Council tax liability order-Am i obliged to disclose it on a job app form ?

[Hereabc]

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 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.

[MARTIN3030]

An interesting queston.

My thoughts are that much would depend on the job that you would be applying for.

A job that required enhanced disclosure,would probably reveal it anyway.

There does not appear to be much on the internet to read on the subject.

Which probably shows that its not something that you should be overly worried about.

[Hereabc]

Many thanks Martin3030.

 

Please could you detail what is involved in an 'enhanced search'?

 

I have an idea - e.g. they would look for criminal convictions, but specifically what other checks (for 'good character')

 

Also, if I cleared the debt, I assume that if they made a check, they would not find the court order as it is cleared, so not have to declare it in the job application?

 

What do you think?

 

By the way, I posted my initial question on the Council Tax forum just after posting it here because I posted on this one by accident as I am new. Many apologies for the duplicate question, but no-one answered me on the Council Tax forum, so just as well I posted it here.

 

Many thanks Martin3030.

[MARTIN3030]

If you google enhanced disclosure you will see a GOV pdf

that explains all you need to know.For most cases these are required for jobs working with children.

Often an employer will pay the fee for this themselves,in other instances you may be required to supply it at you own cost,and have the fee refunded it you get the job.

For some jobs that involve financial stability ie working in banks/finance industry etc,they will be looking to see that you are stable-although checks with credit reference agencies would suffice to show this.

Whether you choose to settle the arrears on the liability order,is a matter only you can decide.I think it may be a good idea to post in the employment forums-since I think we have HRT and personnel officers here who maybe could give you their take on it.I will retitle your thread and move there.

[Gilbert_O'Sullivan]

A liability order won't show up on anything, paid or not.

 

It won't show on a crb as it's not a criminal offence and it won't show with a credit agency as the order is not recorded in that way by a council. Only the council and magistrates court will have a record of it and I can't see an employer seeking anything further once they crb and/or credit check you.

 

I wouldn't mention it on anything as you won't be required to.

[Hereabc]

Many thanks, Gilbert O Sullivan. I have moved to the forum that Martin3030 moved me to (employment) but wanted to say thanks for your kind help and advice.

 

I have included my reply on employment forum below (in case you were interested), but after this will move permanently to employment forum.

 

Many thanks.

 

>>>>>>>

 

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!

[patdavies]

Often an employer will pay the fee for this themselves,in other instances you may be required to supply it at you own cost,and have the fee refunded it you get the job.

 

Often the employer will pay the CRB fees, but the legal liability rests with the applicant - the employer can pass the cost on.

 

It is not possible to get a CRB disclosure for yourself - an application may only be made by a registered body. In any case, for most cases, CRB disclosures are not transferable - the new employer would need their own anyway.