Council Tax Court Summons!

LottieBarrett

Hi,

Not sure this is the right place to post but here goes.

my husband and I received a reminder notice for council tax back in May this year for April and May and originally when moving in i had set up a direct debit for some reason this had been cancelled which definatley was not me! so i completed the DD Form on the back of the reminder and posted it in!

However we them received a Final Demand for the full council tax for the year needless to say i was angry and worried as we had sent off the relevant forms as per the letters. I rang up spoke to the lady who claimed they had not received the DD??

Anyway after explaining the situation she said i could pay the missing April and May over the phone and then set up the payments again over the phone starting the 28th June! She set it up with me a and sent me a receipt for the two months missing payments this has also been taken from my bank.

i confimed verbally with her that i needn't worry we would have no bailiffs or anymore notices as i was fully un to date and a payment method had been set up all within the 7 day the notice states!

THEN TODAY we receive a court summons saying we still owe the remaining money this is not on at all i am 28 weeks pregnant and this is causing a significant amount of stress on me now as i have done everything asked of me and fully intend to pay my council tax!!!!

Any advice from experts also any advice on how to make a complaint to the council as this is really not on?

(on a added note rang up today as extremely panicked all correspondence states that they are open 9:00am - 12:00pm but apparently thats not the case so ring up the emergency number on the back of the summon and apparently they only deal with emergency flooding and fire?!!!)

sourcrates

Could be that the summons was already been processed before you paid your outstanding bill, these things are computer generated, and the two have crossed in the post, ring them first thing Monday morning, im sure its just a glitch and they will sort it out for you.

CIS

There's 3 possibilities

1) The payment arrangement has not been set up correctly.
2) The summons had already been posted.
3) They made an arrangement only subject to the summons being issued.

Only the council can tell you which.

Anyway after explaining the situation she said i could pay the missing April and May over the phone and then set up the payments again over the phone starting the 28th June!

When did you call them ?. Have you not received a revised council tax demand notice with the new instalments ?

LottieBarrett

When did you call them?. Have you not received a revised council tax demand notice with the new instalments?

Hi, I called them on day 5 of receiving my notice due to being away this was about a week ago.

And no i haven't received anything through the post to confirm set up for the 28th of each month i did ask for confirmation of it though and as i received the receipt for the two payments I asked for I guessed it was on its way!

LottieBarrett

Have rung up the council and it was an error on their part! they have withdrawn the summons and the fees added and im now back onto a monthly Direct Debit.

Thank God!

Thanks for your help!