hi,

am wanting some advice about council tax arrears. Have had an arrangement with the council following a liability order for a few months. I have made some of the repayments, but not all as hubby is out of work at the mo (it is in his name)

Now they have said that they will put action on hold til 5th april, but then will send to bailiffs.

Where do i stand with this? Is there anyway I can persuade them not tosend to bailiffs and what will happen if they come around?

I know i have read on here of vulnerable people - would we qualify for this.

Hubby is on contribution based jsa, I work and we have a 12 yr old in the house

Any advice greatfully recieved.

I want to pay this, but just can't pay the last £400 in one monthly payment

Thanks

It may be in hubbies name, but you are jointly liable. As he is out of work, have you claimed council tax relief? There is another year looming where you will have to pay that as well as the arrears.

You do not have to let the bailiffs in and they cannot break in. They can, however, walk in through an open door, so if it should reach this stage, make sure all doors and windows are locked

and if you have a car, park it at a friends house so they can't take that. After a few unsuccessfull attempts, they usually hand it back to the council.

Continue to pay as much as you can to the council and not to any bailiff should he call.

if you are in receipt of a low household income, then make a claim for council tax benefit, you may apply for benefit to be backdated, but normally it will only be backdated if you can demonstrate that there were good reasons that you did not apply earlier

also ask the council tax department to put further recovery action on hold, pending the outcome of your benefit claim

even if you do not qualify for council tax benefit, this may buy you some time and delay debt being passed to bailiff's

you can try asking the council if you can pay the arrears over 2 instalments in april and may - and request that they delay the new year's instalments so that you pay that over june to march

however the council tax department are unlikely to be willing to offer you a special arrangement for the debt at this stage, as you failed to:

a) make payments in the first place, resulting in the liability order

b) meet the special arrangement set up after the liability order was obtained

Thanks for your help.

I am not quibbling with the fact that I am jointly liable - am just gutted its come to this, i have done everything possible to get it paid off, but unless we don't eat for a month - it just isn't going to be possible. Was so hoping to start the new bill and keep on track with it this time - but that looks highly unlikely now!

If they are unwilling to set up a new arrangement, which i understand maybe difficult to do, then if i suggest and attachment of earnings then what are the chance of them agreeing to that scenario. Am thinking that route because I can pay off as much as i can in april and then the final bit will come out of my wages at the end of april.

I really appreciate any help that can be given as this is causing me so much stress at the moment and am so worried about it which tbh is the last thing i need.

best advice is to try to speak to a senior officer/team leader/manager

from experience, most council tax officers have very little discretion and are very rigid about sticking to the department's standard processes/procedures, if you want to come to a more individual solution, you need to escalate to someone more senior who has more discretion

personally i would try to avoid the attachment order, however if you do end up going this route, you need to be aware that you would still have to pay your april installment for the new financial year on top of the attachment order for the previous financial year