My daughter is on benefits and borrowed £1200 from me last year to pay off a summons for council tax arrears.

I paid this on the phone and asked "so thats it theres nothing else outstanding" and was told no its all up to date.

I asked about the current period and was told that they were setting up £20 first month followed by 9 months of £19.10.

We were expecting some paperwork to back this up and maybe set up a direct debit but heard NOTHING until this morning when she receives a summons to appear in court on the 13th June.

Now, I have no problem paying the £191 council tax that they are demanding, but I'm loathed to pay court costs when there has been ZERO correspondence between me paying last time and this morning. No demands, no agreement, no final reminders etc.

If I ring and just pay the £191 will they still pursue this through the court. Im quite happy to attend court with my daughter and explain all of this but just wondered what my chances were of getting this settled without going, and if I DID attend my chances there too.

Thanks

UKD

PS this is London Borough of Barnet

in fact to confirm it wasn't last year she borrowed the money it was January 2017

have you asked about the dd formally? they need the details and an agreement. If they lost the form that is another matter as they are then culpable

Although we asked them to send the DD forms to us, we never ever received them. Is the onus on us to ring them and ask again? we literally never received anything regarding this until this morning.

They told her she missed two payments but I'm not sure how she could have missed them when there was no direct debit in place. I think although we asked they didn't set one up and send the forms (nor anything else) and now she has to go to court for it.

" I asked about the current period and was told that they were setting up £20 first month followed by 9 months of £19.10."

Did you provide the account details..sort number and name of account holder and bank ?

Andy

Now, I have no problem paying the £191 council tax that they are demanding, but I'm loathed to pay court costs when there has been ZERO correspondence between me paying last time and this morning. No demands, no agreement, no final reminders etc.

 

If I ring and just pay the £191 will they still pursue this through the court. Im quite happy to attend court with my daughter and explain all of this but just wondered what my chances were of getting this settled without going, and if I DID attend my chances there too.

Prior to the summons there has to have been at least one demand notice and at least one reminder. These will have been generated, the systems won't let a reminder be generated unless a demand notice has been issued or a summons before the reminder/demand notice have been issued. The issue as to where they've been posted is something only the council can answer.

Providing the council can show that they've generated and posted the notices to the correct address then the court have no reason not to grant the liability order as due process would have been followed. Proof of non-receipt would be needed as the courts presume that Royal Mail deliver all mail that is correctly addressed and stamped.

The question Andy has asked about the DD is relevant in that you should be able to argue with the council that you thought payment was being taken if you had provided all details, but I presume from post #5 that you hadn't. The payment responsibility lies on the tax payer to ensure payment is made ultimately.

Craig