Quick council tax query.....

phoebe1989seb

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone can advise re: our council tax bill after buying and moving into our new home please.....

We completed on the sale of our old house and purchase of this one just before Christmas. Our last council tax bills were paid by monthly direct debit and we filled out an online form to do the same here.

However we just received our new bill which is for £700+ and represents council tax from the date we moved in till 31st March (we are band G and annual bill is £2500 approx).

They say we have to pay this amount in full - which is not a problem, but I thought we would be able to pay the remainder of the current year monthly - then continue with monthly d.debits in the new council tax year......

Are they correct?

Cheers all x

Pixie5740

Usually council tax payments are spread over 10 months (February and March are the months you don't make payments) but I think you can ask them to spread your payments over 12 months if you'd prefer.

fed_up_and_stressed

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Usually council tax payments are spread over 10 months (February and March are the months you don't make payments) but I think you can ask them to spread your payments over 12 months if you'd prefer.

You can spread you future annual bills over 12 months ...but obviously as the year runs April- end of March. In effect from when a person moves in they will instead be billed from move indate till end of March so balance can then only be paid over that shorter period

So for example if someone moves in to a property in October and notifies the council in say end December they will only have Jan / Feb March (3 months) to pay for (octmove in date - end of March) approx 6 months worth of liability.

phoebe1989seb

fed_up_and_stressed wrote: »

You can spread you future annual bills over 12 months ...but obviously as the year runs April- end of March. In effect from when a person moves in they will instead be billed from move indate till end of March so balance can then only be paid over that shorter period

So for example if someone moves in to a property in October and notifies the council in say end December they will only have Jan / Feb March (3 months) to pay for (octmove in date - end of March) approx 6 months worth of liability.

Thanks both for your replies. However, it still doesn't answer my query -

We moved in 16th Dec, notified council just after Christmas and were sent a direct debit mandate form as we indicated we wished to pay over ten months.

However, the bill that came this week states that the full amount (£726 iirc) is due now in one instalment.

No option to spread payment over Jan, Feb and March.....

Is that right?

Mattygroves2

Ring the council and ask if you can pay in instalments.

I suspect it's their policy to ask for payment in one go after a certain point in the year.

Doozergirl

I thought they answered it, but yes, it's right. Remember, the direct debit mandate will also go towards next and subsequent year's bill which can be spread over 10 months, ending each January.

This year's option for spreading has ended. They have to spend the money before year end so they need it all in the bank now. However, if you call them up, they may well accommodate and allow you to spread it across Feb & March - sounds to be little point, though.

fed_up_and_stressed

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

Thanks both for your replies. However, it still doesn't answer my query -

We moved in 16th Dec, notified council just after Christmas and were sent a direct debit mandate form as we indicated we wished to pay over ten months.

However, the bill that came this week states that the full amount (£726 iirc) is due now in one instalment.

No option to spread payment over Jan, Feb and March.....

Is that right?

You'll need to contact them to see if they can set you up a manual direct debit for this council tax year and to pay over feb / march. I say this because direct debits tend to not to be taken for at least ten working days after set up because under the dd guarantee they have to give you 14 days notice for the installments.

But this is up to the council as a quick read of the regulations makes it sound that "they (the councils) may make provisions for a payment scheme" rather than an obligation where it is part way through a year ..but im no expert. Suggest you give your local council a quick call and see what they are agreeable to.

Vampgirl

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

Thanks both for your replies. However, it still doesn't answer my query -

We moved in 16th Dec, notified council just after Christmas and were sent a direct debit mandate form as we indicated we wished to pay over ten months.

However, the bill that came this week states that the full amount (£726 iirc) is due now in one instalment.

No option to spread payment over Jan, Feb and March.....

Is that right?

Sounds right if want to pay over 10 months. When paying over 10 months you don't pay anything in Feb or Mar, so the Jan instalment is the last one of this tax year. Or if you have missed the deadline to set up a DD in time for Jan then I guess they'll just ask for manual payment. They don't take payments in Feb and Mar unless you have requested the 12 month payment scheme.

We had a similar issue: moved in Oct last year and set up a new DD. Because it took them a few weeks to actually set it up we ended up paying only 2 instalments (Dec and Jan). The normal 10 instalments scheme will start working properly next tax year.

phoebe1989seb

Thanks guys.....have given them a call and they won't do instalments for this amount.....which is fine, I just wanted to be certain they weren't trying it on

CIS

They say we have to pay this amount in full - which is not a problem, but I thought we would be able to pay the remainder of the current year monthly - then continue with monthly d.debits in the new council tax year......

You can ask for instalments to be spread to March 15 and they have no right of refusal unless it's either a finalised demand notice for a closed council tax account or you have lost the right to pay by instalments.

To do this though you would have to move to a '12 month instalment plan' for this year but this can be changed again for next year's charge if you wish to pay by 10 instalments next year.

phoebe1989seb

Thank you CIS

CIS wrote: »

You can ask for instalments to be spread to March 15 and they have no right of refusal unless it's either a finalised demand notice for a closed council tax account or you have lost the right to pay by instalments.

No, none of these - only purchased and moved into the house in Dec 2014


To do this though you would have to move to a '12 month instalment plan' for this year but this can be changed again for next year's charge if you wish to pay by 10 instalments next year.

OK, thanks for the info but we'll just pay the full amount then let our monthly direct debits start in the new c.tax year.....