Hi all, after going to the council offices, it turns out that although I will owe around £1200 (have to go through some paperwork/ hear back from solicitor to confirm dates) out of the £4256.64 i am being taken to court for, the remainder was being charged after i moved out of my old flat- i suppose the new owners didnt registewr for CT- and although i owe £1811 on my new flat, subject to an appeal for backdating of single person discount that i put in today, this amount remains at the liability order stage and i will have to deal with baillifs rather than a commital hearing. I understand from reading stuff on CAG that if i make payments online to the council, they have to accept payment so maybe i can avoid dealing with the bailiffs altogether. Can anyone advise on this? Big sigh of relief! I will still have to deal with the monies owed on the previous property, I need to get conformation of when i sold my last flat (completion date) and also when i moved into the flat i am in now. I have left a message for the solicitor that dealt with the sale of the last flat and the purchase of the one im in now- will phone again tomorrow or go in person to the office if i dont hear anything back from her. I have a contact no. for the Senior Council Tax Officer (Special Debt) who it turns out wrote to me on the 14th Jan 2013- i got a copy of this. Tomorrow when i have the dates sorted, i will contact him to resolve this misunderstanding and arrange to pay the monies owed on my old flat by installments and try to get the court date cancelled. While I certainly owe them money and am responsible for that, the Council billed me at two different properties for the same period! Thanks everyone for the help and support you have given me, i'll let you know how i get on with the Senior Council Tax Officer tomorrow. Richard

Cheers Caro, will do. Got a busy day ahead of me tomorrow and will focus on that first.

Cheers Mike. Im of Scots Irish descent so Oz would burn me to a frazzle. Do they do the Canary Islands? Thanks Matt, i need to look into if I'll be taken straight to prison if the worst comes to the worst so i can get a set of keys cut for my neighbour to look in on my flat once in a while while im gone- get my affairs in order so to speak. I'm not fatalistic, will do all i can to get myself out of my trouble.

Thanks for the info Ploddertom and Matt. Scary as they are, i want to know the worst possible outcomes so i can prepare for them if and when they happen. Speaking of the worst possible outcomes, if i am sentenced to 90 days in prison, will i be taken straight to prison from the court? Also, if i get a custodial sentence, can the court also award a charging order/ force me to go bankrupt on top of the custodial sentence? I think i would rather go to prison than be forced to sell my flat or declared bankrupt so heres a really stupid question. Can i choose to go to prison rather than be forced to sell my flat/be declared bankrupt?

Hi Ploddertom, thanks for your advice. Would the court be inclined to go for a charging order -make me sell my flat if I understand it right? - or make me bankrupt (not sure of the consequences of this- will look it up) if i offer to pay by installments? Bit of a how long is a piece of string question i know but does anyone know how often this happens? I'll ask at the Council offices tomorrow if they have a Welfare Rights Advisor and if so, speak to them about if i can backdate my single person benefit and if they can provide any other assistance to me. I will contact my local councillors after i have been to see the Council tomorrow morning and have more of an idea of where i stand with them. I will make an appointment with my GP tomorrow as well to get him to write a letter on my behalf. Thanks for the link Matt, have had a read of it and it seems to say that before the Council apply for a Commitasl hearing, they can apply for a charging order or make me bankrupt. Once it goes to the Commital hearing stage, according to the CAB leaflet, the options are jail or a postponement of the warrant as long as i pay by installments. Does this mean they won't apply for a charging order or bankrupcy at this late stage? I will ask what sanctions are available at the Commital Hearing to the Court/Council when i go to the CAB tomorrow morning or if anyone on here knows this i would be really grateful if they could inform me of this. Also mentioned in the leaflet is the presence of a duty solicitor. Will there always be one present at the court and how likely am i to get him/her to speak on my behalf at the hearing? Thanks for your advice on benefitsCaledwlch, I'll go down to the jobcenter tomorrow and make a claim. Would I be better off waiting unitil I have the letter from my GP confirming i am/was unwell before i go and see anyone else? Thanks all. Richard.

hi Matt, sorry, not income, savings. I dont know if they would have done a check on my bank account so dont know if they can prove it or not. I guess they will ask for bank details at the hearing although the account has been closed by the bank due to direct debit charges. Will be back online fo midnight tonight. Thanks all

Hi Revshelp, with culpable neglect and willfull refusal as i understand it, if i had the means to pay at the time but didnt, this counts as culbable neglect. i did have the means to pay at the start of the period im liable for so am a bit worried about this. As for willful refusal, i guess this means i deliberately did not pay because i didnt want to or disagree with the principle of Council tax? In the end, i didnt pay because i am/was depressed (although feeling much better after doing something about it) and was acting in a very self destructive manner. Is this something the court will take into account do you think? I dont know anyone down here who will accompany me to the hearing so will ask at the CAB if they can help with this and the financial statement as well. Thanks very much for your advice. I will appy for single persons discount for the upcoming years CT when i go to the Council offices on monday morning. I will be on CAG at least twice a day from now on - probably late evening and morning. I am fully commited to sorting this out.

Will do Matt, thanks for your help.

Cheers Matt, i have been babbling on with 20,000 questions- my brain is spinning round a bit to be honest. I'll go to the council on monday morning and politely ask for a breakdown of what i owe. Will ask if they back date single person discount as well and try to make a payment. I've read here that they have to accept a payment online. i need to open up a new bank account anyway.

Hi Matt, thanks very much for your reply. The summons says that the" bailiffs have returned their files as there are insufficient goods to collect the sums outstanding". There have been many knocks on the door and many unopened letters but i havent answered any of them and i havent let any bailiffs in. The amount the summons says i owe does seem pretty high to me. I'm sure court costs are included in the amount, not sure about baliff fees. I'm not sure how much i need to rely on the goodwill of the council in order for them to accept my offer to pay in istallments of £100 p/m. Will asking for a breakdown of what i owe make them more difficult to deal with? If I accept the debt at the amount they claim now, is it fixed or can i question the amount after they've accepted my offer to pay?

I am feeling better- its lucky i went to the doctor when i did otherwise the police would probably be kicking my door in in a few weeks time and hauling me off to prison! Is it worth me going to the Council offices in person or phone them on Monday to ask them to re-assess my bill (in writing? also giving my reasons why i 've left it so late?). Should I wait until i've got a letter from my GP confirming my illness, and take that along too? Would it make any difference if i printed out a edited copy of my first post to explain myself? Or am i better off leaving all of this for the commital hearing? What can I expect at the Inquiry Into Conduct And Means? Would i be at a big disadvantage without legal representation? Thanks again for your help and kind words, it's much appreciated.

Hi Caro and thanks so much for your quick reply, dont think im going to be getting much sleep tonight! Been looking for info all over and CAG has provided much of the useful stuff ive found so far. I have claimed benefits for long periods in the past, but i am owed over 10k by friends and family and dont want to lie on the forms and get into more trouble. I have lived alone over the period i am liable for so would qualify for the 25% discount but being an idiot, i didnt apply for it. Would they back date it? Would i be better off accepting the full debt , ie not getting into a dispute with the Council, so they would look on my offer to repay at £100 per month more favourably? Also, have i put this in the right forum?

Hallo All. I've got myself into a massive state and would be really grateful for any advice to help me to get myself out of this situation. I have been suffering from depression for a few years now and on and off for much of my life. In the last few years i have not really been answering the phone or the door and havent been opening my letters or leaving the house very much. Now my stupidity has caught up with me. A few days ago , my ex phoned me and said she had recieved a letter for me at her place (not sure why they sent it to her or how they got her address- probably because they hadn't had any reply from me). She had opened it ( and has forwarded it to me) and told me it was a Council Tax Summons For Inquiry Into Conduct And Means, which meant that i had been summoned to court and could be imprissoned for non payment of council tax. I owe £4256.64 over three years from financial year 2010-2011 onwards. I have been living off savings and not claiming any JSA or council tax benefit and i own my own flat outright. My savings ran out last year and i have been living off money owed to me by family, friends and my ex. Initially i was in a position to pay some of the Council Tax off but due to my own stupidity i didnt, which i understand will go against me at my impending court case. I have always been aware that i owed this money and fully acknowledge the debt and that i will pay it but I have been a massive f***up in the last few years so so here i am. A couple of weeks before i heard about the commital proceedings from my ex, i registered with my local GP, went to see him and have been prescribed anti-depressants (fluoxitine) which i have been taking (despite reservations) and and am starting to feel some positive effects from.them otherwise i probably wouldnt have been in any state of mind to try and deal with my problems. My plan to deal with this is as follows. I would really appreciate any advice, thoughts, ideas, dos and don'ts and support from members of this forum This Monday morning, i will contact Thanet District Council and ask to see someone to try and arrange payment in installments of the money i owe. I can afford £100 per month. Does this seem like an amount they will accept? I have real difficulty proving any income. I could ask the people who owe me money to write a letter supporting me, but is this proof the Council or Court will accept? What is the best way to proceed with this? As I have no money for a solicitor and am not claiming JSA etc, i will go to my local Citizens Advice Bureau on Monday morning to ask for advice and if they will liase with the Council on my behalf if the Council refuses my offer to pay in installments. Do i have to be in receipt of benefits to qualify for Legal Aid or just be on a low income. I dont have a bank account any more- another debt i need to sort so as i said before, proving my income will be very hard. Would anyone on here think it would help to see my GP about this? Would he write a supporting letter on my behalf that would help with the Council/Court? £100 per month is really the maximum i can afford to pay back as the people who owe me money dont have much themselves. I dont have much of value-apart from my flat - to sell either and cant borrow the money so i am counting on the Council/Court to accept my offer. I am feeling a bit better on the fluoxitine and plan to start looking for work on monday too. Honestly, what are my chances? Am I looking at going to prison? Richard