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Overdue Council Tax

Legacy_user
Legacy_user Posts: 0 Newbie
edited 23 April 2019 at 2:26PM in House buying, renting & selling
If account is two payments in arrears will the full years balance need to be paid?

Comments

  • 00ec25
    00ec25 Posts: 9,123
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    With respect to Council Tax what happens if you are two payments behind? Do they have the legal right to demand the entire years payment because of this yes they do and if so is there any appeals process if you can pay off the arrears no, but you can ask or do they literally just demand the entire year has to be paid? see the details
    it is the law:

    https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/613/regulation/23/made
  • Socajam
    Socajam Posts: 1,238
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    If you are having problems, I would get in touch with the Council as a matter of urgency.
    I had the bailiffs after me for non payment and also added fees.
    Let's say that I have learnt my lesson with the Council tax and the Inland Revnue
    Now I try to stay current with both.
  • Our council will write to you once reminding you that you've missed a payment & then demand the remaining amount in one full payment.

    OH still smiles at the year this happened to us & then 'won' £500 as his name got drawn in a draw to 'reward' those who'd paid their council tax on time......
  • Socajam
    Socajam Posts: 1,238
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    Did they send you any warning about bailifs or do they just suddenly turn up out of the blue? You have to get taken to court first before a bailif gets involved though I hope?
    What did they do when they knocked on your door?

    As I have not lived in the UK for a number of years, I trusted my friend's daughter who was the property manager to help renovate my flat which was rented out as the tenancy came to an end - so I decided to finally carry out the renovations.
    Big mistake giving her this position and lesson well learnt. She told me that since the flat was being renovated I would not have to pay any council tax. Funny thing was, I asked her repeatedly about this and she repeated the same answer.
    The tenant had to let the council know that she was no longer responsible for the council tax.
    The council sent letters to my old address, but my friend's son did not open them until the bailiff turned up. He refused to open the door and they left as note to get in touch urgently. She sent me the letter and I got in touch only to learn that this was now in the courts and I owed over 2,000 pounds.
    I was able to resolved all the problems with the council and bailiff, paid the fines and have learnt my lesson.
    I created an account with the council where I can check my account and pay my taxes online.
    I received emails for the new tax year for 2019-2020 taxes.
    I also check my taxes with the Inland Revenue to make sure that my accountant have filed them and was surprised that I have a credit of 1,000 pounds.
    The fault was mine for trusting someone, I should have done a check, it will not happen again as I will not put my trust in anyone again.
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260
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    And apparently they regularly still send people to prison for non payment of council tax although I presume it's only in situations where people virtually refuse to pay it if they have the money. I hope I don't have any fines or anything. To be fair it's my fault I owe it so I can't expect special treatment


    Jail is very, very rare as an outcome for non-payment - only an exceedingly small number of liability orders ever get far. It is not the council who jail, it is a a judicial decision to do so and then only on proof of wilful refusal or culpable neglect. The majority of those who are eventually jailed have broken at least one suspended committal order.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260
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    Did they send you any warning about bailifs or do they just suddenly turn up out of the blue? You have to get taken to court first before a bailif gets involved though I hope?
    What did they do when they knocked on your door?


    They can only be instructed after a Liability Order has been granted by the Magistrates' Court. They then must give 7 days notice before first attendance.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260
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    edited 21 April 2019 at 1:07PM
    Thank you.
    It looks like I'm going to have to pay the entire years worth of council tax unfortunately. I carried forward a month overdue before the new council tax year kicked in but I've now missed the first payment plus the previous months arrears making it two missed payments.


    Was last year's balance rolled in to this year's bill ? - If not that is a different issue and has no bearing on the instalments for this year and whether or they've been defaulted on.

    You only need to miss one payment and then fail to comply with a reminder notice properly for the right to pay by instalments to be lost.


    Whether or not the action taken is correct depends on the specifics of the demand notices, the action taken by the council and when payments were made.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • Socajam
    Socajam Posts: 1,238
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    Thank you very much for sharing that story and it feels like one of those situations where the girl was probably taking a casual approach and not appreciating the seriousness of how quick the fnes and penalties can add up
    I wouldn't be too quick not to trust anybody else ever again because there are good people and good companies that have a high level of attention to detail you just have to find them
    In my personal experience really really good people are always in demand, don't often need to advertise and if you find them tend to be at the higher end of the price spectrum
    I'm glad you managed to get it sorted out in the end but sorry you had to pay extra and not to mention the worry!

    You are right.
    I have one good friend that I really trust and we are of the same mindset.
    The sad thing was I really like my friend's daughter and would have done anything to help her. The mother and I have been friends for year and I was in the UK when the daughter was born.
    Right now I am waiting for her to repay me some money that she owed me. It looks as if it will be a long haul before I get my money. The mother is now involved and have promised that I will be repaid, only time will tell.
    Last year was a learning curve for me and after all the problems that I encountered, I have stopped lending money to anyone.
    As someone without children, I was leaning towards leaving 50% of my property to her. I was getting things ready to add her to my will - really glad she showed her true colours.
    You those reading this, if someone asked you to do a favour, do not take advantage of them because you never know what their true intentions are towards you.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189
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    Nothing more I can do but I would rather not have to pay out an entire £1k just because I was short of money
    The simple answer is that if they can't trust you to pay instalments on time, then they won't offer you payment by instalments.
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