it is) and grant a liability order on the basis that it quite clearly is.

It would appear that the magistrates have already granted a liability order so the only appeal against this would be to the High Court on a point of law.

As stated above there is a recognised appeals route for disputing your council tax benefit/reduction but this is entirely separate to the liability order which was granted.

CIS

So, unable to pay, I was given a liability order and made to pay the Council Tax arrears (which were technically my sisters'!) out of my JSA.

No technically involved, you are both jointly liable for the full balance and equally responsible for payment. As such the council can pursue either of you for the full balance.

pmlindyloo

OP, I hope you now realise that your anger at the system and those who run it is somewhat misdirected.

I have some sympathy with the wrong information being given to you but as far as I can make out this did not occur until January. Your CT reduction was backdated to January. The overpayment occurred between October and December when you did not make a claim.

I hope you can understand that the overpayment from October to December cannot be blamed on anyone else.

The rules may seem unfair (because you were eligible for CT reduction during that time) but as already said you have to show 'good cause' (one of those infuriating phrases) as to why you didn't claim. Not knowing the system is not a good cause.

I don't know you, but worry that you are getting worked up by something that you can now do nothing about. Yes, life's unfair. Perhaps you need some help and support with dealing with the benefit system rather than wasting a lot of energy on something you cannot change. If there was any way you could do something about it we would have told you.

We have tried to tell you how to stop this happening in the future by giving you advice regarding your sister. For your own reasons you are ignoring this.

I hope you are happy in your job and manage to sort out your finances.

925dancer

I've just looked at their benefit application form, it states, on the first page, that it can be posted and must be fully filled in. There are also extensive lists of what evidence is required from applicants.

This is not the fault of the council at all, I'm afraid the OP just needs to accept liability and not fully exploring what they needed to do in order to make sure they did everything they could to reduce their council tax liability.

underclasspeasantscum

jacques chirac,

I feel like I'm going round in circles. The receptionist told me on the phone that I HAD to book an appointment in advance; and when I turned up to my appointment, I was told that the forms would've simply been binned had I posted them through (like I wanted to!)

I now understand that the our Council has a self-booking system, but how is it my fault that the receptionist told me incorrect information?

Housing Benefit Officer,

THE CLAIM _HAD_ TO BE PROCESSED VIA A FACE-TO-FACE APPOINTMENT! Is this so difficult to comprehend?

Whatever you think the magistrates may or may not do, it should be my right to have my case heard by neutral persons before the Council starts putting the frighteners on.

CIS,

The liability order was granted because a council officer at court tricked me into signing a piece of paper agreeing to it, telling me he was going to 'revise my bill.'

And the only reason the amount is outstanding is that Council has arbitrarily decided that they don't want to backdate our claim, and that it is perfectly acceptable to ruthlessly pursue a vulnerable person on no income for Council Tax payments.

And if we're both equally responsible for the Council Tax bill then how come the Council has granted me Council Tax Benefit for MY HALF of the bill yet is pursuing me for my sister's half, too?

Of course, they won't pursue my sister for her portion as they are perfectly aware that she has no income--yet they claim she doesn't have enough ID or proof of no income to get Council Tax benefit!

pmlindyloo,

I'm really not after sympathy--I just want Council employees to do their jobs--which we are compelled to pay for--properly.

And the Council has only backdated MY half of the Council Tax benefit bill to January--my sister's half of the Council Tax bill is still to be paid in full as I type.

It is fortunate that I found work, as the Council were expecting around 25% of my JSA to pay for their precious 'services' and would doubtless try to imprison me if I was incapable of paying.

925dancer,

This is getting rather tiresome now. I was told by both the receptionist and the Council Tax Benefits claims officer that I HAD to make an appointment and that I couldn't merely post the documents through.

Maybe they were wrong and the website is right; or maybe the website is right and they were wrong. Whatever, someone needs to be sacked for gross incompetence.

CIS

The liability order was granted because a council officer at court tricked me into signing a piece of paper agreeing to it, telling me he was going to 'revise my bill.'

No piece of paper signed at court would have led to the order being granted or not being granted. The application had already been made and the only way for it to have been stopped was for the council to withdraw it or the magistrate not to grant it (he had no reason not to grant it).

And if we're both equally responsible for the Council Tax bill then how come the Council has granted me Council Tax Benefit for MY HALF of the bill yet is pursuing me for my sister's half, too?

Its because of the different way the systems work. Council Tax will always work on the basis of joint liability (if there are 2 or more people) but council tax benefit/reduction will only pay an apportioned amount (e,g max of 50% per claim if there are 2 occs and each claim). The apportionment for council tax benefit/reduction purposes does not remove the fact that you are both jointly liable,

Housing_Benefit_Officer

underclasspeasantscum wrote: »

Housing Benefit Officer,

THE CLAIM _HAD_ TO BE PROCESSED VIA A FACE-TO-FACE APPOINTMENT! Is this so difficult to comprehend?

Whatever you think the magistrates may or may not do, it should be my right to have my case heard by neutral persons before the Council starts putting the frighteners on.

The claim form and the council website say you can post the form in without an appointment. Is that so difficult to comprehend? As it is your claim was backdated to the date you first booked an appointment so no errors made here.

The Magistrates Court doesn't deal with Benefit appeals. The Tribunal Service does for Council Tax Benefit and the Valuation Office Agency does for Council Tax Support.

There is a set procedure to appeal within one month of a decision being made. I assume you have appealed within one month then?

You are a victim of your own tardy behaviour. At least you have learned the lesson that next time you are unemployed you make the claim ASAP and not do nothing for a few months.

underclasspeasantscum

CIS,

The fact of the situation is that the council is pursuing someone with no income for Council Tax payments, and are, without any good reason, refusing to backdate any benefit claims. If I weren't here, they'd try and send my sister to prison over the arrears.

They are all pure and utter scum, and I hope one day they find themselves on the breadline to see just how vile the system is that they administer.

Housing Benefit Officer,

If I'd have posted the forms through, they would've been binned, delaying my claim even longer. Whereupon, you'd be telling me it is still all my fault for not booking and making an appointment.

You cannot possibly blame anyone other than our council for feeding the public false and\or conflicting information. But in the eyes of a Council employee, the 'customer' is always wrong--right?

Anyway, the matter is now being resolved as a payment scheme has been set up; but I've ONLY agreed to it since I've unexpectedly discovered I'm entitled to Working Tax Credits. I appreciate everyone's help, but I now realise that local authorities are too powerful and morally-bankrupt to be reasoned with.

CIS

The fact of the situation is that the council is pursuing someone with no income for Council Tax payments, and are, without any good reason, refusing to backdate any benefit claims. If I weren't here, they'd try and send my sister to prison over the arrears.

These are separate issues, namely:

Council tax takes no account of income.
Any benefit/reduction is separate to payment of the council tax and needs to be addressed under the regulations which apply to that.
Its a long way from any attempt to jail a person for non-payment