Demand for full payment of council tax

[taylor-rae]

Hi, Can anyone give some advice.

 

I had a letter yesterday / well demand really for full payment of council tax because of 3 payments being late. Fair enough, the payments were late, that is because council tax is paid in advance and I pay at the end of each month. Anyway, I am late, but I am also up-to-date.

 

Can they really take me to court and demand full payment ?

Dosn't really seem to be any flexibility in the scheme ?

 

Any words of advice would be greatly appreciatted

[markt]

they do take you to court yes .... so negotiate with them.

 

they are very strict on payment terms ... i should know lol

[bp]

Hi there,

Make sure you speak to them. also ask if you were to set up a direct debit would they stop the enforcement? Do this before they apply to the court and then make you liable for court fees!

 

As far as most local Authorities are concerned, its not just about paying your council tax its also making sure you pay on time. You have to make sure the payment is cleared on your C/tax by the agreed date.

[labourrose]

They might take you to Court, but this is more likely to be a warning shot. Don't ignore it! It does need to be heeded!!

 

There are several different councils. There is metropolitan boroughs, unitary councils and what are termed twin tier councils. Metropolitan and unitarys deal with all local government services, but in twin tier council areas( usually rural areas ) it is the local district council that collects Council Tax for every other local authority, ie parish/town council, district council, county council and police auhtority.

The way Council Tax collection works is that the local district council tries to collect the 12 month charge in 10 months. That means an annual charge of £1200 will be billed at £120 per month rather than £100 per month.

 

Your best move is to immediately contact the Council Tax section at the local district council that sent out the demand and explain in person what the situation is. A telephone call will normally be sufficient. Or you could email them or go in person to the issueing office. Don't forget it will be helpful to everyone if you have details such as reference number, but if that is not possible simply supplying your name and address should be sufficient.

 

All Council Tax collection councils try to get people on direct debit because it cuts down administration costs.

If you can make a direct debit they will probably accept that, even if it is on the 30th of the month, and that will be the end of the matter. If you are not in a position to make a direct debit try to come to another solution such as getting them to agree to you paying on the same day ( the one that suits you ) each month.

 

If all this fails and they still don't want to be reasonable don't forget the council has to respond to its political administration. Get your local councillor involved. If you don't know who he or she is ring the councils reception and they will be able to tell you. Don't worry about your politics and his or hers. You want a service from them. They want you to vote for them at the next election.

 

Ask your local councillor to bring your case to the attention of the Head of Service ( maybe Treasurer or Head of Revenues ). Together they should be able to sort out a way forward that everyone can accept.

 

But whatever you do make sure you contact the council immediately you receive this type of demand.

[elsinore]

It seems to me that many, if not all, councils operate the same standard system for council tax collection. The inflexibility of the system is only matched by the inflexibility of the finance department staff ("computer says you've got two heads, so you've got two heads!").

 

Last year my July payment was two days late. The system read 'missed payment' and burped out a letter. By the time I received the letter the missing payment had been paid, so I complacently binned the letter. Big mistake! Unbeknown to me the system carried that error forward each month, even though the remaining payments were all made in good time. In January this year I received a letter from the council informing me that they were seeking a liability order for non-payment of one month’s tax. That letter was dated after they had received the final payment. I therefore had no debt with the council.

When I called the council to ask them to confirm that this was a mistake, I was told that, because I had not responded to their July letter, the summons stood and I would have to pay £30 court fee! I asked them why, if they believed that I had missed a payment, they had waited six months to summon me. The answer was that the decision to issue summonses was taken by a manager 'when he felt like it'. I asked them to confirm that he obviously hadn’t ‘felt like it’ for six months. Only large amounts are chased earlier, was the response, but because it was the end of the payment term all outstanding balances were being chased up. I pointed out that I did not, in fact, owe them any tax. Amazingly, they agreed with me, but insisted that, as a summons had been issued, I would have to pay the £30 which was now showing as outstanding on my account.

I escalated my complaint from the clerk to a team leader, then a manager, but to no avail. All of them were equally inflexible. My argument, that common sense should have prevailed (silly me!) and that anybody looking at my account would have clearly seen that there was no debt, was met with the response ‘we couldn’t possibly look at every individual account’.

So, I was summoned, not for non-payment, not for late payment, not for refusal to pay, but for failing to make a phone call!

 

As all the guys have said taylor-rae, you must respond. You will probably be able to sort it with a phone call.

 

The message to others reading this is don’t ignore it, don’t leave it, you’re up against an inflexible system (and staff) and they’ll get yer!!

 

Elsinore

[Its WAR]

Similar story with me. My Council wanted the balance of my business rates £10,000 paid, because I was a couple months late. They refused my offer to pay by direct debit and wanted it all in one go. I refused to pay and just paid up to date £3000. They went to court and got their liability order (cost £40). They advised me of the order and wanted paying in full. I offered to pay by direct debit to clear my account on month 10, they accepted. The thing is, they are now supported by an active liability order and if I default they can immediatly send in the bailiffs. My advise is pay them your monthly amount, accept the telling off (liability order) and arrange to pay thereafter.

[labourrose]

The best advice is to anyone who thinks they may have difficulty in paying their Council Tax or Business Rates is to get in touch with the district council's collection services. It might be called the Revenues department, the Treasury or the Finance department.

Explain the position you are in and try to come to an arrangement with them that both sides can agree to, and you can stick to.

 

Once you are in the council's recovery system it becomes more difficult to get out of it, and the beauracratic machine takes over from commonsense. When this happens it normally helps to get your local councillor ( the one who is involved with the Council tax collection local authority ) to raise your case with the Head of Service. They should be able to stop any court proceedings, including waiving fees, and help you arrange payments that you can afford at a time you can afford them.

 

Asking for a summons fee after the last installment of Council Tax has been paid sounds very much like an administrative error, and needs to be taken to the local councillor to get it sorted.

 

By all means pay it to stop further legal action, but get your local councillor to get it back for you.

 

Too often people go to their MP instead of the local councillor. When the problem is with a council the MP will write a nice letter on your behalf. The councillor has much more direct access with the council's beauracratic machine, as such he or she is in a better position to effect a positive result.

[kessik]

It sounds as though some councils are less flexible than others. We had our council tax direct debit cancelled by the bank due to lack of funds on the due date. We owed £300 and got a summons that said we had to pay it all in one go (£1500). I just rang the office concerned and the man said I could 'pay it monthly on the 15th, was that convenient?' It's £160 a month rather than £150 to make up what we owed and he did say 'make sure you pay it now Mrs Kessik' but in a nice way. So, Southampton City Council, a big hand to you for understanding!

[taylor-rae]

Thankyou all for your comments/thoughts on this.

 

I will ring to see what the council will do about this. My local council has been very inflexible in the past (they said word from high was to crack down on late payments).

 

However, it really gets my goat when your up-to-date, and then the automated wheels start to churn, and nothing can be done.