Baillif coming

plonker

Had a summons today for council tax, rang the office they won't accept payments smaller than £240 a month which we can't afford so they said let it go to court and then the baillif will come out and arrange a payment plan, we have a date for this but just wondering what we can expect if anyone can advise will be very grateful.
Will they accept smaller payments?

Crown

Hi P,

It is unlikey that the council will accept smaller payments although they may let you pay your council tax arrears over a few months. Council tax is regarded as a priorty debt along side your mortgage/rent, Food and Utilities.

I havent looked at your previous posts to see if you have posteda SOA before but if the reason you cannot pay your council tax is because you are making payments to unsecured loans or credit cards then you need to stop this as they are non priority.

If you wish to repost your SOA we may be able to help you there but I strongly suggest you contact one of the debt agencies for advice or call your local CAB.

Good luck

plonker

The full amount is going to court for the year not just arrears, a court baillif will be visiting, hoping they will accept smaller payments if not I guess they will have to take my stuff

Crown

Hi again, Have you sought advice from one of the debt agencies already? Do have any income or assets at all at present?

I realise that you say the full amount is going to court but have you made any payments to them at all and can you show the court a breakdown of your living expenses? If you do go to court the judge will take all factors into account and if you have a repayment plan set up this could go in your favour.

Without further details of your current financial situation it hard to advise what to do for the best. If you want any further advice please post some more details.

GreenNinja

Jesus, this sounds harsh, won't accept payments less than £240 a month????!!!! thats a huge amount of money to find per month if you don't have it.

plonker

Crown thankyou for your replies. Maybe I didn't word my post properly but I would like advice from someone who has been in this situation if at all possible.
Once I can get this sorted the rest will be pretty easy

Thanks again

anniecave

how much is your council tax bill for the year in total? Are you also in arrears from previous years, or is just this year they are chasing for? Have you paid anything towards it as yet? From the above you have the amount to be paid in total. Thy should be able to divide it by the remaining months and let you pay that as a monthly figure. So if we are now in September, that would be divided by 7 to take us up to next March. What would that figure be?

You need to be able to pay that at a minimum, otherwise as others say you need to move council tax into a higher priority than your other debts, as it's an ongoing living expense.

If they are asking for a lot more than the amount divided by 6 or 7, then once the bailiff comes round, you can agree a suitable payment amount.

plonker

It's this years tax + an overpayment of benefit from last year of £600 so total amount £1262.11
So your saying even though it goes to court they will still demand it's paid by the end of the tax year ?

Crown

Hi NP, I have been in this situation myself when I couldnt afford to pay my council tax on a flat I owned last year. Thankfully in somes ways the property ended up being repossessed not long after.

The situation was a little different to yours as I was not living at the property at the time but was advised that unlike credit card/loans the court will send bailliffs to collect if a settlement isnt reached. In my case I managed to avoid further action as I had paperwork showing I wasnt at the address but unfortunetly this doesnt help your case.

All the best with it mate

rayday2

You really need to get some professional advice if they start taking goods which you seem resigned to it will be at a fraction of what they are worth so they could attempt to take goods which may have cost your more than twice the amount of what your debt is.

You need to visit the CAB and get a statement of income from them and some advice for when they do come or hopefully try to sort something out see what your local CAB say.

rayday2

Sorry just another thought, also Baliff costs will go on for each visit, letter I believe so tackling it now is much better than sitting waiting for them turning up!