Council Tax Arrears & Low Income HELP!!!

little-egret73_2

I have approx £900 council tax debt from last year and have a Final notice for April 14 - Mar 2015 from the local Council.
The £900 bill has been passed onto Ross & Roberts with an additional £75 Compliance Stage Fee.

The reason I have got into debt with last years' council tax was due to serious injuries I suffered to both hands which left me unable to run my upholstery business of 12 years. I had 2 lots of surgery and an extensive rehabilitation program to regain use in my hands. I was off work for 8 months in total. During this time my husband and I separated and it was an awful time. He moved out and I was left to recover and manage all bills my myself. I was entitled SSP. I also have a mortgage to pay (which you don't get help with) and took in some lodgers which wasn't ideal but a necessity.

On my return to work I have had to build up the cash flow and recover from a £3k HMRC Corporation Tax (of which £2k is left), accountant bills (£1300 owing) etc ....it's a nightmare having 2 lots of bills: business and household.

I paid what I could to the Council and kept them informed of my situation. After such massive changes to my income the debt was utlimately passed onto Ross & Roberts. After which I phoned them made a payment of £70 and one of £30 but they said it wouldn't make any difference to the risk of bailiff action.
I have also been trying to pay the council for my 2014 bill but doesn't seem to be touching the sides.

I wrote a letter to R&R and the Council with a breakdown of my outgoings but the biggest problem I have is that my wages are so low and often I do not take anything. I do not have a fixed income and am using as much as I can to keep the overheads covered in the business while I build it up again.

I do not know what to do next other than keep having lodgers and pay what I can. The debt is not reducing with R&R keep adding fees as any money I have is precious and for them to say it makes no difference I feel I have to appear to be making regular payments no matter how small. My family have helped on a couple of occasions but only to help towards a couple of months mortgage payments last year.

I do not have many assets. The only vehicle I have is my Y reg transit which has broken down and I can't afford to have it fixed.
I do not have any luxuries and try to be thrifty on everything. I have no credit cards and feel I have been quite resonsible with my spending.

It seems that due to my disastrous year of 2013 it has had a roll on effect to this debt.

BTW I am single and have no children so am totally on my own with this one.

I had looked into Step-Change but because my income cannot be established at the moment I cannot budget any possible payment plan.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you for reading :-)

When_the_going_gets_tough

Have you applied for council tax reduction as you are on a low income? Do you get working tax credit - are you self employed working 30 hours per week? I think its worth exploring all the benefits you might be entitled to.

little-egret73_2

hi thanks for responding to my post :-)

I have enquired about it and all they sent me was self employed forms and the sections weren't applicable to me but I am an employee of my own limited company so I am not classed as self employed. I have no clue about working tax credits, I thought they were for people with kids etc!

I don't get any council tax reeuction as I have lodgers in the house.