Council Tax Problem - Court Case

amz84uk

UPDATE: I went to the Magistrates Court last Wednesday and it was more of an informal chat with the woman in a room (Parent's Evening style).

Anyway, at first, the woman insisted I paid the full £10k asap, and I was asking her to reason with me, as 1 - I cannot afford this, and 2 - I believe I am due some rebate for the period which I was unemployed. I told her that I've seeked legal advice from CAB and the Law Society (which I have), and then she asked me how much I was willing to pay. I offered £50 per month, and she agreed without any further questions.

She said that I would get confirmation of the chat and would have to pay 3 monthly installments of £50 and then they may review the repayment plan.

Anyway, this morning I received a Liability Order stating that I need to pay the full amount within 7 days if I haven't already done so or make some repayment plan. This is extremely worrying seeing as though I was told to pay £50 for 3 months and now this court letter contradicts to what was discussed. I've tried calling the Council Tax office, but they refuse to co-operate and said that the bailiffs might come round after 7 days if I don't pay up.

What are my options now, as this is seriously worrying. I'll be speaking to the local media about this fiasco and see if they can assist.

beingjdc

Ring your local Councillor, they should be able to bash heads together. Probably just a communications failure between the Magistrates Court and the Council.

CIS

The issuing of the liability order is standard - it does not mean that you payment arrangement is not in place but that the council has still acquired a Liability Order to cover them in the event of a default.

If the Liability Order wasn't granted and you had defaulted then the council would have to delay recovery whilst awaiting a Liability Order being granted whereas if they already have it the recovery could press ahead without delay.

You need to check if your council still wants you to return the request for information form you would have been sent - in most cases we wont agree a payment arrangement without it.

If your not getting any confirmation of this I would contact the council again and ask to speak to either the Senior or Principal Officer . We would have the discretion to deal with these sort of queries at the point of contact in most cases but if they aren't helping at the point of contact you need to push up to a senior manager level.