Council tax non payment court case - how likely is prison?!

johanne

I havent posted on dfw for a while so apologises but didnt know where to turn to for some info. Basically my partner has been a total *insert appropriate expletive* and has dropped it on me that he hasnt been paying his council tax... AGAIN.

This time last year i negotiated a repayment plan for him for his outstanding arrears i discovered from before i met him - but im guessing he hasnt been paying this either.

Anyway from what ive seen of paperwork, it looks like he has managed to only make one or two council tax payments this year thanks to the fact hes struggling financially as he doesnt earn enough since his mortgage has gone up and therefore every month hes been short and hes had bounced Direct debits and so they have all been cancelled and im assuming he hasnt reset them up? Or when he has the money hasnt been there so they bounced again and not got paid.

REGARDLESS of his excuses or the causes it now seems he now owes £800ish on a £900ish bill!:eek: They wanted full payment after sending out baliff letters and obviously he didnt have it.. so two weeks ago he finally told me whats happened and that at 9:30am tomorrow hes up infront of a magistrate court for non payment of council tax. Im absolutelty mortified/terrified/angry...

I am genuinely scared of what they will do, you hear of pensioners being put in prison for not paying it so they are surely gonna throw the book at a 31 year old bloke who works full time and has a history of arrears with them!!!Hes said hes going to offer them £15 a week to repay it, but im worried its going to be too little too late?!

Im just so upset and cant believe hes let it get this far. Does anyone have any experiance of non-payment of council tax getting this far and be able to tell me a likely outcome?

Broken_hearted

I was taken to court for none payment a long time ago didn't even know I was in arrears as DH was supposed to be paying it by DD. All that happened was they put an attachment of earnings on us both.

johanne

Thanks for replying, but can you explain what that is please? Is it where they automatically deduct repayments from your wages?

Im sure something like that was mentioned last year but my partner was self employeed and then the business went ***s up when yob blew our vehicle up with an industrial firework and so when it finally come to sorting something he was unemployed so paid £2.10 a week back out of his benefits. This woudl be ideal as then he wouldnt HAVE to remember to pay it..!! Especially as ironically hes currently being poached BY THE COUNCIL to come work for them.. from his current firm because hes that good at his job so they could probably work something like that out?! *wanders off into dream land where it could all be sorted asap*

Broken_hearted

They deduct at source before you get the money, we had to fill in all our details and sign it. It's much easier as you can't forget to pay.

Larumbelle

Prison is a last resort after bailiffs etc. Even then the courts are reluctant. BUT they do do it, especially if people could afford to pay but didn't. Cases are so rare that they tend to make the local newspapers.

The court has to accept any reasonable offer of repayment. But if that is broken, it's harder to get a second payment plan.

Does your OH know how serious this is? He needs a Martin-style crash course. Send him to us lot, we'll sort him out

johanne

Thanks for the replies.

I think he is starting to realise as hes spent last two weeks telling me hes pooing his pants to put it politely!! But im still skeptical, as he still has his head firmly in the sand regarding all the rest of his debt as far as i can see! This is despite me being a MSE and DFW for the whole of our 2 year relationship - martin is the 3rd person in our relationship!! :rotfl:

Im secretly hoping court and the threats of prison etc will scare the heebeejeebies out of him and give him the biggest kick up the backside in the world.... especially as im pregnant with our first baby - due in april!! So hes got 5 months to grow up and sort himself out!

moneymare

From your info it sounds like it is a committal case as opposed to a Liability Order Hearing. If the Magistrates and Clerk are anything like on the ball, they will find out he is working and advise the Council to take out an Attachment to Earnings Order, as previous poster has advised. From experience, Committal to Prison isn't likely on the first appearance - the Magistrates like to cover themselves by being seen to give as much an opportunity to pay as possible before throwing the book at the individual.

Hope things work out and good luck with the baby!

Broken_hearted

Congratulations on the baby hope all goes well.

Burlesque_Babe

I used to work in Council Tax recovery many many years ago (early 1990s so memory is a bit hazy of procedure). If he is working for a company and a Liability Order has been issued (as sounds the case) then he is legally bound to say where he works so they can do an attachment to earnings order. I can't remember the exact precentage, but it is something around 8% per month (might be worth googling to check).

Prison is the very last resort. On my first day seeing the public I had to 'arrest' a chap who had come in as there was a warrant out for him as he had failed to turn to previous commital hearings. He had to stay until the bailiff came and they went over the road to the court. He ended up just making an arrangement with a suspended sentence if he didn't pay. And that was somebody the council had been chasing for ages and had all but disappeared off the face of the earth.

I only knew of one person who went to prison, she went for 1 day and then it was all paid off, but she was a persistent non-payer and we had made numerous arrangements and none had every been stuck to, she was a regular at the offices trying to re-negotiate her last arrangement. She had already been up in front of the magistrate so it really was a last option.

I also think the maximum sentence is 28 days, but to be honest, I think they will ask him if he works, who he works for and then do an attachment to earnings.

Don't worry - you need to relax and rest with the baby on the way.

johanne

thanks for all the advice etc.

He went to court and after reviewing his outgoings and his current situation they decided to allow him to go on a payment plan of £16 a week to the court - the debt is £860 with court costs so will take just over a year to pay it off. :rolleyes:

Good thing is he came to my house and gave me the biggest hug, explained everything and said he was so sorry and it made him realise hes got to do something. So when i suggested making the first step there and then by coming online and ordering his credit report.. he agreed - no arguments!!!:D I have been trying to get him to do this for about 12 months.. so maybe he has seen the light FINALLY from the big bulb above his head?!!

He is worried for his posties health apparently though as hes expecting a VERY hefty report when i told him it will cover the last 6 years etc.... im expecting the worst but at least we'll both finally know just how bad his debt is!