Council tax benefit refusal to backdate

[brassnecked]

I don't think I posted this yet from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy's website......might be useful:

 

 

If the claim was registered BEFORE any action ,and the council lost the paperwork or firked up the claim ansd went for LO anyway, then they are on shaky ground imho

[outlawla]

I just thought, it might be worth enquiring if a pre-summons vetting stage currently exists with PCC, a "process....established to ensure that Taxpayers are not summonsed whilst they have genuine outstanding matters".

 

One which would "containing the names and addresses of potential summons cases....then cross checked against the items of work appearing in workflow including outstanding benefit claims, benefit appeals, complaints and Council Tax correspondence."

 

And "where appropriate a summons is not issued giving the Benefits Department....time to resolve the enquiry".

 

ref: 3.2.1

[brassnecked]

I just thought, it might be worth enquiring if a pre-summons vetting stage currently exists with PCC, a "process....established to ensure that Taxpayers are not summonsed whilst they have genuine outstanding matters".

 

One which would "containing the names and addresses of potential summons cases....then cross checked against the items of work appearing in workflow including outstanding benefit claims, benefit appeals, complaints and Council Tax correspondence."

 

And "where appropriate a summons is not issued giving the Benefits Department....time to resolve the enquiry".

 

ref: 3.2.1

Now I'll bet thet NEVER happens in a Crapquita council.

[suffering]

I have been reading this thread with great interest the thing that really gets me is, you are lead to believe that if two parties have a legal dispute, each hire a solicitor to fight it out. However, when the council on one side hires the court room, its staff, the judge, clerk, and a solicitor, whilst the other side who can't afford the tax let alone a solicitor, is supposed to come to the lions den. Its biased, its unethical, its bending the rules, its using its position of authority to dis-advantage the defendant

All should be equal before the law but the C.T. liability shambles is not allowing for that to be possible

[caledfwlch]

I have been reading this thread with great interest the thing that really gets me is, you are lead to believe that if two parties have a legal dispute, each hire a solicitor to fight it out. However, when the council on one side hires the court room, its staff, the judge, clerk, and a solicitor, whilst the other side who can't afford the tax let alone a solicitor, is supposed to come to the lions den. Its biased, its unethical, its bending the rules, its using its position of authority to dis-advantage the defendant

All should be equal before the law but the C.T. liability shambles is not allowing for that to be possible

 

The United Kingdom of 2013 a supposed time of civilisation and enlightenment is currently operating several Kangaroo Courts that fly in the face of any concept of Justice (and things will be even more fun now legal aid is about to be removed from most poor people)

 

TV Licensing "trials" like Council Tax are just a rubber stamp exercise, it seems impossible to defend yourself, the Magistrates always take Crapita's word for it - afterall, if you were tricked into signing a "confession" despite not owning a TV, how do you then in court prove you DON'T own a TV? Also, the Magistrates and Court Staff who sit in on TV Licence trials are actually, and I kid you not, trained BY Crapita/TVL!!!!! Yes, the people acting as the Complainant in what is supposed to be an impartial unbiased Court of Law will have actually trained the Magistrate sitting over you, it is hardly a surprise it is impossible to defend oneself from the accusations.

 

Most traffic offences are dealt with by Kangaroo Courts too, like above it is near impossible to defend yourself, even with things like a lack of evidence, or proof of innocence because the Magistrates and Judges have been trained and ordered to always go guilty and to get it over with as quick as possible.

 

The Legal Aid changes are going to see Criminal Convictions rise at least 10 fold quite literally overnight. Not because more guilty people are being convicted, but because a hell of a lot of innocent people are going to be unable to defend themselves from accusations by the State.

[outlawla]

The chances of getting a liability order reversed are pretty slim once granted if subsequently it's found the Bench or the Council (effectively the same thing) made a mistake. This option relies on the local authority agreeing to appeal to the Magistrates' court to quash the liability order under relevant legislation. Agreement to this I should think happens in very few cases though.

 

The only other option is appealing the order in the high court, which, when compared to the £3 application for the local authority, could be potentially many thousands times more. The justice system is stacked in the local authority's favour, as demonstrated with the blatant disparity of the cost to access the court. The Magistrates courts' fees to state a case for an appeal to the High Court being £500 alone. Costs for such action could then escalate into £thousands, for an unsuccessful appeal – a forgone conclusion in considering potential losses in government revenue if it were adjudged the process was a sham.

 

The unbalanced justice system and disparity in the court fees is also evident with the £200 cost for a member of the public wanting to access the court to make complaint in connection with distress under regulation 46.

 

Probably the last straw is the fact parliament have passed legislation specifically allowing local authorities to automatically charge their application fees to the defendant (along with mainly made up costs), whereas similar legislation was never thought of to advantage members of the public in the same way.

[brassnecked]

Outlawla and Caled, exellent summaries of the prevailing situation gentlemen. Tie me kangaroo down Court, tie me kangaroo down..............oops sorry Rolf.....