Hi there,

I recently moved from Norfolk to Somerset to be closer to my wifes family so she could get some additional help and support(she has been on DLA and then PIP for the last 5 years). In Norfolk we received 100% reductions in Council Tax and our only income is PIP and Income Support(I am her full time carer).

Mendip Council granted us an 80% reduction but said that as we were of "Working Age" we were not entitled to a 100% reduction and when questioned why this was we were only told that "The Government says so"(No matter how many times I pointed out that I was receiving a 100% reduction in Norfolk and no where can I find any information of this policy online). We were told that we should apply for the Hardship scheme and we would get it as we have no income apart from benefits.

Today I have received a letter denying us the additional help. Not what I want on Christmas eve. Its not a lot of money but it makes a difference. How can I fight this? Does anyone have any experience of a similar matter?

Thanks

You can always appeal their decision, just go through their lethargic appeals process, it is pretty much the norm for LA's to refuse any appeal for help, they just bank on people giving up at the first hurdle.

Any advice on things to include in the appeals process?

I can't see what you have in front of you regarding the reasons why they have refused you assistance, you will need to go through it all and pick out salient points as to why their decision is wrong, and that you disagree with their findings.

I receive no reduction in my CT, even being registered disabled and on ESA (SG) so an 80% reduction is pretty good going IMO.

The rules were changed in order to meet the governments social cleansing targets, but like I say, as I have never been in receipt of this particular part of social security, I'm unsure as to the new rules etc.

Hi there,

I have arrived home today to a Council Tax Summons.

I moved to a new property in July last year. It took the council until September to sort out bandings and issue a bill as it was a new build estate.

In my previous property I was entitled to 100% Council Tax benefit as I am in receipt of Income Support(I am a full time carer for my wife). Now the council have told me I am only entitled to 80% but I should Apply to the hardship fund for the rest, which I did. They denied it. I wrote a letter of appeal last week and sent it off and today received this summons.

Please Help. I don't know what to do. I have been in contact with the council regarding my application and last spoke to someone over the phone in December when chasing up my original application. It was only denied on the 22nd with a letter stating this on the 24th.

At no point have I had anything to say they want to take me to court and its only been 3 Months. Add to that I have no real way of attending the court at Yeovil as it is miles away.

The summons is for the 26th of January and is for 143.47 with 50.00 costs for the issue of the summons. At the point of issue 3 payments have been "missed".

I will try and find someone who can help.

seems typical, one dept not knowing what the other is doing. maybe crossed.

is yr letter re the formal appeal procedure? tell them so it is under their formal appeal process, and to cancel the summons. they should've sent formal reminders before doing a summons.

Did they give any reason for your only being entitled to 80% discount or is this due to new legislation where even those who are on benefits have to pay something toward Council Tax ?

Did they give any reason for denying you assistance from the Hardship Fund ? If you are still waiting on a response to your appeal, I wonder if this summons is an error ?

No actual reasons for denying the hardship fund, just we had not demonstated the need for assistance. I was told that they auto-deny it just to see if you appeal so I appealed. It might only be £20 a month but its a lot when you are on a small income.

The reasons given for the 80% are "the government says so". Seriously what I was told by more than one operator. When challenging them to show me documentation they could not. I pointed them to the Gov.UK site which made no mention of that policy either. The other reasons being that I am of "Working Age". After getting through to a manager they told me about the Hardship Payments.

and re post #3? is it under their formal appeal process..

I received the denial letter on the 24th of December. It was issued on the 22nd. Offices were closed over the new year so I sent in the Appeal letter last Friday. By recorded delivery.

The summons was issued on the 16th of December apparently and arrived today, almost a month later. The envelope is not postmarked.

I would contact the LA to make an arrangement to pay. Before this goes to Court. If it does you will face extra fees of £75 for a letter and about £235 for a visit.

Get a letter or better still call them on Monday to see if you can clear by instalments if not this will escalate in to more debt than you need.

Others will be along shortly...

Paying it isn't really an option. Firstly I don't owe it. I especially won't be paying any "costs" associated. Secondly, if it pay it then I will be demonstrating that I can afford to pay it (not the case) and then they will deny my appeal.

I am phoning them Monday to try and resolve this but I need some heavy duty ammunition to throw at them.

also, the £50 costs are not real costs, see the Rev Nicholson case so you can argue that they should only charge you about £15 for the actual cost of the bulk summons processing.

Typical banditry from council, they think anyone who claims anything is dishonest and arent afraid to tell you so, even when provably wrong.

Without going into the detail of the rights and wrongs f the summons

I think it was 2 or 3 years ago now, for the 14/15 tax year that the government altered the rules why they recompensed the councils for council tax benefit and they only pay about 80% of it now. This naturally left the councils to pick up the shortfall. Because of the grey vote, pensioners were protected so the burden either had to be met by savings in expenditure, added to council tax bills or paid by the benefit claimants

Some councils conducted some kind of survey to see what their voters wanted

Guess what, in many councils, particularly those with the nasty party in control , the burden was placed on the benefits recipient after all, we all 'know that everyone on benefits have 42 inch plasma TV's and more disposable income than the hard working families' Just for clarity that was me taking the P

This was at a time when benefits were increased by a below inflation figure because'we were all in this together' even though benefits were subsistence benefits and personal inflation for the poor was in reality much higher

As for your summons, call the council and tell them you have an appeal, they have the ability to stop the summons. If they do not agree there and then email the CEO of your local council and copy in your counsellors. It might be an idea to also copy in your MP

Be factual and frankly a bit of emotional blackmail could be useful.

Hi there,

I found this information on the Gov.Uk website -

If you miss Council Tax payments

Your council will send you a reminder notice giving you 7 days to pay if you miss a payment. If you don’t pay within 7 days, you’ll have to pay the whole year’s Council Tax instead.

You’ll be sent a second reminder notice if you miss another Council Tax payment.

You’ll only get a maximum of 2 reminder notices every year.

Your council will send you a final notice saying you must pay the whole year’s Council Tax if you miss a payment for the third time.

If you don’t pay your whole year’s Council Tax within 7 days, the council may take legal action to get the Council Tax you owe.

https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-arrears

Are all councils supposed to follow this procedure? I can only assume so as its the Governments own website. Would starting legal action after one reminder with some small print at the bottom saying they MAY take legal action be a breach of some kind? Especially after you had contacted them to try and remedy things AFTER the letter arrived and then followed their advice on what to do.

Also, does anyone know legally how much notice you have to be given to attend?

All resolved and summons withdrawn. Thanks for the help.

Its amazing what can happen when you inform someone they are being recorded. Suddenly everything changes and they regret the previous 30 minutes of conversation.

All resolved and summons withdrawn. Thanks for the help.

 

Its amazing what can happen when you inform someone they are being recorded. Suddenly everything changes and they regret the previous 30 minutes of conversation.

Excellent news - I am pleased this has now been resolved

3 hours worth of phone calls and speaking to four different people, each higher up the chain. But it has now been resolved. Its a shame it came to this but I am glad its sorted.

I agree, it should never have reached this stage and displays a lack of joined up thinking on their part !

Glad you took the advice give about contacting the LA? Well done for seeing this through and getting a great result. Plus you saved money on their bailiff fees too.

All resolved and summons withdrawn. Thanks for the help.

 

Its amazing what can happen when you inform someone they are being recorded. Suddenly everything changes and they regret the previous 30 minutes of conversation.

3 hours worth of phone calls and speaking to four different people, each higher up the chain. But it has now been resolved. Its a shame it came to this but I am glad its sorted.

good.

can you elaborate a bit, was it re it still being in their formal appeals, maybe things crossed....or

They claimed the summons was issued properly and I owed money, despite the fact that I had only acted upon the advice of the people I had been talking to ( a call/admin centre run by capita on behalf of the council). Took me 45 minutes to an hour of phone calls with each agent denying any wrong doing and stating I would have to submit a complaint in writing to try and get the summons revoked.

The court date was in 7 days. That was not going to work. I kept demanding to speak to a higher up who could actually resolve the issue and they first claimed there was no phone connections they could access but I stuck to my guns. The first two girls at least wanted to help but had no power too and we're only doing as they were told.

I finally got to speak to a senior revenue agent from the actual council who spent 30 minutes being very condescending to me and claiming there was no wrong doing on the councils part and I should have known the advice given to me by the council was wrong. After I finally got him to admit he could help me but was not prepared to help, and got him to repeat it so I was very clear he did not want to help, I told him the call was being recorded and he freaked out. His manager then came on the phone who had apparently has been listening to the call and she was happy to help and resolved the issue, withdrew the summons and wiped the £50 in fees.

Took me from 0930 in the morning until 1650 in the afternoon to resolve though.

cheers