Council Tax Information Request

Sweet_Treats

Hi Guys, 

I owe Council Tax arrears and was issued with a Liability order. 

I have now received a letter Information request, which is asking for all my details. Payroll details etc. 

I am at present working out my budget and collecting all my up to date information to see if I can qualify for a DRO. 

I am not making any payments on my Council Tax at present. 

Any advice on what I now should do? 
Fill in the form, make an offer or ignore it but it does state a £1000 fine if I do that ignore it! 

Thank you. 

jlfrs01

A Liability Order is legally enforceable, it would have followed several letters from the Council and it should not be ignored.
I presume you are in arrears due to reduced circumstances and have spoken to the Council about reduced payments. What did they say? If you genuinely cannot pay and can prove it then the Council may offer a reduction and spread out the payments from 10 per year to 12. Your other option would be to attend Court and make defence of financial hardship.

A DRO has certain criteria to reach as you say, it is likely to be the only way you can have your debt with the Council written off as being Council Tax, it's usually not covered under other standard debt arrangements. 

I found this handy guide online - if you believe ytou meet these then it's a cost-effective, less impactful alternative to Bankruptcy but you will need to inform the Council you are applying to allow them to give you enough time.

https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-options/dro/ 

The last thing you want to do is to stick your head in the sand because you could wind up in Court with not only the arrears to settle but their court fees and bailiff fees to settle as well.

Sweet_Treats

@jlfrs01

Thank you for replying. 

I have just filled in my details on line with a debt adviser and I do qualify for a DRO. 

I’ve got to call the council to make an offer of payment on Monday morning. 

Plus advise them I’m going to be going down the DRO route. 

sourcrates

Crack on with the DRO, the CT debt is a qualifying debt for a DRO, so don`t be making any payments towards it now.

Inform the council that`s what you are doing, hopefully they will place a stop on further action, but if they don`t you will need to be careful not allowing bailiffs entry (if they are sent).