council tax arrears now LO / housing benefit help please

[stuggling]

in July my housing benefit was stopped as i received child care element of tax credits, due to being a carer for my son.

 

The council said i was not entitled to this child care element and to pay my full rent,

 

 

i got my local MP involved and

 

 

he did a great job

 

 

just this week my housing benefit has been reinstated and payment made to landlord, but

 

 

i fell in arrears on council tax as i had to use the money i used to pay council tax to pay rent,

 

 

i explained this to the council and explained when the housing benefit was reinstated i would be able to catch up in my council tax.

 

They did not like this and are now taking me to court for full amount even though I'm only 2 months behind

(well now 1 month as i have paid the other and the oner will be paid before court date) but they dont care they said they still taking it court as no matter i should have not fell into arrears on it, I explained the situation and she said well you shouldn't have paid for childcare!

I'm outraged as it was essential for my son to be in there to maintain his routine ready to start school,

but she said that doesn't matter and that it still going to court and

 

 

now i owe an extra £49.50 for court fees and another £15 for the order!

[Guest]

do you now then have a Liability Order against you?

[stuggling]

No not till October 31st and I can't attend to defend as I'm away on holiday (booked by family last year as a Christmas present) they sent out a payment plan normally monthly payments but with the added costs

[Guest]

ok, you have a date.

as has been seen in c'tax threads, there is not much opportunity to 'defend' even if attending. is just a 'rubberstamp' exercise.

 

maybe put in a formal complaint (higher up) to the council, get them to put things on hold/postpone the LO 'formality' whilst investigating.

 

get yr MP involved again

 

bump for further input.

[stuggling]

ok thank you, i contacted MP he was not happy, fingers crossed something can be done. thank you

[Mr.P]

Pity you could not attend court and question the validity of "court costs" as has been happening elsewhere in the country recently. Have a look at the last few posts on this thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?413648-Reverend-Paul-Nicolson-has-local-authorities-really-worried-as-he-is-quot-willfully-refusing-quot-to-pay-his-council-tax-!!!/page11

 

Hopefully your MP can influence the council and get them to withdraw the LO application - If you can clear the arrears before the end of the month, one could speculate that issuing a summons is nothing more than a money making exercise on the part of the council.

[stuggling]

I know, it would mean leaving 3 days early, I'm fuming it already took me a battle with them for housing benefit.

 

I paid arrears today and will even have next months installment paid before court date, can I write to the court telling them the situation what was 121 PCM is now 176 PCM a huge increase! I've asked for a breakdown and the say it court cost and fees

[RaeUK]

You could try asking the court if they can postpone your hearing as you would like to attend in person.

[Guest]

.....question the validity of "court costs" as has been happening elsewhere in the country recently. Have a look at the last few posts on this thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?413648-Reverend-Paul-Nicolson-has-local-authorities-really-worried-as-he-is-quot-willfully-refusing-quot-to-pay-his-council-tax-!!!/page11

 

....

 

 

cheers, hadnt seen that.

there is also dudes thread where says #80 got costs off post hearing http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?423547-My-council-tax-summons../page4

[stuggling]

I've got a meeting with my MP this week to try and sort thank you guys

[Guest]

sounds good let us know how it goes

[stuggling]

had the visit and a letter was sent to council with regards to the bill, shocking today I had a call from council saying it was still going to court as i had been in arrears for 2 months so they have every right to demand the full years payment, as paying monthly is at there discretion. They said if i pay full amount by monday they wouldnt take to court, I told them no i can not afford to pay it, and that i had clear the arrears and was now a month in advance, but she still said nope.

 

I have contacted MP and told him, but he said they have had a few cases like this recently and unfortunately unable to pursue further, he said he will write to them again and ask for assistance. as it has been proven they owe me 2 months worth of housing benefit and council tax benefit amounting to £280, this was done with one of there advisors who told me this and wrote it down, but she said it would be up to a manager to get this sorted as it will be at there discretion to sort the back payment.

 

Ive decided to write a letter to the courts, stating that i have now clear the arrears and I'm now a month in advance and that i will be able to maintain the rest of the monthly payments, and i ve stated the reasons why i have missed the last 2 months and providing evidence

[Guest]

not sure what writing to the court as such wld do? if council lists it for LO then it seems is, unfortunately, just 'rubberstamped', costs issue aside. partic if you wont be there. see the c'tax threads.

have you made a formal complaint to the council as well as mp writing. that shld escalate it and get it ftao someone higher up than the 'clerk/advisor.'

[stuggling]

Mp taking it higher but I will as well thank you

[stuggling]

well they got the liability order, and now I'm having to pay £176 a month not impressed as now it puts us in more finical hardship! they still haven't sorted the housing benefit out so even then we may be entitled to a reduction in council tax but nope they not interested.

 

Im waiting for a response from the formal complaint i put in

[Guest]

even the civil courts have 'recognised' that LO's at the mags are just a rubber stamp exercise.

the council has the power/authority to change things thereafter, so keep at it.

[stuggling]

i wanna cry over it! I'm going into the offices tomorrow over it all, turns out we should have a reduction of £65 of bill due to benefit, but they say that will only over court cost and fee! Ive asked for a tribunal over the housing and council tax benefits now, hopefully they will help

[id6052]

if you are appealing about HB decision, you need to do through the Council, who will review case to if they can to change decision to your favour.

If they cant, the Council will send your papers to HM Courts and Tribunals Service

 

There are different rules for Council Tax support, you first need to lodge a dispute with Council.

They have 2 months to respond to you.

Once you get the response, you then have 2 months to appeal directly to the Valuation Tribunal.

[Guest]

! I'm going into the offices tomorrow over it all,

 

how did it go?

[stuggling]

rubbish, sorry but they dont care. Im now going to a tribunal over it all just waiting for a date. Im gonna bring this up with them as i had to pay £176 this week alone to them for the ct and they wrote to me saying if i dont pay by the 7th of each month they will enforce the libablity order with out notice

[Guest]

good luck with the hearing stuggling. let thread know how you get on. post up for any help.

note that councils can amend LO's post.

could try get them to 'suspend' things subject to the investigation/tribunal.

[sillygirl1]

Unfortunately the CT rules were written in a very very draconian one sided way, if the councils DON'T collect x amount they are fined heavily, so they are 'protecting their assets'.

 

I wonder what UKIPs policy on changing the CT rules will be,

 

a) Make them simpler - ie NO fining of councils and NO Liabilities to be issued in the current financial year. LOs only to be issued 3 months after the end of the Financial year....

[soobee]

Just in case you don't read my post, I had my court costs cancelled twice! This last time was because despite telling them I could not pay the amount they requested, they insisted I did. However at no time over many emails, did anyone tell me I could have paid over 12 months instead of 10. If they had, there wouldn't have been a problem. The woman I spoke to cancelled it over the phone straightaway. If this is the case with you, they should be made to explain themselves.

[stuggling]

hi just an update I've only just got the papers for the tribunal, over the housing benefit and council tax benefit, it turns out that I'm owed 416 by them for my landlord as they have been underpaying since june when the tax credits changed but they had not noticed, even though the papers say i told them and handed in documents showing this. they have told me that they have suspended the payments so i called and they said oh it was an error so sorry we will issue a payment to landlord on next payment date, I'm fuming as it put me in arrears with landlord by 3 months!

[Guest]

cheers for updating.

looking like then is their fault. a ground for them taking back the LO?

keep thread informed, and good luck.