Need help re council tax pretty please :)

zoena

hi all, i had a letter between xmas and new year from the council saying i was £24 in arrears, and that i had to pay januarys payment plus the arrears of £24 immediately and also £75 court costs of something along those lines, i have emailed them saying i had no idea i was in arrears of £24, it doesnt say anything on my online account and the first letter i have had is this letter over new year, and that im not happy about this at all (not sure how i even ended up in arrears but i am pregnant so can only blame it on pregnancy brain lol) well i have had an email back this morning saying that i have to pay it or they will take further action.

i have paid the £135 , did that the 1st jan anyway, where do i stand? i have said that i would like a breakdown of how my council incurred this £75 cost as stated in their email. They have also put that proof of posting is proof of delivery and i have said that as no post from them has ever been signed for by myself how can they possibly claim that?? i really dont want to have to pay £75, i know its my mistake, but over a £24 shortfall over the entire year in my opinion thats a joke! especially as they claim they sent me letters in june and november yet i havent had them??? all the email said was they look forward to recieving my payment along with the bumph about letters sent and proof of posting being proof of delivery.

i would rather go to court and dispute it lol as im actually a pound in credit on my yearly bill now if you ignore the court costs? does anyone know if there is anything i can do?

penguine

Contact your council's corporate complaints manager and ask for a copy of their complaints procedure, then file a complaint. They may have to stop proceedings while you're in dispute with them at the very least and with any luck they may end up reversing their position on the £75 fee. But it may help your case to pay the £24 arrears straightaway if you haven't already.

zoena

ok will do, yes have paid the £24, have paid it in with januarys bill etc.. am getting rather flummoxed with it all am heavily pregnant and the last thing i want is to go stand in a court lol, as there is a date to attend if i dont pay in full (£135 plus summons costs) but i dont know how much i can do there anyway as never been in a court or anything like this! thing is the back of the summons says that the judge will decide if i owe the outstanding "council tax" but surely as i dont actually owe any council tax now (only the summons cost) how can there be any point?? i just dont agree with having had no letter or contact, nothing online to say im in arrears then this summons thing over xmas with costs added on?? i know my pregnancy brain has been chaos this time, but if i had had a letter saying i owed £24 i would definitely have paid it, thanks for the advice will go email them now

zoena

sorry to sound thick but what do i say im filing a complaint about? the fact i havent received anything other than the summons? the date for court on the letter is 22nd of january so not a great deal of time, what happens if i dont pay the summons costs and it gets past the court date?

Reece_

I guess it varies from council to council, but ours only send out summons after having sent 2 reminders in the year, if you have had 2 previous reminders they'd send a summons straight away on the next occasion you went into arrears.

zoena

so i emailed asking for a breakdown of the costs and then asked for the complaint managers details and i have had this reply. so looks like i will have to go to court anyway!

Good afternoon,

Thank you for your two emails. I have now escalated these to our Court Officer who will be requesting the liability orders on the 22.01.2015. She will respond in due course.

Regards,

zoena

and yeah it says in one of the emails that they sent me a letter in november but i honest to god havent had any other letter as , as i said £24 would have been paid lol, not like i owe hundreds and ignored it etc.. would quite happily have paid it had i know it was owed

trailingspouse

Would it be possible for you to ring them, apologise that you appear to be in arrears, but explain calmly that you were unaware, and that you have been paying the amount requested on time each month (do you pay by direct debit?), so you don't understand how it could have happened. Also ask if it would be possible to see a copy of the letters that they've sent you.

It may of course be too late to do this now, as a court date etc has been set - but might be worth a try

zoena

i think im going to have to, no , we dont pay by direct debit i do it online every month as its easier with the way partners wages are coming in etc.. been paying it that way for as long as i can remember paying council tax whilst having internet and this is the first time ive got in a pickle! honestly dont know how ive managed it! i have explained all that in my emails but the reciever doesnt appear to care that its not happened before, just says that it will go to court if i dont pay the summons cost!