Council Tax Summons for £54 !!

[Lula]

My daughter , who is a vulnerable young adult, has been summonsed to court for non payment of Council Tax of £54 which pays it up to 31/03/15 ! they have added on £80 costs and a date of £15th August to appear in court.

 

She only got the letter this morning and I immediately paid the £54 to the Council through their 24hour hour automated payment line.

 

Can someone tell me what she has to do now, as far as I am concerned , she has now cleared her council tax arrears and had payed in advance up to March 15.

 

Can she call the council tax people on Monday and call them off, surely she wont have to pay the £80 costs ? she has £50 per week to live on?

[*RainbowTears*]

Ring the Council on Monday & tell them that the £54 has been paid. Ask them once they have payment confirmation (have the receipt number ready to give to them) if they will cancel the Court Summons.

 

If they say no. Then do go to the Court on the day & explain in person as to why your there. (You will need to go, as otherwise the Council will get a LO against your daughter).

 

Valid Defences

 

You may decide to attend court if you have a 'Valid Defence' to stop the Council asking for a Liability Order.

 

There are two main defences which can do this:

 

1. the Council has not followed the procedures set down in law when trying to collect your Council Tax;

 

2. you have paid all the overdue Council Tax within the time limit given on the last reminder or final notice sent to you.

 

So going by the above, you have a valid defence with option 2.

 

Do take your payment receipt with you on the day as well.

 

Good luck on getting this sorted!

[Lula]

Thanks for that, I dont think that they would need or require to go to court for a liability order as the whole amount for the year has now been paid.

[*RainbowTears*]

That's why if the Council refuse to cancel the Court Summons, you must turn up at Court & state this. (With your receipt)

 

This way the fees, the Council are trying to impose will also not be payable.

[Consumer dude]

That's why if the Council refuse to cancel the Court Summons, you must turn up at Court & state this. (With your receipt)

 

This way the fees, the Council are trying to impose will also not be payable.

 

In your opinion, if the amount has been paid and the individual still needs to attend court, can costs be claimed ?

[Lula]

Also, re reading the summons they say that they will cancel court action if the £54 plus costs of £80 are paid, well, I paid one, not going to pay the other. I have instructed my daughter to call them Monday morning with the payment reference and tell them that she is classed as a vulnerable person and describe her difficulties, if, after that they dont want to cancel it, she will be getting a letter from her GP and I will be her Mackenzies Friend !

[*RainbowTears*]

The Council will always want their costs for issuing a Court Summons.

 

So you can either ring the Council & ask them to stop the Court Summons (as payment in full has been made) or you can turn up at Court on the day & ask that the costs be removed & to stop the LO from going ahead (as this also incurs more costs).

 

This is what a close friend of mine did.

 

She had CT arrears for approx £76 & she was issued with a Court Summons. So she paid the arrears online & printed of the receipt.

 

The next day she called Thurrock Council, who still wanted their costs for issuing the Summons. Which she wasn't willing to pay. (As they were more than what she owed)

 

So she turned up at the Court with her receipt. She was 1 of 6 people who showed up & after speaking to the Magistrate & showing her receipt, she walked out owing nothing. No costs or LO against her.

 

The Council would rather you didn't show up at Court. As it's a rubber stamping exercise for the LO & increased revenue for them!!

 

Thurrock Council

 

Final notice

 

In this procedure:

 

if we send you a final notice, you can no longer pay by instalments

 

if you do not pay in full, we will send you a summons

 

if we send you a summons, unless you pay the full amount, including the summons costs before the hearing, we will apply for a liability order

 

once a liability order has been obtained, incurring costs, we will instruct enforcement agents to act on our behalf to recover the arrears

 

You don't have to attend the hearing but you must contact us to arrange payment.

 

Edited to add;

 

The costs involved spiral ever upwards, as you have Summons costs, LO costs & EA costs!! So potentially you could end up owing over £400+ just on these costs alone!!

[Consumer dude]

Always good as well to ask how they have worked out there costs. They don't like that, but if the individual has to be accountable then so does a corporate affair..

[Lula]

Hi again, She spoke to the council today and they have agreed that, when they receive notification of the paid Council Tax, they will withdraw the costs.

 

I told her to make sure that she gets it all in writing and, if we dont, to turn up for court anyway.

 

Thanks for all your help.

[*RainbowTears*]

That is great news indeed!!

 

Yes I agree, do get it in writing. You can also ring the Council again just before the Court date to make sure, everything is as was agreed.

 

Glad to have been a help & hopefully that's it over & done with now!

[ericsbrother]

Court costs of £80 are rather fanciful tio say the least. The cost of issuing the summons for the council is about a fiver and they have no other costs to consider prior to the event and even then it is not a hearing but a rubber stamp by one of their staff so the courts service doesnt get involved until the end of the day when all of the non-payers are dealt with by a bulk order.

[Lula]

UPDATE:

 

My daughter has spoken to them and they "dont Do" sending letters to say that they are withdrawing the summons for costs, they will only write to her to say that her account is up to date, I cannot fathom what this means and feel that we will be having a trip to the court for no good reason!

 

I have just re read the summons, it says that unless the total amount INCLUDING costs (which is more that the total amount of Council Tax to 31/03/15 ) is paid then the court will issue a liability order.

 

 

It seems to me that the council are telling the court how to behave and presuming what they will do.

 

I can see that I really am going to have to go to court with her for this!

[Lula]

Can anyone advise me on how to put together something for the court should it come to it?

 

I think that she needs to do an income and expenditure sheet, we are still waiting for the receipt for the payment. Would a letter grom her GP help at all?

[Conniff]

Have you got a mobile that can record conversations? If so ring them again and get what they say recorded. You don't have to tell them you are recording.

 

If you send a recorded delivery letter asking, they can only reply with a letter.