Is it illegal for council to refuse payment of council tax?

[lookinforinfo]

I don't know how many different Councils there are throughout Britain but most of them will probably have referred to their local legal experts when The TCOG came into force and some will have no doubt received different advice from some of the others. Added to that some Councils CT is handled by Capita who have several bailiff companies under their umbrella. So if yours is one of the latter they may well have received different advice again.

But whatever you say, bailiffs are involved even by your own admission on Post 1. Do you think that your payment would have been refused had you paid earlier in the cycle before bailiffs were considered?

But you are where you are. I have already said that I could find nothing to support your idea which does not mean that you are wrong and I guess that time is running out for you.

The first thing to do is to write to the CEO and ask why your payment was refused. It seems a strange action when they are all claiming poverty and cutting services. You do need an answer

as proof that your payment was declined. If your case ends up in Court you will be able to claim that they should have mitigated their situation so by not accepting the payment it must mean at the very least that they can only charge the statutory 8% interest on the debt less the offer you made earlier this week.

Then you can contact a member of the Council possibly one on the opposition side and seek their advice on whether the Council can refuse payment. Another way would be to check with the

Local Government Ombudsman for information on the Council actions rather than as a complaint since then they would advise you to complain first to the Council. Hopefully just asking their advice might elicit some information that could be of help to you.

[coolcity]

WOW! That's a relief selectric, thank you. You know when you just know you're right about something but can't find any proof of it? I was beginning to wonder if I'd imagined the whole thing but I was sure that if it existed somebody on here would know something about it.

 

Yes, I would be very interested if you can find anything but there's absolutely no rush, as I keep trying to point out I don't need any specific help with my case at the moment, it's just something I'd like to find again.

[coolcity]

I don't know how many different Councils there are throughout Britain but most of them will probably have referred to their local legal experts when The TCOG came into force and some will have no doubt received different advice from some of the others. Added to that some Councils CT is handled by Capita who have several bailiff companies under their umbrella. So if yours is one of the latter they may well have received different advice again.

But whatever you say, bailiffs are involved even by your own admission on Post 1. Do you think that your payment would have been refused had you paid earlier in the cycle before bailiffs were considered?

But you are where you are. I have already said that I could find nothing to support your idea which does not mean that you are wrong and I guess that time is running out for you.

The first thing to do is to write to the CEO and ask why your payment was refused. It seems a strange action when they are all claiming poverty and cutting services. You do need an answer

as proof that your payment was declined. If your case ends up in Court you will be able to claim that they should have mitigated their situation so by not accepting the payment it must mean at the very least that they can only charge the statutory 8% interest on the debt less the offer you made earlier this week.

Then you can contact a member of the Council possibly one on the opposition side and seek their advice on whether the Council can refuse payment. Another way would be to check with the

Local Government Ombudsman for information on the Council actions rather than as a complaint since then they would advise you to complain first to the Council. Hopefully just asking their advice might elicit some information that could be of help to you.

 

Oh for gawd's sake can we drop it already? I have repeated time after time after time after time that THIS IS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BAILIFFS. They are NOT involved, I've done what I need to do, i.e. a payment arrangement with the council to prevent it going any further. THAT IS NOT THE POINT HERE AND IS NOT WHAT OR WHY I'M ASKING SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WILL EVERYBODY STOP TRYING TO READ BETWEEN THE LINES AND STOP JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS!!!

 

The ONLY reason I mentioned it at all is because I knew everybody would start jumping in and talking about bloody bailiffs if I didn't post any case details. I actually thought I had mentioned it earlier (but can't see it now so maybe not) that the council had told me in an email that they WILL NOT accept payment and that it MUST be paid to the bailiffs, so I already have proof. I also have a screenshot of the declined payment, which reads something like "Your card details are correct but we can not accept your payment.

 

Look, I appreciate you're trying to help but I'll reiterate one last time, I'm not looking for bailiff help, payment advice or asking what I need to do to cover myself, I know all that already, inside-out. I'm simply trying to establish the legality of their statement. It's important to know if it's a point of law in otherwords, because if I'm right they're in for a whole world of pain.

 

I agree totally that it's completely nuts for them to refuse it but that's their problem and I intend to keep it that way. I'm not refusing or declining to pay my bill, nor do I need that kind of help, that isn't what this is about.

[honeybee13]

THIS IS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BAILIFFS.THIS IS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BAILIFFS.

 

Maybe I've missed something, but you put this in your first post. 'our council tax account has been passed to the bailiffs and as such the council are refusing to accept payments'

 

 

HB

[coolcity]

THIS IS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BAILIFFS.THIS IS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BAILIFFS.

 

Maybe I've missed something, but you put this in your first post. 'our council tax account has been passed to the bailiffs and as such the council are refusing to accept payments'

 

 

HB

 

Fair comment, but I've reiterated a number of times since that my question, the purpose of my post, has nothing to do with bailiffs; that's the point.

 

I didn't post the whole tale, i.e that I've made arrangements to pay the council regardless of anything else because it's not the point of the post. As I said earlier I'm sorry I mentioned bailiffs because a lot of people have gone off at a tangent which is exactly what I knew would happen if I started to discuss he actual details of the case.

[coolcity]

See if Regulation 45 of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 is what you are looking for.

 

Thanks, I'll take a look but no, I'm pretty sure it wasn't a Council Tax Act or Regulation.

 

EDIT: No that's definitely not it

[renegadeimp]

Fair comment, but I've reiterated a number of times since that my question, the purpose of my post, has nothing to do with bailiffs; that's the point.

 

I didn't post the whole tale, i.e that I've made arrangements to pay the council regardless of anything else because it's not the point of the post. As I said earlier I'm sorry I mentioned bailiffs because a lot of people have gone off at a tangent which is exactly what I knew would happen if I started to discuss he actual details of the case.

 

I think the reason people say bailiffs is because once theyre involved you have to pay their charges too. And from prior experience on here, theyre used to people asking for ways to evade those charges by paying the Council direct. Thats likely where the crossed wires are happening.

[Peterbard]

Yes I have seen this also, in the BOS.

 

That particular act is about regulating the BOS or pawn broking community. Many items are pawned for a sum far less than they are worth, and the broker will prescribe a time the loan must be paid by. I believe it still happens in the antiques trade.

It used to be the case that the broker would make himself unavailable or simply not accept payment in order to gain ownership of the pledge, hence the law you speak of.

 

I am very glad indeed to see an authority refusing payment like this. However the reason would involve bailiffs.

[Peterbard]

Its a common problem on the fora, people take legislation out of context, and apply it to inappropriate situations.

 

Bit like going into the newsagent and asking for a kilo of pork chops.

Edited November 12, 2018 by Andyorch
Quoting own post ...removed