Council Tax - Court Summons

CIS

You need to check what payments they have received against what was due - if payments have been late on several occasions this can legitimately cause the issuing of a summons.

nero12

CIS wrote: »

You need to check what payments they have received against what was due - if payments have been late on several occasions this can legitimately cause the issuing of a summons.

Thanks for the reply , ive checked against the payments and they dont match the claim on the summons so IMV they cant justify thier claim, the amount shown is simply not owed. with reference to the late payments like I said this is in part due to the DD mandate they havnt processed. This was sent a while ago to rectify the odd late payments and seeing as its automatic its not unreasonable to assume all is right and the payments are being made..seemed we assumed wrong

what bugs me here is that my latest payment was last week as yet again the DD hasnt worked -- they accepted it with no question so as far as im concerned thats it, theyve accepted payments and by default are agreeing to the monthly payments, im up to date so whats thier actual loss.
surely if they have instructed thier legal department to take me to court then they shouldnt have accepted the payments I made and asked there and then for full amount..are they alowed to do this as it seems they want it both ways -- accept monthly payment and take me to court..is there not a letter before action they have to send or something in writing to alert us to thier intentions and give us a fighting chance before they use a court??? weve had no other letters BTW

dawyldthing

have you put your council tax number as the reference number as they might not be able to match the payments to your council tax bill without it

CIS

the amount shown is simply not owed. with reference to the late payments like I said this is in part due to the DD mandate they havnt processed

Legally its the payer who is responsible for ensuring all payments are made until the DD is set up successfully.

surely if they have instructed thier legal department to take me to court then they shouldnt have accepted the payments I made and asked there and then for full amount

No payments would be refused however payments are required by the dates shown to prevent the issuing of reminder/court summons and late payment does not prevent this.

the amount shown is simply not owed. with reference to the late payments like I said this is in part due to the DD mandate they havnt processed

The summons will give the balance on the account on the day it was issued - the fact that another payment may have been on the way wouldn't automatically make this wrong.

John_Pierpoint

When dealing with tax collectors, it is the attitude that the tax payer has to micro manage the tax collector that really gets up the nose of the ordinary citizen.

The only time I have ever been "summonsed" for non payment of anything in my lifetime was by the local authority - it transpired that the authority had received the payment but their accounts were in a shambles and they had simply mis-posted it.
It was paid through the giro system so presumably someone had totally failed to accept some sort of check digit test and the accounts were never reconciled.

That fiasco deprived me of a day of my life and a lot of heartache.
It came as little consolation to me when within the next six months the district auditor slammed the authority and the chief executive and the head of finance left with a payout that my taxes financed.

I suppose the last straw was a curt little note saying the action had been withdrawn with absolutely no hint of an apology.

nero12

Thanks for your responses, would anyone happen to know the relevant legislation regarding this matter and would there be some sort of operational guidance -- in particular guidance regarding due process,payment deadlines and appeals. Im also looking for case law regarding quality of information , i know of Hinchy vs DWP but i dont think it applies here .. any other would be great

Oh and what complaints procedure is there in place for things like this

Savvy_Sue

the council will have a complaints procedure, details will almost certainly be on their website, but phoning to say "I want to make a complaint" would also get you pointed in the right direction.

nero12

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

the council will have a complaints procedure, details will almost certainly be on their website, but phoning to say "I want to make a complaint" would also get you pointed in the right direction.

Thanks , just another thought. would this matter come under the realms of the civil procedures rules which would compel the council to enclose the particulars of their claim as well as the summons.???
I thought our justice system changed in 1999 to allow an equal footing on both sides

nero12

Ok I think im going a bit nuts here as the summons I have has not been issued by the magistrate it seems to have been issued by the authority -- can anyone confirm if this would be valid or some sort of smoke screen from the council.
there is also a lack of evidence , would anyone know whats happening here ?????

nero12

Jeeeeese , is anyone there --I feel Im standing here like a lemon.Can anyone give me a Ya or a Nae. Am I on me own here ????

Anyone ??????????????????