Commital to prison - while on job seekers.

[J01]

I would appreciate some advice on behalf of my son. He lived in a flat with three other people and all of them were on job seekers allowance at the time. They had problems with the landlord - long story that involved environmental health and the fire department as the accomodation was not fit / safe and the landlord had to spend money on rubbish removal, new roof, fire escape etc. My son and his other flat mates went to the local authority and completed an application for housing benefit - in fact they done it twice as they lost the first application. I'm not sure of the finer details but the landlord didn't issue them with a tenancy agreement or give my son a receipt for the deposit - I know he paid it as I was with him and I offered to pay by cheque but he insisted on cash.
After several month of poor living conditions my son moved in with me and being a law abiding citizen I informed to council as I no longer qualified for single occ allowance.
I found out two months ago that my son had been sent letters from ballifs etc. I typed out a letter for him to send to the council asking them to review their records as he was on JSA and therefore not liable to council tax charges. All went quiet and I had assumed they had realised their error and dropped the case.
Yesterday he receives and letter "warning of committal to prison or bankrupty" I'm distraught and don't know what to do. My son unfortunatley as is typical with many young people today is not unduly stressed over this. What can I do to resolve this situation? Thank you for any advice. J

[postggj]

may i ask who mentioned prison or bankrupcy
when you claim benefit, all the forms are togeather, housing, council, and the dole office do it all for you
its been a few years, but that was with me, things could have changed

[J01]

He reveived a letter yesterday from the council saying that if the total amount - £1211.37 - is not paid immediatley they will be applying to the local justices for committal to prison or apply to the local County Court to make him bancrupt.

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[postggj]

ill be corrected if wrong

your best bet is to contact the dole office
they will be able to dig out the records and check for an application for council tax benefit
also ask the council to put the account on hold for 14 days while you do this
like i said
dole/council tax benefit is done at the same time at the interview

is he still on benefit

[postggj]

they only send you to prison if you continue to refuse to pay the council tax
bankrupcy
never heard that one before, looks like scare tactics, i believe it will cost the council about £700 to make him bankrupt, not realy an option
i think the most that will happen is a deduction will be made from his benefit untill he is in work

you think thats bad
my local council got a liability order against me for £45 and was taken direct from my wages, never new anything about it untill i got my wage slip

[J01]

No he has been working for 9 months now. At the time he moved into the flat he was already on JSA so as far as I am aware he wouldn't need to make a new claim / be re-interviewed - just change address??
He can proove he is on JSA at that time, he has kept all the correspondance.