COUNCIL TAX SUMMONS

FreeBear

Jude57 said: Given the amount of correspondence issued by Councils every day, many thousands of letters, Royal Mail collect it from the Council offices or from a separate mailing building so there's no certificate of posting which you can get from a Post Office.

My local council have all their mail generated by an outfit down in the West country some 500 miles away. This is then handed over to Whistl where is it roughly sorted in to large delivery areas. Eventually gets handed over to Royal Mail to do the final mile delivery - With so many fingers in the pie, coupled with multiple levels of contracts, even urgent letters can take over a week to be delivered. And it goes without saying, more opportunities for post to get delayed (the most common one is being missorted before handing over to Royal Mail and taking another week to be rerouted.

If the OP's council have applied for a liability order, it won't be for just the last few months - They will be wanting the whole year to be paid once the order is granted (plus costs).

penners324

Surely you Feb & March are months that don't get paid as most seem to pay over 10 months.

I suggest you set up a DD for it.

You may find you owe the whole year in 1 payment now.

pinkfridge2025

I am new here. My problem with Council Tax is I am a Pensioner, Disabled, Bed/Housebound Agoraphobic not left home for over 8 years because of Council Neglect causing 2 strokes in late July 2014 when I was homeless LGSCO and Housing Ombudsman found council at fault.  I was SMI when I got property but I still paid a bit of council tax they have recently backdated to April 2016 to July 2021 but have recently taken summons out for 1st April 2024 to 2025 and now 25 to 26 as my son is my live in Carer as I cannot be put into any council or private accommodation i have to have own place and they have to pay for accommodation if my carer moves out.  On taking these summonses out they are now making me suffer with very high blood pressure and putting my mental and physical health at substantial risk of strokes or heart attack. They have refused to reinstate my housing benefit taking my deceased spouse of 10 years and my small NHS pension of £5.92 per week they are not paying my full housing costs and threatening baliffs and eviction. I don’t mind paying for services, they won’t do repairs, or pick my rubbish up.  I got this property on health grounds under the Equality Act 2010.  I am on Priority/Vulnerabilities Register and under Care Act 2014.  I also come under the New State Pensions Act 2016 as I moved here late April.
I can’t afford £50 a month for 1 bedroom flat. I have been paying £1.00 per week from April 24 by standing order now they stating can’t except this.  I am on full PIP with a fixed weekly income my carer is exempt as he looks after me over 35 hours per week and has stressful full time employment.  They say I can only have 50% discount not full SMI as he is here living in.  I have already struggled with his help to pay nearly £1,500 in rent arrears as they have stopped half of my housing benefit. Can anyone give any ideas please at end of tether.

bcanswer1333

Jude57 said:

andyg1 said:

Hi , I have this morning received a council tax summons for a court hearing . This time around i did not receive any Notcie Letter to say i was in arrears . I have in the past had this letter usually with 14 days in which to pay however on this occasion i have gone straight from the bill issued in April to a Summons this morning . 
Am i able to defend this , either now with the council or in the court on the day ? 
I believe it is an obligation placed upon the Council to send a Reminder 

Thanks

Are you certain this Summons is for the current financial year? Is it possible you have a balance outstanding for a previous year?

If it IS a summons for the current year, in simple terms, the system that generates Summonses cannot do so unless a reminder has previously been generated. Part of the evidence the Council present under oath to the Magistrates is that the required reminders have been issued. English law does not require any further proof than that. You could certainly query it with the Council but I can guarantee a reminder has been issued. You really have nothing to prove otherwise and the Magistrates can't get involved in a dispute about whether you received a reminder. The only defences you could present to the Magistrates which would prevent a Liability Order being issued are that a) you are not the Liable Person for Council Tax purposes (you don't seem to deny that you are, in fact, the Liable Person) or b) that you have paid the amounts due in accordance with your Bill, i.e. April, May and June instalments in full. You don't indicate that you have, in fact, paid as required, and now that the summons has been issued, the full annual amount, plus costs, is due. 

Please note that the Magistrates are only able to decide issues of liability. They cannot make any financial arrangements for payment, nor decide the amounts due. Simply put, Magistrates say liable or not liable. You should, if you cannot pay in full immediately, contact the Council Tax department to make arrangements to pay. You should be aware that, once the Magistrates grant the Liability Order, the Council has wide powers for recovery of the debt, including, but not limited to, bailiff action, attachment of earnings (and some State benefits), placing a Charge on the property, insolvency proceedings against the Liable Person etc.

It's in your own interests to pay the Council Tax as it falls due so perhaps consider setting up a Direct Debit so you don't overlook this priority debt in future?

I was a Council Tax recovery officer for over a decade and, not to sugar coat it, virtually every non-payer denied receiving reminders but they all seemed to receive summonses perfectly well.

hello can you tell me who wrote summons , is it from a magistrate ?

Jude57

bcanswer1333 said:

Jude57 said:

andyg1 said:

Hi , I have this morning received a council tax summons for a court hearing . This time around i did not receive any Notcie Letter to say i was in arrears . I have in the past had this letter usually with 14 days in which to pay however on this occasion i have gone straight from the bill issued in April to a Summons this morning . 
Am i able to defend this , either now with the council or in the court on the day ? 
I believe it is an obligation placed upon the Council to send a Reminder 

Thanks

Are you certain this Summons is for the current financial year? Is it possible you have a balance outstanding for a previous year?

If it IS a summons for the current year, in simple terms, the system that generates Summonses cannot do so unless a reminder has previously been generated. Part of the evidence the Council present under oath to the Magistrates is that the required reminders have been issued. English law does not require any further proof than that. You could certainly query it with the Council but I can guarantee a reminder has been issued. You really have nothing to prove otherwise and the Magistrates can't get involved in a dispute about whether you received a reminder. The only defences you could present to the Magistrates which would prevent a Liability Order being issued are that a) you are not the Liable Person for Council Tax purposes (you don't seem to deny that you are, in fact, the Liable Person) or b) that you have paid the amounts due in accordance with your Bill, i.e. April, May and June instalments in full. You don't indicate that you have, in fact, paid as required, and now that the summons has been issued, the full annual amount, plus costs, is due. 

Please note that the Magistrates are only able to decide issues of liability. They cannot make any financial arrangements for payment, nor decide the amounts due. Simply put, Magistrates say liable or not liable. You should, if you cannot pay in full immediately, contact the Council Tax department to make arrangements to pay. You should be aware that, once the Magistrates grant the Liability Order, the Council has wide powers for recovery of the debt, including, but not limited to, bailiff action, attachment of earnings (and some State benefits), placing a Charge on the property, insolvency proceedings against the Liable Person etc.

It's in your own interests to pay the Council Tax as it falls due so perhaps consider setting up a Direct Debit so you don't overlook this priority debt in future?

I was a Council Tax recovery officer for over a decade and, not to sugar coat it, virtually every non-payer denied receiving reminders but they all seemed to receive summonses perfectly well.

hello can you tell me who wrote summons , is it from a magistrate ?

Summonses for Council Tax Liability Orders are issued in bulk, by post. My former employers, a small Council, issued around 2,000 such Summonses every week of the year. They are produced by the Council, under well established rules and bear the imprint of a signature of a Magistrate. The Council representative (I was one) is required to swear, under oath, that the Summonses have been produced and issued in accordance with the relevant legislation.

This is an old thread so if you have any other questions, I'd suggest you start your own thread to avoid confusion and so that other people will help, too.