Council tax woes - threatened summons, ignored correspondence etc....

[ploddertom]

Which council are you dealing with? A lot have outsourced their back office procedures to private companies.

 

have you tried contacting your local councillor to see if they will intervene on yourbehalf.

[snotgobbler123]

I did contact the local councillor - in fact, that was often the only way to get a response from them (to copy him into the correspondence). I have also contacted my MP who simply forwarded the letter to the council and considered that matter closed. I've just had an email from them stating that they are no longer prepared to discuss the issue (they haven't discussed it at all aside from to say "pay up, or else".

So, I am armed with printouts of all correspondence so far, bank statements that prove payments, and I'll be on my way to the Magistrates court on the 16th October.

[Consumer dude]

I did contact the local councillor - in fact, that was often the only way to get a response from them (to copy him into the correspondence). I have also contacted my MP who simply forwarded the letter to the council and considered that matter closed. I've just had an email from them stating that they are no longer prepared to discuss the issue (they haven't discussed it at all aside from to say "pay up, or else".

So, I am armed with printouts of all correspondence so far, bank statements that prove payments, and I'll be on my way to the Magistrates court on the 16th October.

 

Good luck. Make them work..

[sillygirl1]

If you get told 'you don't need to appear in front of the judge' point out that you would like to - then the judge gets YOUR side of the story - so go armed with a step by step (one or two line per step) history of the case to date.

[snotgobbler123]

Thank you; indeed I will!

[Consumer dude]

The courts are often lazy when handing out liability orders even when evidence is produced that should be taken seriously. In my case two load of court costs have been issued but have since been cancelled by the local authority..

[snotgobbler123]

...which is a disgusting abuse of process in my eyes.

[outlawla]

Does Shepway District Council use Folkestone Magistrates court to obtain liability orders? This might be of interest....

 

Update – 127 cases adjourned in folkstone

[snotgobbler123]

Yes...indeed they do.

 

I turned up at the court last Thursday, and was seen almost immediately (which seems a shame now given what happened afterwards - that is, if the magistrate adjourned the cases on the same day - 16th?). I was 'collected' and taken off. They tried to argue that there was only one account, which was directly the opposite of what their 'investigation' found with regards to the "I can confirm that there are no arrears on the account". So I pointed this out, and they then claimed that there were two accounts, so I then quoted the 1814 case...to which they replied that there was one account again. I told them that they couldn't have it both ways, and they agreed.

I went through the "arrears" and it transpired that all but around 4 quid of it was due to their charging 125 quid for each summons.

I agreed to pay the arrears and no liability order was issued, but I argued that I shouldn't have to pay the 125 quid(s) as they were due entirely to the council lying and/or taking 3 months to reply to my applying for a single-occupancy discount, and that I wasn't there to pay for their Christmas party - to which one of them replied by saying that they don't get a Christmas party. I told her that I thought she was intelligent enough to understand my point.

They then said that if I could prove that they had sent me an email saying that there were no arrears (and hence why I didn't pay any), then they would 'consider' dropping those costs. I have had them 'consider' it many times over the past two years, and each time they arrive at the conclusion that they would rather have the money!

 

So, given the above information, I am now of mind to email them again on Monday stating that they should now not pursue any of those costs until the outcome of the Revd Nicolson’s case is known, regardless of what the outcome of their 'consideration' is.

 

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I did (about a year ago) put in a FOI request to see how many summons' were issued in any one period, and how many of those were paid before a court hearing. The answer was around 1% were cleared, so the other 99% were forced to pay the 125 quid. I will dig this out if it's helpful. I also requested another on Friday asking for a detailed breakdown of how they arrived at the 125 pound figure for issuing a summons.

 

EDIT2: Found it. It [the FOI response] states that 7904 summons' were issued in the 2012 period. 111 of these were paid in full before the court date (including the 125 quid costs). Presumably, the remainder also went on to incur a further 65 quid costs for a Liability Order. That's 7904x125 = 988000 (minus the LO costs, as I didn't request those). It seems completely unfathomable that the council incur that level of cost.

Edited October 19, 2014 by snotgobbler123
Additional information found.

[snotgobbler123]

Actually, this is rather brilliant news. I may also send a similar letter to SDC asking them to refrain charging this fee until the outcome is heard.

[outlawla]

EDIT2: Found it. It [the FOI response] states that 7904 summons' were issued in the 2012 period. 111 of these were paid in full before the court date (including the 125 quid costs). Presumably, the remainder also went on to incur a further 65 quid costs for a Liability Order. That's 7904x125 = 988000 (minus the LO costs, as I didn't request those). It seems completely unfathomable that the council incur that level of cost.

 

Page 6 of Shepway District Council's Variance Analysis 2014/15 Quarter 2 shows that its forecast to make an additional £150,000 income out of liability orders:

 

"

Increase in court cost income due half year review and based on income for 2013/14

 

[snotgobbler123]

Ok...so...after appearing at court and sending the email that first stated that there were no arrears...guess what?

They have considered my case (took around 7 minutes...I sent a chase email and got a reply nearly immediately - which is extremly odd for SDC as they usually take months if they bother to reply at all), and have found that the original investigation that found that the charges (costs) should still stand...still stands, despite their admitting that there was only one account (the email referrenced 'the account' and the investigation found that the email referred to a different account (and thus, more than one).

 

So, I feel I now have very little choice but to initiate action in the county court.

 

Could someone have a read of this before I send it to them to make sure it's a) not too strong, and b) has no errors, please?

 

Dear Sir,

Reference: xxxxxx

As it has not been possible to resolve this matter amicably, and it is apparent that court action may be necessary, I write in compliance with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct.

Summary:

The revenue department of SDC has misinformed me as to arrears on my council tax account resulting in summonses being issued and subsequent costs added to my account. An appearance at Folkestone Magistrate Court ascertained that the internal investigation held into the matter by SDC found incorrectly (namely, that more than one account was in existence and that the information passed to me referred to a different account to the one I was enquiring about). Information ascertained at the court found that there is only one account, and thus the email received from SDC can only be referencing that account and as such I was misinformed as to the amount payable (on more than one occasion) resulting in my account incurring costs.

The revenue department of SDC refuses to readdress the issue.

From you I am claiming all costs that have been paid, and are due to be paid as a result of incorrect information being furnished to me, an apology issued and an application made to the court to cancel all and any Liability Orders issued as a result. If I am forced to progress to a County Court to address the issue, I will also be claiming compensation for stress and suffering at the maximum allowed by law, time spent researching and for time corresponding with SDC. I will also be claiming 8% APR as allowed by the County Courts Act [1984].

I also require an explanation of the disparity in the Freedom of Information request, REF 2014-423 – in which it is claimed that each default, on average, costs SDC £145.12 (meaning a loss of £88,950.52 given that a charge of £125 is made and that so far this year 4421 have been issued) and the Variance Analysis 2014/15 Quarter 2 published by SDC in which it is claimed and forecast that an extra £150,000 will be incoming from an increase in the number of defaults on council tax payments. I’m sure I need not remind you that profiting from these costs is unlawful under the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations [1992].

I will supply further, more verbose details at your request, although I believe that SDC already has all the information needed to make the right decision.

 

 

In accordance with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct I would request that you provide me with copies of the following documents:

Copy of internal investigation carried out by Mr. Mike Fitch with regards to this account.

All internal correspondence (including emails and any electronic records) regarding this account.

I can supply you with all documents (email and letters) that have occurred, complete with refusal to address the issue, ignored correspondence, letters to my MP and the email that triggered the whole affair in case you cannot source these from your files.

I can confirm that I would be agreeable to mediation and would consider any other system of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in order to avoid the need for this matter to be resolved by the courts.

I would invite you to put forward any proposals in this regard.

In closing, I would draw your attention to section II (4) of the Practice Direction which gives the courts the power to impose sanctions on the parties if they fail to comply with the direction including failing to respond to this letter before claim.

I look forward to hearing from you within the next 14 days.

As I have exhausted all avenues in an attempt at resolution, should I not receive a response to my letter within this time frame, then I anticipate that court action will be commenced with no further reference to you.

Yours faithfully,

 

 

Mr. SnotGobbler123.