Increase in bills

sourcrates

In the meantime i would suggest you start paying as much as you can to the council for this debt, do not wait for an outcome of the above, you do not want bailiffs knocking on your door for this, the debt will more than double due to there fee`s if they become involved, and at different stages of enforcement, the debt increases again.

The £700 will increase to nearly £1100 very quickly !!

If the debt is less than £1,500 then the fees are likely to be:

£75 instruction fee (your case being sent to the bailiff)
£235 for a bailiff visit (if you ignore their letters)
£110 for removing and selling goods from your property

CIS

We never had a lease. We had to love there as part of our contract.

Did the contract require to live on the premises ? Did you have another property elsewhere at the same time?

Craig

amy17brook

Yes, the contract required us to live there but no we didn't have anywhere else as we were renting. But as advised previously regarding a different matter the contract wasn't worth the paper it was written on.

GarthThomas

OK, sorry for mixing up you and your husband, but that's really not the important point in what I wrote.

You are contradicting yourself, you say that you want no more credit, but then you say that you will want a mortgage. Which is it? You will need to pay this tax, so I'm not sure what you want to hear here.

If your husband works weekends, then he or you can do a few hours extra in the evenings while the other is home. That way you don't need to pay child care.

I know that you'd prefer not to, but you don't really have much choice here. You are over the edge financially now, you've been spending all you earn, have no emergency pot, and one small unexpected bill has brought trouble to your door.

You need to find a way to pay, and then start building up an emergency pot.

You also need to check that a gifted deposit from your family will be OK for a mortgage, especially as you are likely to be applying with a damaged credit file one way or the other.

CIS

amy17brook wrote: »

Yes, the contract required us to live there but no we didn't have anywhere else as we were renting. But as advised previously regarding a different matter the contract wasn't worth the paper it was written on.

That doesn't specifically matter for council tax purposes - a contract to occupy the property would be sufficient to assume liability (in actual terms a contract or any form of agreement wouldn't even be required, residence by itself can be sufficient to create a liability).

If the contract gave a specified minimum term of 6 months or more on the property then it's likely it would be sufficient to give you a 'material interest'.This means that you can be held liable for the council tax charge after leaving, until the agreement formally ended. Again though it depends on the specific wording of the agreement.

Craig

amy17brook

It's a springboard mortgage. Someone puts there money in a savings account and it remains their money. It stands in place of a deposit. After 3 years they get their money back with interest. At which point we will have saved enough to remortgage and stand on our own two feet.
I know I need to pay it, I'm not an actual idiot. While I appreciate your concern you're not actually being helpful. Just rude to be honest. I don't know what planet you live on but 700 is not a small bill!

amy17brook

Anyway, thank you. Have a chat with my hubby and think we have something sorted.

GarthThomas

It's not a small bill because you haven't saved an emergency pot.

I'm not being rude, I'm just patiently trying to help.

Well, I was. You seem just to want to pick an argument, so I'll leave you to it.

amy17brook

Ah, the benefit of hindsight

rosieraspberry

I would prioritise your debts as you seem to be doing and agree to ring up council tax to make payments each month. I know this seems to be the 'wrong advice' but I can see why you're doing it instead of missing a cred card payment and ruining your life!
If you can't meet the £50 minimum if you at least pay something, as much as you can, I'd say at least £30 and explain to them you haven't been able to pay the full amount that month and keep doing this until you are able to pay the full £50 or the £700 is cleared.
I used to work for the council alongside a council tax team and they can often help if you keep talking to them. If you keep in touch with them as long as you're paying something you can usually stop them from adding charges on or sending the debt to debt collectors.
Also you could look at making extra money - sell your stuff on ebay, join swagbucks etc.