Council tax liability order issued without notice

kaffenback

I now understand the legal position, but still seems unfair if someone gets in arrears through no fault of their own, for which there can be a large number of unforeseeable reasons including illness, job loss, etc.and then get a £60 bill added, and not exactly helpful to the situation.

MovingForwards

CT has been the most difficult one for me to deal with over the years as my old council would only spread the debt over three months!

Suffice to say CT is now on direct debit, 12 months payment and I just wait for the new bills to arrive each year. In a much better personal/financial situation now. But the staff seem very helpful in Edinburgh compared to when I was struggling in England.

Hope you get yourself straightened out i due course.

macman

So who do you propose should bear the cost of the summons/liability order? LA's have to account for every penny of expenditure and they cannot just 'absorb' these costs: the alternative is that CT has to rise instead.
£60 is a very modest sum for the work involved.To give you an idea of the scale of the problem, around £3.5 million CT liability orders were issued last year.

kaffenback

macman wrote: »

So who do you propose should bear the cost of the summons/liability order? LA's have to account for every penny of expenditure and they cannot just 'absorb' these costs: the alternative is that CT has to rise instead.
£60 is a very modest sum for the work involved.To give you an idea of the scale of the problem, around £3.5 million CT liability orders were issued last year.

Not proposing the LA bears the cost, rather that they take a more flexible approach and avoid the unnecessary use of the summons by discussing financial circumstances and payment options with people before that, instead of only afterwards (if at all). Also I am not convinced re your assertion that the sum is modest compared to the work involved, when it is clearly mostly system generated template stuff that takes seconds to process.

CIS

Also I am not convinced re your assertion that the sum is modest compared to the work involved, when it is clearly mostly system generated template stuff that takes seconds to process.

You'd be surprised how much manual work can be involved in many cases (flashbacks of many 'fun' hours of work),

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

kaffenback wrote: »

Yes but even if we had responded to the summons the £60 charge for that would have been added and it seems like if we had not paid the arrears in full they would not have entertained any payment plan until after a summons was issued. However I will request copies of the letters sent just for a better understanding. Fortunately, from what I understand, a liability order does not affect a person's credit record.

kaffenback wrote: »

I now understand the legal position, but still seems unfair if someone gets in arrears through no fault of their own, for which there can be a large number of unforeseeable reasons including illness, job loss, etc.and then get a £60 bill added, and not exactly helpful to the situation.

kaffenback wrote: »

Not proposing the LA bears the cost, rather that they take a more flexible approach and avoid the unnecessary use of the summons by discussing financial circumstances and payment options with people before that, instead of only afterwards (if at all). Also I am not convinced re your assertion that the sum is modest compared to the work involved, when it is clearly mostly system generated template stuff that takes seconds to process.

As a tax payer who had a heart attack n 2012 and off sick on and off for four plus years, I never had a problem checking my CT status! Ignorance is bliss, pay it up in full so the social workers don't lose vital income for people who are unfortunate like I was!

kaffenback

I am paying in full, including the £80 added, as quickly as I can and I am not questioning our liability, just that the system seems unfair to the least fortunate (not meaning me).


Bravo on looking after you council tax status, but not everybody has the competence, literacy, or capacity to do that. I mentioned I was ill, to be specific I have been suffering from severe anxiety over several years leading to loss of employment as a nurse in the NHS after 35 years service.

macman

No alternative method would have assisted in your case, as your problem arose purely because neither you or your partner bothered to open your post. Had the LA written to you proposing a more 'flexible approach', you still wouldn't have seen it.
Liability orders are a last resort, they only come after repeated letters have been sent after payments are missed, and a letter warning of a summons then follows. Recipients put their heads in the sand and think that it will all go away if they ignore it. It won't.
The simplest way to avoid getting into CT arrears is to use direct debit payment.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

There!!!8217;s nothing like having a watch sized electronic shock machine implanted in you for ...