Council Tax - Court Summons

CIS

Given the paucity of information available it is not practicable to identify the individuals concerned. The issues identified in Rochdale and Salford have been fully investigated and I am satisfied that correct procedures are now in place. A national check was carried out that revealed no similar practices and all courts have been reminded of the importance of following the correct procedures.

Its unlikely to have been issued incorrectly as it was an issue with two particular courts so unless you fell under those courts at the time of the issuing then there hasn't been a problem.

There is no problem with the council actually producing the summons and posting them providing that the court have signed off the issuing of them.

brox81

Hello, this is my first post on this forum and I would like some advice please about my current situation.

I have moved into a new flat, sharing with someone. I work full time, although have a fairly low wage and have student debt. My flatmate is still in the process of sorting out Council Tax Benefit, but there is a back log and doesn't know when it will be sorted out.

The Council Tax is a little overdue and my flatmate's CT Benefit may take a while to get processed.

My question is regarding if it reaches the stage of us both getting a court summons. As I understand it we will be billed for the total amount withstanding, not just the monthly installment we won't have paid, plus additional costs. If we don't pay the full amount by the hearing date then a Liability Order will be granted.

My situation is this. Despite my low income and student debt, I have savings in ISAs etc. but obviously I don't want to touch these. How will these savings affect having to pay the full Council Tax amount before the hearing date? I have read that sometimes Councils allow a monthly payment plan to be set up. Would this still apply with my savings?

If I refuse to dip into my savings, what could happen?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

CIS

My situation is this. Despite my low income and student debt, I have savings in ISAs etc. but obviously I don't want to touch these. How will these savings affect having to pay the full Council Tax amount before the hearing date? I have read that sometimes Councils allow a monthly payment plan to be set up. Would this still apply with my savings?

They wont affect it.

The council may accept a payment plan but it would be based on the obtaining of the liability order regardless so that the council have it in case of any future defaults.

brox81

CIS wrote: »

They wont affect it.

The council may accept a payment plan but it would be based on the obtaining of the liability order regardless so that the council have it in case of any future defaults.

Thanks for the advice. If the Council accept a monthly payment plan in light of a summons being sent, would the amount required per month just be the same as the normal monthly council tax bill?

CIS

Thanks for the advice. If the Council accept a monthly payment plan in light of a summons being sent, would the amount required per month just be the same as the normal monthly council tax bill?

Most likely a similar amount (but including the summons costs)

BenTheBoy

A final update on my situation (I hope!). You may remember I received a summons for non-payment of council tax. I had forgotten a payment and like I've said, I got no reminder (though they claim one was sent).

I made a formal appeal/complaint. A complaints officer was appointed. I rang and spoke to her. She said she'd send a response by 13th Sept.. But by this morning (14th Sept) I'd had no reply and my court date is tomorrow. So I rang her this morning and she said she'd written yesterday to inform me she had not upheld my complaint for 2 reasons. Firstly she questioned how I can have received the summons but not the reminder (aaaaargh!). The second point was a surprise - she said she would've taken a lenient attitude had I brought my account up to date after I got the summons.

Had I known that all I had to do was bring my account up to date then of course I would've done that. But that is certainly not what it says in the summons letter. It says the amount for the whole year must be paid before the court date plus £125 summons charge. It is also certainly not what I was told when I rang the council after receiving the summons when I was told £125 would be added whichever way I paid. I spoke to the complaints officer only last week and even she herself didn't tell me that. So how am I supposed to know?

I pointed all this out to her quite strongly and that I've always been ready to pay. I told her I even printed out their direct debit form (I generally avoid dd) in case they wanted me to pay that way. She then apologised that I had not been advised to bring my account up to date and suddenly offered me a deal. If I go to my local council office TODAY and hand in a completed direct debit mandate, she will withdraw the summons & £125 charge. I asked if I should make a manual payment up front and she said all that was needed was the mandate. She said if I do that, then I can ignore her written decision when I receive it. I gladly accepted her offer. Luckily I had a day off work today so early this afternoon I went and handed it in and got a receipt.

Although I'm quite pleased the way things went, I'm also fairly astonished!

I'm also rather bemused by council procedures. So much fuss and time taken when matters might be resolved more quickly and easily with a little good will. Is there any need for an aggressive approach in the first instance? I'm sure, it is sometimes necessary but straight away? Summonses, formal complaints, all unnecessary in this case. I still feel that 2 reminders should be issued prior to a summons. Otherwise the procedure operates in a manner that is potentially unfair because there will be an automatic assumption that whoever claims not to have received the single reminder sent out is dishonest (which is why I went aaaaaargh!) If the cost is an issue why not just add the 40p postage cost of the reminder to the bill of the late payer? I also feel that the summons charge should refect the actual cost of issuing the summons (as opposed to attending court, which most people don't).

A lot seems to depend not just on the particular council you're dealing with, but also on the particular individual handling your case. This seems to make how these cases are handled, a bit of a lottery. Maybe it also helped that although I argued my case strongly, I did my best to work within the procedures, be reasonable, and make it clear I had no intention to avoid paying and am ready to pay. I had been quite pessimistic. Had I failed, I would've paid the surcharge though still furthered my complaint. All I ever did was once be a bit forgetful!!

The complaints officer even pointed out that next year I would be free to cancel the direct debit. Somehow, despite my reservations about dd, I don't think I will. I've learned my lesson

CCH*

Hi ,Just a quick question when you rececive a council tax summons and you make arrangements to pay wil anything go against your name and find it hard to get credit???

CIS

Hi ,Just a quick question when you rececive a council tax summons and you make arrangements to pay wil anything go against your name and find it hard to get credit???

It isn't recorded on your credit record that a Summons or a Liability Order have been issued.

km85

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum and would be grateful if anyone could offer advice. Up until last september I was a student and didnt have to pay council tax. I had a problem at uni and my student life was cut short unexpectedly. I struggled to find a full time job, although I was working part time but the hours varied and were not set each week.

In April 10 I got 2 council tax bills through. One from sept 09-apr 10 and the other apr10-apr11. I didn't pay as I could not afford it. I got a reminder through in May 10 and rang them straight away to see what I could do in terms of paying. I explained that I had irregular hours and I was only part time. They asked if I could afford £10 per month. I agreed to pay this amount each month and since then I have kept up with payments.

I have only just started working full time in the last month.When I got home from work the other day I had been issued a court summons for non payment of council tax. I got really upset as I have kept up with my payment arrangment. I tried ringing them at 5pm that evening (they shut at 6pm) and I was put on hold for over an hour. I dont have a landline so it cost me a fortune from my mobile. They cut me off at 6pm as they were shut so I didnt manage to speak to anyone. I did leave a voicemessage on their machine. The next morning I tried ringing before work. I work 8.30-5.30. They open at 8am so I thought I would get through. I was put on hold at 8.05 for 20 mins and didnt speak to anyone. I tried ringing again in my lunch but same thing happened.

I dont know what to do. No one seems to want to talk to me. I have kept up with my payment arrangments and that doesn't seem to be good enough. I can prove that I have paid each month. Please help.

CIS

Until a Court Summons has been issued then the council will be trying to collect the money within the year (by 31 March 2011) and very few will accept an arrangement that will go past this without securing a Liability Order first (this is what is granted at the court hearing).

You need to speak to them as there are two ways that this payment arrangement will have gone - 1) they gave an arrangement on the basis that the Liability Order will be obtained and the arrangement is to continue or 2) they agreed £10 p/m on the basis that any money is better than none and you need to agree an arrangement once the Liability Order has been granted.

Without speaking to the council there's no way of telling which way the arrnagement is meant to run.

The fact you couldn't speak to anyone is not personnal - most councils are running phone lines with very limited staffing and it doesn't take much for them to be caught up in other calls. You need to either keep trying by phone, email them or , probably the best option, go in and see them.