Help please! before I part with cash

rushnowt

Could someone please advise me what I should do, Long story so I'll cut it short,

Basically had a call from mate this morning in tears, shes received a court summons for council tax, due to appear 4th Nov (i think)

anyway story is she left family home when seperating from hubby, divorce has since come through and hes now vacated house, property is unoccupied and for sale, she is currently paying council tax for home she lives in and 50% reduction on empty property (2nd house), well as you can imagine shes finding it hard and as been a few days late on occassion with payments on 2nd house although never missed a payment,
payment was due on the 4th Oct, Paid on 8th and received summons today, she owes £150 for rest of yr up to march05 and now incurred costs of £50 odd quid, it states she has until the day before to pay the whole amount in full and procedings will be cancelled, she has called the office and they've said theres nothing they can do, she has to pay, but she cant afford it and is at her wits end. Shes asked me to loan her the money which although difficult i would have to do somehow than see her in this state.
What should she do, as i said she as all paperwork to prove never a payment missed (Just late) should i go to court with her and help her fight it,? will the court costs still stand? will she be able to claim anything back if she pays for the whole year and the house sells sooner?
I dont know what to advise, I know what i would do (go to bloody court) but shes not as strong as me and worries so much, Please Please, any advice.

Thanks in advance

Debs

[Deleted User]

The first thing is not to panic.

The court appearance is not till 4th Nov so your friend has time to go to the local Citizens Advice Bureau for specialist help.

You can only go to jail for NON PAYMENT of council tax - not payments which are a few days late.

It is likely the Council want something properly drawn up to ensure they get their payments on time - and it is also likely they have already tried, unsuccessfully, to set up a direct debit with your friend to ensure timely regular payments.

It sounds like your friend may be struggling and there may be other debt to also consider. The CAB can assist her with drawing up details of her income and expenditure to present to the Court and also advise her fully on the Court side of things. With her permission, they can also liaise with the Council to try and resolve this matter without going to Court.

It is best you do not lend her the money - unless you accept you may not get it back. Even with the best will in the world - and she may have every intention of paying you back - she may just not be able to manage it for a very long time.

Council Tax is classed as a Priority Debt, as is the non payment of Court Fines, Income Tax or Customs charges to name a few. All these can result in a prison sentence.

Credit card bills, loans, etc are not priority debt - you can't go to prison for not paying these. Therefore - if she is concentrating on paying these types of debts - it may just need her to rearrange who gets paid first - and with the help of CAB - the rest may accept rearranged and/or smaller payments.

rushnowt

Thank you for your sound advice ice,

I will call round tomorrow and see her and if you dont mind print off your response for her, so she understands the situation better.

I have advised her in the past to contact CAB but she is very proud (or silly) she struggles to pay off everything on very little money, she is bringing up 2 young children and works part time but will not claim the benefits she is entitled to as she feels too embarrased, she is currently paying rent and the mortgage for her other house 2 council taxes and utilities for both, and i see her in such pain over the worry, she is very dear to me and i do everything i can to help and support her but i unfortunately cannot solve all her problems.

She refuses to move back into her home even though her ex as now gone as she says it holds to many bad memories, i can see her point of view to some extent, there are many things she is trying to forget, and also her ex does not know where she is now and wants to keep it that way.

Thank you again for your help and I will make an appointment for us to call in with all her documents, kicking and screaming if needs be lol.

td

Hi,

If she wants to be self sufficient and has an empty house would she consider renting it out? There are agencies you can go through (though I don't know them) to rent out to foreign students and businesses but I know you take a risk whoever you rent to. I think that's what I would do.

td x

rushnowt

Hiya,

Firstly no asked the bank if she could rent it out but unfortunatley they wouldn't allow her to do it, secondly I dont really think it would be a sensible solution if they would as she really needs to be rid of the house and desperately needs the money to clear other debts as well.

Anyway I've rang the council tax dept for her today and aranged a although not happy solution and solution non the less, she as agreed to pay by DD and they will then continue to take the rest in installments, however they would not deduct the extra £54 added for court costs >:( not really making her life any easier, but there you go, at least its a little less worry now.

Thanks for all your advice guys. Much appreciated

Debs :-*

[Deleted User]

Well done! At least you have got a result regarding the going to Court issue.

If you can still persuade her to visit CAB and sort the rest of her finances I'm sure that once having done that - she would have the peace of mind she needs. After all, she still needs to ensure the money is in the bank to pay the direct debit - which may mean giving something else a miss but end up still causing her worry.

Try and encourage your friend to claim for anything she is entitled to. After all, they can only say no. Pride does not pay the bills. If her circumstances warrant being entitled to benefits - she SHOULD claim. This is the whole point of benefits - to be able to help people.

There is no shame in making a claim - and it may only be temporary until she decides what to do with the empty house.

You sound like a really good friend.

Savvy_Sue

If things change - eg the sale drags on and paying two sets of CT becomes impossible - it may end up being worth going to court. There should be a duty solicitor there to help her. I know this sounds perverse, and because of the court costs you do end up paying more, but once you are in arrears they may accept payments at a lower rate.

I would see this as a last resort because the other danger with this is that her current address might appear in the local paper: I'm not sure what happens when you are summonsed for non-payment of CT on a property you don't live in!

If she's renting through the council or a local housing association it might also be worth contacting her Housing Officer to see if they can offer additional support, or at least get herself known as someone who is doing her best in a difficult situation!

Keep encouraging her to apply for any extra help she can get: we all pay taxes when we earn enough so we should all take advantage and claim what we're entitled to! For starters the dreaded Family Tax Credits!