Council Tax

chelle77_2

Hi everyone i wasnt sure which board i should post on so i apologise if i'm on the wrong one.

I was wondering if someone could help me in regards to council tax arrears. I will try my best to explain...I had to sell my house about 3 yrs ago due to my ex leaving and i couldnt afford the mortgage, it didnt take long to sell but i left that house with an outstanding council tax bill of £394.25 pence. The council re-housed me in temporary accomodation which i was there for 10 months, as my local council sub-let houses from private landlords, the landlord decided he wanted to sell up. During the 10 months i was there i suffered depression and was off work for 3 months. As the bills came through i just buried my head in the sand thinking they would all just go away, including the council tax bill with this property on top of the last one. After leaving that property i moved in with my mum for a bit until last november when i found a house that i am now renting privately. However, as much as i've pick myself up, the council tax bill for the house i sold and also the house i rented for the 10 moths has come back to haunt me. It went to court a few months back and i got a letter off them stating i had to be back what was owed.

I phoned my council asking them if i pay in monthly instalments they said it should be fine but they would have to send me an income and expenditure form. I filled this in, sent it back off to them and heard nothing more. Then i get another letter off them a few weeks ago asking me why i havent made payment, i kindly told them that when i called them up to ask if i could pay monthly they told me not to make any payments as of yet until they had assesed my income/expenditure forms. They told me they must have got lost and would send me out some new ones. In the meantime i thought i would make a payment to them while i was waiting for the second forms to come out to me. I wrote a cheque out to them for £20, £10 on each bill. In the meantime the forms got sent out to me and i filled them in and got a letter back saying the following.....

Unfortunately i am unable to accept your offer of £10.00 a week to clear the arrears due to the excess of income over expenditure. Your income is £384.25 and expenditure is is £323.75 so the excess is £60.50 per week so therefore propose the following repayment:

38 weekly payments of £12.00
Followed by final payment of £16.35


The thing is when i did the inc/ex forms they asked what benefits i recieved, i work 16 hours per week with 3 dependant children and i get WFTC, my child benefit and help with housing benefit. My rent is £105 per week, the council pay £51 and i pay £54 per week. I dont see the £51 they pat as it goes directly to my landlord but yet they have taken it as actual disposible income that i have. I'm under the impression that when it asked how much the rent is i put down £54 per wk so im not sure if they think that they pay £51 towards the £54 (hope that makes sense).

Are they allowed to ask for more money from me even thought they have already cashed in a cheque for the £20 which was split for each bill? My offer was to pay £10 a month on each bill not £10 a week as they are saying they want me to. I just cant afford £40 and i dont know what to do next about it.

Sorry this has been so long but any advice will be appretiated.
Kind regards
Michelle

beanielou

Hi & welcome
You need to get back in touch with them & fully explain the situaton to them.
It might be best to make an appontment to see someone to discuss it fully with them.
You could also approach your local CAB & get them to help you.
Try to do it this week.
Take care.

MrsTinks

I would re-do the form thingy again and put a letter of explanation stating what you do infact have as "spare". Make sure you explain that you have 3 dependant children etc etc Make sure you send it recorded!
Also ensure you clearly state that you are able and willing to pay £10 per calendar month - once you have written it then take it all along to CAB and get them to have a look over it and see if they can offer you any more advice on it

chelle77_2

Thankyou very much xx