Council tax woes

Ineedsomeadvice

I'm not sure if i am posting this in the right subsection - apologies if I'm not.

I have council tax arrears with Stevenage council but dealing with them is near impossible. Calling them just leads to you being left on hold in-definitely. I have spoken to them once eve after 30 minutes on hold. Their main call centre won't discuss payment plans. Writing is equally pointless.

I have previous council tax arrears which reached the point of bailiffs being at my door. I finally managed to speak to the council and they agreed to recall the debt. they were also made aware of mental health and anxiety issues, not least because I broke down to their general customer service department after discovering I had been on hold for 30 minutes to a department that was actually closed. I made an agreement and made some sizable payments but the bailiffs continued calling at my home on at least 2 more occassions. In the end they only stopped because I showed them a letter from the council confirming the arrangement that they confirmed that they were unaware of! This debt has been paid in part, but not full. And another debt ageny are involved who seem intent on bullying me and won't listen to the fact that I don't agree with the amount and don't understand how the debt is with them with no notification from the council.

As an aside to that issue I have today received a letter taking me to court for the 2014-2015 council tax. I missed the first 2 payments, have paid the others and for around 6-8 weeks have been paying £10 a week to clear the 2 months (approximately £160) arrears. This has never formally been agreed as it is impossible to speak to them but a letter was sent asking them to reply if not appropriate.

I have no idea what to do. I think they are negligent in the way that they are dealing with the debt. I'm assuming that there must be laws/regulations that have been breached by accepting an arrangement and then continuing to use bailiffs to attempt to enforce it. I feel totally harassed and stressed and not sure what to do next.

My gut feeling is to attend the court date and tell the judge that I feel that I am being harassed and that Stevenage Council make dealing with them near impossible. Is there any point in taking this line of action? And if there is do I have scope to change the court date as sod's law I have unavoidable work commitments that day

sourcrates

They should be able to sort out a payment plan on the phone, and if you write to them, they simply cant refuse to help you, have you put in a written complaint ?
If not I would do so, if you get no joy, complain to the local government ombudsman :


http://www.lgo.org.uk/complaints-about-council-tax/

pmlindyloo

Council tax is a priority bill.

Unfortunately once you miss payments the council can then demand the whole bill and you lose your right to pay in instalments.

Since this seems to be an ongoing problem it seems to me that you need some professional help to get your finances in order or this problem with keep occurring.

Also since you seem to be having great difficulty contacting the council then I suggest you make an appointment with CAB. ( See if you can find one with a debt specialist) Take along any paperwork that you have, recent payslips and your recent bank statements. It sounds as if you work so you will need to book a day's holiday when you get an appointment.

Even up to the court case you can make an arrangement to pay back the arrears.

See here:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/money_problems/council_tax/council_tax_arrears

However, from what you have said and because you say you suffer from anxiety and mental health problems someone speaking to the council on your behalf will be able to get all the facts, find out your liability as regards the council tax and hopefully get you a repayment plan which you can keep to.

See here for further reading:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/money_problems/council_tax/council_tax_arrears

CIS

I'm assuming that there must be laws/regulations that have been breached by accepting an arrangement and then continuing to use bailiffs to attempt to enforce it

It doesn't breech any council tax legislation for them to do this.

My gut feeling is to attend the court date and tell the judge that I feel that I am being harassed and that Stevenage Council make dealing with them near impossible. Is there any point in taking this line of action? And if there is do I have scope to change the court date as sod's law I have unavoidable work commitments that day

On the first point no - it a case of a strict liability, you haven't paid so the court have little choice but to grant the order, in line with legislation.

On the second point - you need to contact the council to ask them to defer the application but there's not much point as there's no reason why the court can't or won't grant the order.

The council have no requirement to accept any payment arrangements outside of the statutory minimum.