Council Tax - Court Summons

John_Pierpoint

What "final debt?" - each year, normally in April, you get an "invoice", you are then in debt.
As a domestic tax payer you get a concession to pay that invoice over 10 or 12 months.
However if you fail to make your payments on time, that concession can be withdrawn and the whole amount becomes payable.
As with any credit situation you do have an obligation to reconcile your payments against the amount outstanding.
If you leave all the work to your council, it is like believing the HMRC always gets your PAYE notice of coding correct.

It is not rocket science to take what you owe and add up what you have paid, once a year probably at the end of March?

redpola

The "final debt" as in the money I am being summoned to court over. If they had contacted me by phone, letter, or email, and referenced this amount I would have paid it immediately.

Your assumption is that the bills are clearly laid out and easily understandable, and this assumption is wrong. As you can see from my other post, there is a seemingly random "£-359.64" on my bill which is meaningless to me. Items on the balance like this encourage people like me to just pay, and not waste my time trying to find out what each element on the bill means.

In this case I did- I just paid what I was told, when I was told to pay it and yet I still find myself in court. Do you agree that this is unreasonable?

Neil.

John_Pierpoint

I find the whole tax system pretty unreasonable and badly administered.
However I do understand what those invoices/statements of account were getting at - perhaps that is something to do with having to deal with organisations that present their figures from their perspective.
Have you tried the sweetness and light method: The "Is there some way of reviewing this decision" approach?
Then you could try the "OK I'm going to have my day in court" approach, in the hope that the fumbling incompetence of the council will be self evident, but I have a nasty feeling that if you lose you will increase the penalty payable? It is a bit like contesting a parking ticket?

redpola

John,

I am still waiting for the council to respond to my email in which I explained my experience, and that I felt this circumstance was thoroughly unreasonable as I had acted in good faith on all the information available to me.

I'll report back here when they respond. It's now 1.5 working days since my communication and I have not received even a confirmation that they're looking at it.

I suspect that this kind of unprofessional behaviour on their part makes me look better should we even make it to court.

Neil.

dancingfairy

I presume that the council have just applied for a liability order at the magistrates court?
Frankly you need to sort it out at the council before then - why not just pay the 23 pounds if that's what you owe? and ask them to council the summons - it should be pretty east to sort out?
All the council need to do is prove that you are Mr X and owe x and that they have billed you correctly and you haven't paid. You may get your say but the court isn't really there for people to have their say and it's only really a procedural thing so unless you can argue that the council have not followed the correct procedure then it will be a pointless waste of a morning/day.
df

John_Pierpoint

dancingfairy wrote: »

I presume that the council have just applied for a liability order at the magistrates court?
You may get your say but the court isn't really there for people to have their say.

df

The first step to a "Stalinist" state?

redpola

Thanks. I'm not disputing that I owe any money. I will and have always said I will pay any debt in full (and would have paid the arrears immediately had I been notified of it).

I was waiting until I had a full statement of what they think I owe right now before actually initiating any payment, in case it would be sensible to catch up on any more owing debt.

But we're still waiting for a reply after two days!

Neil.

redpola

Well, a boring conclusion to this I'm afraid. Summons cancelled, very apologetic council, and surprisingly a very helpful and competent person at the other end sorting things out. It's a shame it took four working days to respond but when they did it was fully remedying the situation.

One corollary to this though - the £45 "summons fee" was of course quashed. But it's been spent, surely? Does this mean the council have wasted £45? I bet not, which means that it needn't have been charged in the first place.

Neil.

MrOnions

Hi

I was taken to court over non payment of council tax at Stockton Council, and now have a bill of over £800. I lived in Stockton for a year, then moved out to take a job outside of Stockton Borough in March this year. Before I started the job I was unemployed for 7 months and therefore exempt, before that I was working and kept up to date with my council tax. I am up to date with my council tax in my new council area.

Stockton Council were told over the phone (by both me and my ex landlord) when I moved out, even given my new address, although I've been told that since it was a different department (Housing Benefit) that that doesn't count and I have to supply the Council Tax debt with proof of my new address.

I really don't feel like jumping through hoops for grasping scrotes like these, and would happily let them go hang. After all, do I have to provide proof to every council in the country that I don't live there? But I have received a letter today say that they can garnish my wages to cover my 'debt' if I don't respond.

Anyone with any advice?

Thanks

CIS

What period are you being billed for and what period were you resident ?

Before I started the job I was unemployed for 7 months and therefore exempt,

You may have received Council Tax Benefit which paid your charge for that period but you would not be exempt. Did you claim Council Tax Benefit and where you awarded full Council Tax Benefit ?.

Stockton Council were told over the phone (by both me and my ex landlord) when I moved out, even given my new address, although I've been told that since it was a different department (Housing Benefit) that that doesn't count and I have to supply the Council Tax debt with proof of my new address.

They are correct as they are separate departments which require separate notification. Some councils are better integrated than others and will share information between the departments but there is no legal requirement to do so.

But I have received a letter today say that they can garnish my wages to cover my 'debt' if I don't respond.

That is correct. Once a Liability Order has been granted to any outstanding Council Tax can be taken from your wages.