council tax summons to court without warning

[noddy997]

Ok last week I received a summons from court for owed council tax. However, prior to this I was supposed to receive a red writing last warning letter that if I dont pay it will go to court. But I never received this.

 

I told the council this today, and they told me that they sent it in July and its on "their records". And asked me why have I rang today and not the 3days since receiving the letter - but I rang twice and been on the phone 40mins at a time and hung up - the staff dont beleive that the wait times are this long!

 

Now am not disputing the amount I owe the council, but I dont want to pay the £50 summons fee which is unlawfully added as I never received a warning letter from the council.

 

The rude staff at the council further said "if you dont receive post you need to speak to royal mail".

 

But hold on, when a landlord sends a written notice to a tenant standard first class postage is not considered as proof, but royal mail special delivery is required to "ensure" the tenant "receives" the notice. Yet, the council believe they are "perfect" as they send out 100,000s of post a year at standard and 2nd class service and they believe that none of the items ever get lost within royal mail...

 

 

What are my options here? Also I am struggling financially, jobless and currently dont have the funds to pay the £121 + £50 summons charge. If I go court what is the worst can happen??

 

Also, if they say they sent it out in July can they still apply for an order 2months later??! Can I argue on this point? Because if am forced to pay this ridiculous £50 charge (even if I pay now and dont go court, sitll have to pay for it) I might as well go and argue it.

Edited September 25, 2013 by noddy997

[outlawla]

This High Court judgment (Regentford Ltd v Thanet District Council [2004] EWHC 246) from paragraph 8 describes the procedure which local authorities most follow in the billing process and for reminder notices etc.

"

8.

The Regulations

were made pursuant to the provisions of the Act to which I have referred. Part V of the Regulations is headed "Billing". It commences....

 

 

Also, this judgment (Salmon, R (on the application of) v Feltham Magistrates Court & Anor [2008] EWHC 3507) from paragraph 15.....

 

 

Note:

 

The Regulations refer to The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992

Edited September 26, 2013 by outlawla

[outlawla]

NOTE:

 

Links to the High Court judgments in the above post don't work unless you replace lowercase 'a' in the address bar (once clicked) to capital 'A' in the word "A dmin".

[noddy997]

So basically I got no chance of winning.

 

I dont fancy another thrashing this year in court already had one with HSBC.

 

 

Sick of the way the system is ran in this country. Might as well sell the lot up and go on benefits and abuse the darn system.

 

 

UK should be awarded an International Award as it has the most taxes charged by a country. (council, income, wealth, road, VAT, inheritance, plus all the abuseable additional hidden charges like this).

 

You live your life work and pay income tax, you die and your offspring pay inheritance tax to inherit your assets - taxed twice! What a rip off!

[outlawla]

Does it say on your summons that you will be liable for further charges should the council be granted a liability order?

[noddy997]

Does it say on your summons that you will be liable for further charges should the council be granted a liability order?

 

 

No. It says "you should attend to explain why your council tax is remained unpaid. If you fail to appear the case will be proceeded as if you appeared".

 

Now, I have read somewhere they can only take further action such as placing order on the property if the council tax is owed £750/£1000+

 

Citizens Advice sucks around here, they give you a telephone number which is ALWAYS busy and you cant just walk in there you got to ring and make an appointment.

 

I might sound like a rude prat, but as many of you might know I had a case v HSBC in Feb this year and got annilhated unfairly. And therefore I know how bad the system is on individuals - talking from experience if you like. So am fed up, and yes I have tried to move abroad somewhere tax free with a better service provision including better weather!

 

 

Now, I dont want to go court in case am painted with more costs, unless ofcourse I can argue a good point (which I did with HSBC and still lost hmm )

[Consumer dude]

I feel your frustration..

[outlawla]

Do you mind naming the council?

[noddy997]

Nottingham City Council. No I dont mate. They are so tedious they even closed the payment counter in the building so u got to pay at an automated machine or over the phone. How tedious is this?

 

How is a visually impaired individual to pay?!

 

Am sick to death of this council, I wasnt even liable for this council tax but they stuck it on me end of last year - the tenants were to pay!

 

Could they stick me in HMP? I wouldnt mind a 3 course meal, hitting the gym and chilling out on the tax payers money mate. I recently forked out £500 in repairs for the property, I got a mortgage the last thing I need is an extra £50 quid tedious cost mate. LLs also dont want housing benefit tenants anymore thanks to welfare reform - tenants paid directly in these economic times will mean non payment of rentS! Whole system is screwed. Many LL I know are selling up.

[outlawla]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but Nottingham City Council will add another £20 when the Magistrates' court grants the liability order.

 

I'll find a link to Nottingham council's debt recovery policy and post it shortly.

[outlawla]

Page 7 of the Council Tax Recovery Collection Strategy

[noddy997]

This is utter bollocks. Always the "citizens".

 

Funny how Nottingham City dont mention in the literature that orders on properties will only be added when the amount owed is £750 or £1000. Other councils mention this.

 

 

Can I pay them £1 a month?

[outlawla]

.....LLs also dont want housing benefit tenants anymore thanks to welfare reform - tenants paid directly in these economic times will mean non payment of rentS! Whole system is screwed....

 

Be interesting to see how much extra profit Nottingham City Council is making from court costs since the benefit reforms. Anywhere near as much as Leeds City Council and they'll be doing very well out of it.

 

Can I pay them £1 a month?

 

You could inconvenience the court by insisting you appear before the bench as per your summons.

Edited September 26, 2013 by outlawla

[outlawla]

You could inconvenience the court by insisting you appear before the bench as per your summons.

 

Sourced from CIPFA

 

Human Rights Act 1998

 

So far, the main area of local taxation in which the applicability of human rights legislation has been tested is in the procedures leading up to committal for non-payment of community charge. The cases are equally applicable to council tax, and these are dealt with in detail in the section on committal.

 

However, principles of human rights can be raised wherever there is a "public body" and a "victim", and anyone being summonsed for non-payments of council tax can raise human rights in the magistrates' court.

 

Local authorities must be careful not to infringe an individual's human rights. Potential areas for problems are:

• notice of hearing

 

• being careful not to appear to stop the taxpayer appearing before the court, if they want only to make a payment arrangement

 

• not having available a translator for people whose first language is not English

 

• not separating the roles of court taking officer and the person who gives evidence of process.

 

[noddy997]

 

You could inconvenience the court by insisting you appear before the bench as per your summons.

 

How do you mean?

 

I already said to the council staff I will go to court since im paying for it as they refused to take off the £50 summons charge.

 

Am just scared of having extra costs against me which I cannot afford.

 

They really know how to squeeze it out of people.

[Consumer dude]

Go to court anyway and demand to see the magistrate. They will try and deny you that right but demand it anyway. Get the council to justify there costs. Moan moan and moan again. If they are going to get any money from you then make them work for it. Stand up for yourself. When is the court date ?

Edited September 27, 2013 by Consumer dude

[outlawla]

....Get the council to justify there costs...

 

 

Regulation 34(5) of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 provide only for costs reasonably incurred by the authority in connection with issuing the summons (see (b) below).

 

Application for liability order

 

34.—(5) If, after a summons has been issued in accordance with paragraph (2) but before the application is heard, there is paid or tendered to the authority an amount equal to the aggregate of—

(a) the sum specified in the summons as the sum outstanding or so much of it as remains outstanding (as the case may be); and

 

(b) a sum of an amount equal to the costs reasonably incurred by the authority in connection with the application up to the time of the payment or tender,

the authority shall accept the amount and the application shall not be proceeded with.

 

 

 

Nottingham City Council pays only £3 per liability order it applies for to the Magistrates' Court. For evidence see Schedule 1 (4.1) of the Magistrates' Courts Fees (Amendment No.2) Order 2010.

 

You could download a copy of the Department of Communities and Local Government's publication (Guidance to local councils on good practice in the collection of Council Tax arrears) and send it to the council pointing out to them Paragraph 3.4 and ask them to provide a breakdown showing how the costs have been calculated.

 

"

3

.

4

Local Authorities are reminded that they are only permitted to charge reasonable costs for the court summons and liability order. In the interests of transparency, Local Authorities should be able to provide a breakdown, on request, showing how these costs are calculated. While it is likely that authorities will have discussed costs with the Clerk to Justices it should be recognised that the Court may wish to be satisfied that the amount claimed by way of costs in any individual case is no more than that reasonably incurred by the authority

.

[ploddertom]

The Court can only decide one issue - are you liable or not for the Council Tax. They cannot take into consideration any payment proposals it is a simple yes or no decision - which is one of the reasons why Council staff will try an waylay you going into Court.

[noddy997]

The Court can only decide one issue - are you liable or not for the Council Tax. They cannot take into consideration any payment proposals it is a simple yes or no decision - which is one of the reasons why Council staff will try an waylay you going into Court.

 

 

Yes your right.

 

Yes its £3 I think but there is £47 charge for the summons.

 

 

The only thing I can say is: "I never received a final reminder, as I paid over £500 previously and surely would have paid this if I received the final reminder. This reminder would also have informed me of me being summoned but I never received it. I am happy to pay the outstanding council tax balance but not the summons cost of £50 as I wasnt advised / written to accordingly. Furthermore the council has no evidence that I received such a letter, it could got lost in the post. The council claim a 100% delivery success rate".

 

 

Dont think that would be enough, I'd just get laughed at.

[noddy997]

Hold on a second, am I missing something?

 

It says "court summons cost £3" and "authority summons cost £47"

 

So the the £47 charged is for the council to apply/prepare summons?

[noddy997]

I have emailed the idiots.

 

 

The £47 charge over £113 is 42%!

 

I dont think someone paying £1095 council per year who hasnt paid all year will be paying £460 in costs at 42%!!! Ridiculous!

[outlawla]

Bottom of page 7 of NCC's Council Tax Recovery Collection Strategy

 

The costs charged to the citizen by the Authority for a Summons, are made up of both the Authorities administration costs and court costs. The latter are paid to the court on the issue of a summons. An application for an award of costs is made at each court hearing for the Benches consideration.

Isn't it odd that Nottingham City Council have already decided these costs???

 

 

It seems the reference in law allowing a defendant to address the court (whether or not evidence is called) is Rule 14 of the Magistrates' Court Rules 1981

 

Order of evidence and speeches: complaint

14

.—(1) On the hearing of a complaint, except where the court determines under

section 53(3)

of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 to make the order with the consent of the defendant without hearing evidence, the complainant shall call his evidence, and before doing so may address the court.

(2) At the conclusion of the evidence for the complainant the defendant may address the court, whether or not he afterwards calls evidence.

 

(3)....

[ploddertom]

That is another argument itself and has been the subject of other threads/posts on here. The thread immediately below this is worth a read. Outlawla has done a lot of research on this same subject.

[noddy997]

I emailed them last week asking them for a breakdown of the costs of the £47 on Friday.

 

I have not received a reply yet! Talk about bloody being malicious!

 

A "legit" scandal if you ask me.

[noddy997]

And Nottingham CAB number is "busy" as usual and you get cut off - dont even have a queue waiting system in place.

 

 

Any advice what I can do? Sent another email to NCC.