Dear all,

I am new to this forum and have been reading with interest the Council Tax forums.

I was not sure whether to start a new one and apologise if I should have just replied to an older one, but mine was a slightly different question to 'appealing an order' or 'attending a hearing' so many apologies.

(I also posted on consumer forum by accident when it should have been this forum, so apologies there too!)

I was living in my house in Manchester but had to move due to a job and was then renting in London and paying council tax (unocupied) in Manchester. I was then made redundant and told MCouncil that I had moved back (but did not realise that it was actually a separate department). They sent letters to my old rented address in London and the LLady did not forward them to me. They obtained a court order and the only time I realised when for some reason they suddenly started writing to my house in Manchester.

So, I already have a Court order i.e. liability order against me.

I am still unemployed, but am applying for jobs. I have applied fro back date of council tax benefit in the meanwhile, but am unsure as to whether they will pay and in any event know that it would not be for the full amount.

On my job applications, they often ask if I have any criminal convictions or court orders.

I know that non payment of CT is like a driving conviction and is not deemed a criminal conviction. I also know that it does not affect credit rating and not a judgment in County Court.

1) However, the job application states that the person applying must be of 'good character', so just wondering whether they have any other general checks that would find the court order against me?

2) I know that a liability order stays on until it is paid in full - however, if it is paid in full - is that it? i.e. no more ways to check that a court order is against me?

3) I was thinking of appealing and whether it would be worth it since I did try to contact the council to state that I had moved back (albeit it seems not the council tax department since they have so many departments - although my message was acknowledged.

Many thanks for help.

Have replied to your other post and moved as you will no doubt have seen.

The court order is only known by yourself, court and the council. An employer has no way of knowing unless you tell them or council set up an attachment of earnings.

Martin3030 & ss002d6252, Many thanks to you both for your kind help.

I have been searching the internet and was on one other forum yesterday(but the other forum despite being a legal forum was not as helpful or as nice).

Both of you supplied help and advice which I would not have thought of and has not been supplied by other experts (in the other forum). They simply stated that it was not a criminal conviction (which I already knew).

The disclosure advice was helpful by Martin3030 and I googled it as advised, and found it helful. I also googled 'good character check' which was also useful - checks police record and HMRC.

A friend who works in police as a secretary had to wait for 3 months after being offered job due to checks so it made me nervous as to what to declare.

I also emailed the HR department asking advice about their application form (under an assumed name) and they were not specific but told me to declare it 'just in case', which also made me nervous.

ss002d6252 was very specific in his advice and I did not think of the attachment of earnings. The recovery department has done something similar because I am on benefits and have had an attachment to JSA, but after phoning them today, they say that I have now paid it off in full, so I assume that will no longer be traced either?

A slightly different problem - I have tried to hype up my job application by saying that I am 'freelance' to cover the unemployment status and lack of current referee but now realise about the possible HMRC check to see if I am paying income tax - need I worry about that? I have done odds bits of freelance whilst claiming - but it has only been for about £30 - £45 extra per month and only the last 2 months.

The deadline for the application was today and I have sent it in and not declared the LO - even the recovery department stated not to bother.

Many thanks!

To be honest , I wouldn't worry. I work in the recovery side of council tax and have never had anyone ever say they had a problem because of a Liability Order - only at times with a subsequent attachment of earnings,

Many thanks ss002d6252.

I am no longer worried about the LO - many thanks! But you have helped a lot.

I am concerned though about the checks that they do with HMRC to see whether I am paying income tax. It has now been confirmed that they do that.

I am unemployed but did not want to put that down on the form, so said that I was a freelancer in my field, which to some extent is fine but later stated that I was self employed. I have only had about 3 freelance jobs over the last 3 months and each of them were about £30-£45 each so hardly earning a wage.

But, I am worried that I will look like I am self employed and not paying income tax because I hyped up the application form.

What would your advice be, please?

Many thanks!

I found this on Website of the UK government : Directgov, which I have pasted below in case it is handy for anyone else, although a little unsure about the 'good character checks' and whether they assume that I am earning more than £6,035 which I am most definitely not, and just looking to find a job, and make my CV look better.

How much can you earn without paying tax and National Insurance?

Income Tax

Everyone can earn a certain amount each year without paying any Income Tax. This is called your Personal Allowance. In 2008-2009 the Personal Allowance is £6,035. Some people can earn a bit more before they start paying tax, if they're over 65, for example.

National Insurance

You can earn up to £105 a week (2008-2009) before you pay any National Insurance contributions. This is known as the 'primary threshold'.

As long as you earn more than £90 a week (2008-2009) you can still build up your entitlement to a State Pension and certain other benefits. This is known as the 'lower earnings limit'.