Council Tax Hell...where To Start

friendgeorge

Hi all

i am really upset and totally confused and feel really let down by the government. This is a long one sorry

it all started last june i lost my job working as a civil servant of 8 years due to RSI or compartment syndrome from typing all day, anyway enogh was enough and the HMRC sacked me? anway could not do anything about it. Got put on IB for 4 weeks then it stopped they said i was not entitiled to it or anything else for that matter confused? me too, anyway as i was getting £120 per month pension rate of pay from HMRC i had to sit and wait for an appeal for IB, this took around 7 months all in all, and i won great news i thought. Anyway kept plodding on strugglying as you do then we had a car accident, hubby hurt his sholder and had to take lighter duties in work which resulted in less money, so were were now getting higher short term IB every 2 weeks and hubby getting £174 per week instead of the normal £300 a week, huge shock. In between all this my home was rebanded and we now had to find £98 per month council tax, nightmare.

Cut a long story short nearly lost our home to GMAC but got it sorted, inbetween all that in Jan 07 i tried to get council tax benefit. Since january 07 and today that's how long it's been going on for, they have been thretening me with baliffs court and even prison, yesterday at 10.20am i had a phone call to tell me i got council tax benefit, then at 10.35am i was told i did not quilify, apparently mortgage payments or rent do not come into it, so you have a house and everybody who got a house don;t have mortgages? NO NO NO, this is the law apparently and theres nothing i can do about it.

Anyway what i want to know is after the scum bag from rhondda cynon taff told me today is that

1. if i don;t pay the council tax he will take me to court i will probably losse my house as they will first put a charge on the house, then they will declare me bankrupt, then prison

or i pay the £135 per month they want

well i can't it's physcially impossible for me to pay this, this case has been a mess from start to finish and when i told the idiot from RCT that i would be writing to ann clwyd he laughed and told me i did not have a leg to stand on and to PAY UP OR ELSE, nice chap.......

can someone please please help advise me i cannot pay, shall i just go to prision?:eek: :eek:

CIS

i had a phone call to tell me i got council tax benefit, then at 10.35am i was told i did not qualify, apparently mortgage payments or rent do not come into it, so you have a house and everybody who got a house don;t have mortgages? NO NO NO, this is the law apparently and there's nothing i can do about it.

Your getting mixed up between Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit - mortgages don't qualify for Housing Benefit help but having a mortgage doesn't stop you claiming Council Tax Benefit.

You need to negotiate with them , however if they make you bankrupt you cant then be committed to prison for the same Council Tax debt as the bankruptcy effectively wipes out the debt.

Even then for committal it has to be demonstrated that you have been wilfully negligent rather than just not being able to afford to pay.

Is you Council Tax section aware that a benefits claim is outstanding ? I tend to hold the recovery for 3 or 4 weeks after the L/O has been granted if a benefits claim is underway and is proving difficult to sort out.

As a matter of course most Councils will proceed to get a Liability Order before they will negotiate on a large debt simply because once they have a L/O further action can be taken if necessary and it saves the hassle of having to apply for one at a later date.

Anthillmob

i think the op means the claim for CTB dont take into account outgoings for mortgage. i could be wrong though.

you have been severely messed around by the council over the length of time it has taken to assess your claim. i personally would get your MP on the case to complain. 7(ish) months is absolutely rediculous. where i work we have to try our damndest to complete a new claim in 28 days.

id also go and speak to the CAB. also ring the council tax section again and ask to speak to a supervisor/someone who knows what they are on about. you probably spoke to a customer service team member, they dont have anything to do with assessments and the like.

Morglin

Go to the CAB as soon as you can, and get some help.

Lin

willis999

i had a simailar prob with council tax, wasnt due any help as me and wife earnt to much at the time, still had x amount in debts to cope with, had threats, calls, charges, court actions, in the end they sent the bailiff in.
if i hadnt of paid the bailiff, they would start repo of my stuff, was never threatend with prision!!!!
not sure you can go to jail for being in debt!!!!
still seek advice from cab or a legal aid help.
good luck, try not to worry about the prison scare, prisions are full at the mo anyway, they giving early release's to low risk cons!!!

friendgeorge

Hi all

thanks for the advice but prison is my last resort, how the hell could i get a job with a criminal record? My sister in law works for the same council but she's moved to a different section now but she's a manager and she is so shocked she cannot believe what was said to me yesterday. She has drafted a letter for me to email internal as they never get my external emails or letters. Back in March i even had a guys payslips who liver around 20 miles from me bank details everything on them, they are useless. Also my sister in law thinks i should go to court as she said no-one goes to cort for concil tax and that's why he said the judge would award them, it's due to people being scared to go to court about CTB, but i have been to court around 10 times in the past 9 months for my house and car, and it's not as bad as people think so i'm going if i have to, also i have drafted another letter to my local MP and also i will go to the press if need be, thanks again and if anyone has anymore ideas please get in touch

CIS

Also my sister in law thinks i should go to court as she said no-one goes to court for council tax and that's why he said the judge would award them, it's due to people being scared to go to court about CTB,

For the Court hearing for the Liability Order you can't dispute the actual billing except in very few circumstances. Awaiting a benefits claim is not a valid defence.

Q. What is a valid defence against the issue of a liability order?
A. (i) There is no entry in the valuation list for the property the summons
relates to.
(ii) The amount has been paid.
(iii) The sum outstanding includes a penalty for which there is an appeal
outstanding.
(iv) The Council Tax has not been properly set or demanded in
accordance with regulations.

Q. What is not a valid defence.
A. You have applied for benefit.
You have appealed against the Council Tax banding for the property.
You have appealed against your liability.