Council Tax summons but no reminder

timbstoke

In December, my council tax direct debit bounced. I got a letter from them telling me that they’d try to take it again after 5 days, and if that failed, I’d be liable for the entire bill. Fair enough. Unfortunately due to the rush of Christmas, I never noticed that they didn’t actually retry. January’s DD went out without any issues and I forgot all about it.

Today, I received a summons. No further reminders, no notice that the whole amount was now due, nothing.

The gov.uk page (https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-arrears) says that I should receive another notice telling me that the entire amount is due. This never came, I heard nothing until the summons today with an extra £60 on top.

Is the requirement to send additional reminders enshrined in law or council policy anywhere? I’ve paid the outstanding tax in full now (the last month of the CT year was January, so only December was owing) but I haven't paid the court fees yet, since I intend to argue that they should have a) retried the direct debit since they said they would, b) sent a notice that the entire year was now owed, and c) if the entire year was owed, they shouldn’t have taken the DD In January. A summons and £60 charge completely out of nowhere with no communication seems out of order. Any suggestions on whether this can be nipped in the bud before it gets to court?

MovingForwards

I got a letter from them telling me that they’d try to take it again after 5 days, and if that failed, I’d be liable for the entire bill.

^^^ was your reminder.

They will continue until the court fees are removed or paid.

Have you called them?

Be aware you may not be allowed instalments with you next bill. Or if they do allow it, any missed late payments and they will be all over you again like a rash.

(that's my experience of my old council)

unholyangel

Were you on any sort of payment plan/have arrears? Thats the only situations I know of where they issue summons with just 1 payment missed.

You might want to try pm'ing CIS (I think he lurks on this board periodically but i'm not sure). He used to work for the council in council tax recovery so had inside knowledge of their processes which could prove helpful.

timbstoke

MovingForwards wrote: »

I got a letter from them telling me that they’d try to take it again after 5 days, and if that failed, I’d be liable for the entire bill.

^^^ was your reminder.

They will continue until the court fees are removed or paid.

Have you called them?

Be aware you may not be allowed instalments with you next bill. Or if they do allow it, any missed late payments and they will be all over you again like a rash.

(that's my experience of my old council)

I’ll call them tomorrow, I only came home to the summons tonight. If the letter had said “pay within 7 days” I’d agree that its a reminder, but it didn’t - it said “WE’LL take it after 5 days” - if they’d done so there wouldn’t be any arrears. I admit I should have kept an eye on it to go out, but I’d have at least expected them to let me know they want the full amount before just going straight to summons - I was under the impression that claimants are expected to avoid using the courts unless necessary.

timbstoke

unholyangel wrote: »

Were you on any sort of payment plan/have arrears? Thats the only situations I know of where they issue summons with just 1 payment missed.

You might want to try pm'ing CIS (I think he lurks on this board periodically but i'm not sure). He used to work for the council in council tax recovery so had inside knowledge of their processes which could prove helpful.

No payment plan other than the standard 10 month DD which was up to date. I get paid 4 weekly which caused December’s payment to be attempted a couple of days before payday.

I’ll try to call them tomorrow, but if they won’t budge I’ll go to court and argue the point there - might as well get my £60 worth at least.

Socajam

You are lucky they sent you a summons and not have the bailiffs did turn up at your house.

waaag

The council send fake summons. To appear at a magistrates court... You are taken into a room which is not a court room it is a room hired by the council. They will then give you the privilege of paying by installment with extra added on for the privilege of doing so.

CIS

timbstoke wrote: »

No payment plan other than the standard 10 month DD which was up to date. I get paid 4 weekly which caused December’s payment to be attempted a couple of days before payday.

I’ll try to call them tomorrow, but if they won’t budge I’ll go to court and argue the point there - might as well get my £60 worth at least.

First point - Ignore the above post about 'fake summons'... As a reference, I have worked both from the council side in the past and, now, on the court side dealing with council tax summons and liability orders - there is no 'hiring' of the court room. The council do have to pay a statutory fee for the summons application, this is set by the Ministry of Justice to cover the court's costs but the approval of the summons and issuing of a liability order are judicial (or delegated power) decisions made by a magistrate or legal advisor - the liability order hearings are made in open court.


Where people seem to take offence is that the council will send staff to the court to discuss issues and will often agree arrangements at the court - it's often the only time the debtor will turn up to discuss the issue. This does not alter or affect the legality of the liability order.

The .Gov page is only basic - they miss out some of the technicalities of the process.

It depends what the letter you got was - whether it was a 1st reminder, 2nd reminder or a final notice - it makes a big difference as to whether or not you have any legal argument. The court can only hear a legal argument, a 'it's not fair' won't affect the situation. Without knowing exactly what the initial letter you received was it's very difficult to say whether or not you have a workable argument.

I was under the impression that claimants are expected to avoid using the courts unless necessary.

Civil cases are an entirely different issue to those founded in statute. Legislation outlines the process for council tax and there is no requirement in law for them to try and take any payment again - if it's not received for the due date then it's a missed payment and, even if it's subsequently paid, unless the payment is made with the statutory deadlines the council can proceed with enforcement action.


You might have an argument with the council over the payment request not being presented again but that's between you and them, not the court and the process of council tax recovery. Ultimately the legal onus is on you to ensure that the money is with the council by the due date. The council might give you some leeway but they don't have to.

pickledonionspaceraider

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CIS

About ten days later, a Summons appears at the new address in the correct name, saying you owe the paltry sum of £30 - court date set, and everything - with additional costs on top.

It shouldn't be for the new address if it was done straight away - once a council tax account is registered then a demand notice has to give a minimum of 14 days notice of payment being due and then, at the very least, a further 7 days following that before a summons could have been issued.

timbstoke

CIS said:

It depends what the letter you got was - whether it was a 1st reminder, 2nd reminder or a final notice - it makes a big difference as to whether or not you have any legal argument. The court can only hear a legal argument, a 'it's not fair' won't affect the situation. Without knowing exactly what the initial letter you received was it's very difficult to say whether or not you have a workable argument.

It was received about 3 days after the DD bounced, and said only that they'd try again within 5 days, so I don't think it can be anything other than a first reminder (and I'm not sure that "we'll try again in a few days" even qualifies as a reminder). 

As an update, my wife spoke to the council, and they said that as long as the payment shows on their systems in the next few days, they'll cancel the proceedings without adding court costs. It may have helped that the December letter was addressed to me only, but we both received separate summons - she had never received any previous communication addressed to her. We'll call back next week to confirm this situation, but hopefully it's now sorted.