Council tax - is this a normal process?

TinyPomegranate

Not sure if this is a normal process to go through and I just need to grit my teeth and deal with it, or if my council are just being really bad at communicating.

I had a court summons for CT shortly after my BR date. I foolishly assumed they would know I was BR and it would be OK.

Bailiff threats for the following few weeks, eventually I got through to someone who actually listened and contacted the accounts person and bailiff company while I was on hold to make sure it was done. I then received a letter from the bailiff company who stated they acknowledge my BR and I'll receive no more from them, they refer me back to my council.

This whole time I've been emailing, phoning, webchatting my council begging for them to acknowledge my BR which they sometimes ignore, sometimes promise to do but never actually do (hence going to the bailiff agency myself). Council still not listening to me, and now I have received another summons.

Is this normal? I can see all correspondence online in my CT account and it shows nothing in terms of my debt reducing or acknowledgement of any correspondence from me etc. I feel like it was almost fixed before but now we're back at square 1. How do I get the council to acknowledge I'm bankrupt and stop summonsing me? Or have I got something really wrong or missed something really obvious?

Edited to add: if it matters, I live alone with no dependants and receive 25% single person discount

sourcrates

Debt Camel covers it here -

Council Tax

All council tax debts from previous years are included in bankruptcy, whether or not the council has issued a summons for them.

All your council tax liability for the current tax year is included in your bankruptcy. This includes amounts in arrears for this year and future instalments.

Points to look out for:

1. if you are living with someone else who is liable to pay council tax (eg not a child or a student) then you are probably jointly liable for the council tax, so the council will seek to recover the whole amount from your partner.
2. as with income tax, if your liability to pay council tax stops for the rest of the tax year, you are likely to have to pay a higher IPA as a result for the remainder of the tax year.
   

You should issue a formal written complaint if the council have got it wrong, maybe contact your OR and get them to help.

TinyPomegranate

Blimey @sourcrates you deserve a Queen's honour for everything you do here! Thank you so much for your help, I was so worried I'd missed something but it really does look like the council are just not listening. I've done some reading and will be putting in a complaint. Their initial complaint investigation time luckily would end before the court date so hopefully they will address it before I have to attend.

Thanks so much!

TinyPomegranate

Just wanted to say thanks again @Sourcrates for your advice. I put in a complaint on the day I posted this thread and have today received an email apologising that they got it wrong, with written assurance that all court cases and recovery action have been stopped. Also with instructions that I am now not liable for council tax until 2022, so I shall be saving that and putting it aside in case the OR asks for it. Brilliant news!

luvchocolate

Brilliant news