I haven't been able to pay any of last years council tax and am being taken to court for this next week. Bearing in mind we are nearly into this years council tax, if I ring the council before the hearing, are they likely to give me time to pay? It's about £1.550. Thanks for any advice. Tom

Hi I have received a court summons today for the 11 march for a court hearing for benefit fraud. I really am petrified Nd don't know what to do I cannot afford a solicitor I'm really struggling to live and already paying back the overpayment .... I owe 5000 income support I'm paying 20 a week bAbk and 5600 housing benefit and council tax I'm paying 18 a week back ... It offers A early plea of guilty but I don't know what to do can someone help me fill in the form? It also says the fine will need paying on the day but I have no money!!! Will I go to prison I have four children and did commit this commence but the circumstances were the reasoning know this is no excise and I am truly sorry I don't know what to do please help me I'm going out of my mind

If anyone has experience of this I would love your thoughts. I received a ECN from Excel Parking with a mistake in the car reg. I have ignored the first Notice to Owner to pay (I don't know how they found me with the wrong reg number written down). I now have a 'copy' of a court summons for a Magistrates' court (it's a photocopy or a scan or something and looks suspiciously similar to the other correspondence I've had from Excel, rather than from a court). How should I proceed? Do i have a case due to their mistake on the original ticket?

Would really appreciate some advice. Back in Dec my daughter, who has just graduated had a Christmas job in London and very stupidly took my husbands staff oyster card without his knowledge, to use for her journey to work. She was stopped and cautioned. She has since had a letter which she replied to, apologising and saying she didn't realise the severity of her actions, but today she has received a court summons. Is there anything we can do to avoid this, as she obviously doesnt want a criminal record and also any advice on my husbands position with his job. Thank you

Hi there, Can anyone help me please? I've had a summons issued in my name for a credit card debt where summons says the last payment made was made nearly 5 years ago. It's been sent to a different address. Is it too late to send a CCA request for my address, address of summons? I hope someone can help! Many thanks !

Hi I wonder if anyone could give me a bit of advice. I received a parking charge notice last June from Parking Eye and from looking online I took the advice given at the time to ignore it. But in January I received a County Court Summons from Northampton. I have sent in a defence to the Court but also sent a copy to Parking Eye. Parking Eye have written back with a letter headed "Without Prejudice Save as to Costs" saying that they require me to pay £50 for the Court costs. I am unsure what to do now. Does this mean that if I pay the £50 the case will be dropped? Can anyone help with advice as to what to do next? Thanks

Dear all, I could do with some advice on how to respond to this. My council tax payments run until the end of March due to moving to the area mid way through the year. I have paid regularly on the 27th of every month with no missed payments. Today I received a summons with £60 additional charges for non-payment, I phoned the council and explained to them (as I did in January) that my payments are made on the 27th of the month and they confirmed that this is what they can see on their system also. So I asked why have you sent me a summons....reply because you haven't paid !!!... Again I asked them if they could see the payments on their system and they confirmed that they could it's just a different date that they have for payment. Anyway ended up with them just giving me an email address to complain to them saying that they couldn't do anything and I would have to appeal the summons at court, what a waste of time. The council offer different payment dates if it's by direct debit but apparently not if you pay manually and as I pointed out to them, there isn;t time to even set a DD up for the last two payments of the year. Rather than just send a complaint I wanted to send them something more official in terms of them wasting their time with this court summons so I can get it withdrawn... if they don't withdraw it and I attend court with proof of the payments will they still grant a liability order and make me pay costs simply because of a difference in the monthly date of payment ? Thanks in advance, Esh

I've just had a summons for a parking infraction and have responded to it. Wish I had come across CAG first though. I filed for partial admission and offered £15 of the ridiculous £165. Can anyone advise me as to where that may leave me ? Would I be better or worse off or just the same? Can anyone advise on the following courses of action?

I was claiming DLA for bipolar disorder. i have been working for DWP too. I got interviewed under caution by fraud department in the summer. I have now been summons to appear at the magistrates court. they say I failed to report changes of circumstance. Looking at it now I can see things changed, but I didn't complete the form, I just signed it, my mum filled it in. So I had no idea what was on it. I am appealing the DLA decision, trying to get at least lower. I suffer with depression and mania, and am suicidal. does anyone have any idea what will happen, what kind of punishment I will get. If I get a criminal record, I will never get my life back on track. I about to be sack from DWP too, losing my house because I'm bankrupt, and we can't afford to stay on one wage. I am so frightened and need some advice. I'm seeing a solicitor on Thursday. Its for about £7500, overpayment from Jan 2012 to July 2013, I started paying back this month.

Hi, Hoping someone could give me some advice! I sold my old car back in May/June 2013 time but I realised when the guy came to collect it that I'd lost the log book. He said that's OK he'd apply for a new one and that I should write to DVLA which I did. Now were in January 2014 and I get a court summons on my doorstep today saying I have to appear in court due to not notifying them of a change of keeper! I wrote to them! And apparently they have written to me to negotiate an out of court settlement which I have never received. They were writing to my previous address but I know the tenant who lives there now and he forwards me every piece of mail that gets sent there. I find it hard to believe they sent these previous letters. In any case is the onus on me to prove to the court I sent DVLA notification in writing? In the same breath if they're telling me that is the case then surely the same can be said of them sending me these other letters, is the ouns not on them also to make sure I received them? My word against theirs surely? Has anyone got any advice? The summons looks pretty scary but to be honest I'm actually quite angry, I feel like going to court and having a bit of a rant! Over something so paltry they're gonna fine me up to £1000 or send me to prison? lol. Also on a separate note, Im due to work the day they have summoned me, how should I approach this with my employer? Many thanks in advance! blinky

Hello, Is there someone who could advise me regarding an HSBC defaulted loan passed to MKDP. The loan was defaulted (with a defective by date Default notice) in mid 2009 and passed to MKDP in 2011. I have now received a CC summons from Northampton Court from MKDP. I might add that whilst I have the originals from HSBC I'm having difficulty in locating the 'handover' to MKDP. HSBC also having passed the stuff to their initial Metropolitan services and then solicitors never issued a CC summons. I'm assuming because they realised that it would be futile due to the defective default notice. I'll add that no CRA would delete the default and I realised if I pursued this I'd lose and they understood the same from their prospective. Some help would be more than welcome. Michael

Hey people, hoping I can be helped again. I've done some reading here but can't find the exact information I need so let me bullet this to make it easier. 1) We owe council tax, quite a few months worth. We hit hard times. 2) Its now with the baliffs. 3) They say they have a liability order as its been to court but we received no summons. 4) The baliff told me on the phone that we should be able to offer £25 a month and he will recommend it, he originally said we could offer less but this turns out to be an offer for people on benefits, which I am not on. 5) I contacted them as soon as we received any information back in November, I contacted the bailiff when he'd delivered a letter but when I rang he didnt have any paper work to deal with my case so I had to ring him a week later and we've always been prompt with getting in touch. Though we were a bit slow sending the financial statement for technical reasons. 6) Once I followed it up to find out if they received the statement, which on the advice of the National Debt Line offered them £25 a month. The NDL said that we should just continue to pay them £25 a month so if it goes any further then we are showing we are not refusing to pay, this advice was quite a while ago now though and they mentioned something about it going to court again, I'm unsure if they meant if the bailiffs pass it back to the council themselves or if they mean the initial court summons, I imagine its to do with it going back to court to force a payment agreement? 7) They have declined this and are asking for £93 a month. We simply cannot afford this. I'm not working but my partner is and I do not receive any benefits because apparently we earn too much, however our total income to outgoings including paying £25 a month to the baliffs would leave us with very little, I quote from the email I just received after asking them to reconsider my offer. What is my best course of action here?

Hi, I have a default from Cap1 that has really done the rounds, so much so that it would probably be easier to list the firms that haven't handled it. Early on I sent out numerous CCA's and no real paperwork appeared just the usual smoke screen. The default celebrates it's sixth birthday next month and as an early present I received a court summons this morning from Lowell for the sum of £1862.62 plus interest of £678.91. The issue date is 11 Jul and as I understand it I have 14 days to respond. I'd really welcome some advice chaps, sorry if there is not much detail but I didn't want to ramble too much.

Due to suffering horrible social anxiety, I've come back to this forum for some advice on what to do. I received a Court summons in the post for 'failing' to pay off an Unpaid fare notice of £8.90 for a journey I made 6 months ago. Contrary to their records, I paid this off on the evening I received it, to a member of staff at the the station I was returning home from. Here's a summary of what happened:- I took a train to see a friend from an unstaffed station with no ticket machine, one that I had used regularly and was used to paying for my ticket to the conductor. On this date, my card decided it was going to pull a silly and my transaction was declined twice. I took the little blue notice stating I'd been unable to pay happily, understanding that I, from what I was told the being the best thing to do was to go to a ticket office as soon as possible to pay it off, would do such and pay for my transportation that way as I had no other means to pay on the train. When I arrived at my destination I decided I would make the most of the short time I had to spend with my friend, and hopefully pay off the notice at the station before I caught my train home. When it was time to head home, I visited the ticket office from the station I was departing from and the member of rail staff took away my Unpaid Fare Notice. I was charged a return ticket to my card to and from the destination of the journey I received the notice for, and issued me with the usual OUT and RTN rail tickets. Thinking this was all over, I didn't have the notice and I had paid for my ticket, I was shocked to have received two warnings in the post stating I hadn't paid, the first asking for the ticket price + £x, as to which I ignored as I believed my notice might not have been processed yet. The second I received with a surprisingly larger fine + the ticket price, I replied to with a letter stating the exact account of the events that had happened, along with times and photocopies of the tickets that I have in front of me now. I heard no reply from them, presuming this was sorted I was even more surprised to receive this in the post, a summons to court over a £8.90 train ticket I apparently have not paid. Soon as I got this, I had a friend ring the rail company and they said that the time on my ticket was after when I was issued the notice and it was invalid.. even thought she'd explained that I'd handed the fine to the ticket office and was given this in return. He then proceeded to tell me that so sort it would cost me the £100 fine as demanded in the 2nd letter. I believe I'm completely innocent, I paid off the price of my ticket to the rail company, and it seems the only way is going to court and pleading not guilty. I can't for the life of me afford the £100 fine. Now what I've come to ask is what sort of odds do I stand, wining this case? I have the tickets I was issued, a bank statement with the transaction details for the tickets on my card. My next move will be to request the name off staff working at the time I got my ticket, and perhaps some cctv footage of myself taking in the notice, and handing it to the staff. As of now I'm bricking it, knowing I'll end up suffering some sort of panic attack standing up in court, but I refuse to be bullied by Northern Rail into paying £108.90 they're demanding.. . or as the summons says; for the value of the £8.90 train ticket. WHICH I PAID! I'd appreciate any advice into what I should do next. If I end up in court I will be representing myself. Will the evidence I have be enough? What do I do now? Should I write out the details again in a letter to the court with my plee for not guilty? (excuse my panicing). How can I get out of this in good standing? Thank you very much if you read all this!

Hi All, I really need some advice regarding liability for Council Tax. My partner declared himself bankrupt last year and his Council Tax Bill was included in the assessment to determine whether he had enough debts. The Council are now chasing me for the debt, the debt has been handed to BALIFFS, however they have not gained access so the debt has been returned. I have now received a letter for an appointment with a Court Officer at the Council as they are considering a Committal Hearing. I have tried to speak to them on the phone however it is extremely difficult. When I have tried to point out that they have removed my partners name from the bill and the debt is now solely in my name I am being told it was always solely in my name and this is not the case. I want to be prepared for the meeting at the end of the week:- FIRSTLY TO DETERMINE LIABILITY SECONDLY I AM CONSIDERING REBANDING AND FINALLY I AM CONSIDERING ASKING FOR A SARS. There are a lot of inaccuracies with the bills and I need to get this sorted also. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Does anyone know what happens at these meetings? KIND REGARDS S13

Hi, First of all apologies for the long post but I want to put out all the details so I can get accurate advice. I'm in a desperate situation and was hoping for some advice and guidance. Back in April I was caught using my Dad's freedom pass at Oxford Circus Station. My dad travels in and out of the country and leaves his pass at my house when he's not around. One day I picked up his pass accidentally and used it to travel to work. Completely unaware I used it for the next 4-5 days but after that began to wonder how I haven't had to top up my Oyster card. I took it out of my wallet and realised it was my dad's freedom pass. I was then tempted to use it for 3 weeks and I made 23 journeys in total with it until I got caught. I feel embarrassed and sorry about my actions but my situation was quite desperate at the time. I was really struggling with my finances as me and my wife had an unplanned baby at the begining go the year and she being less than 6 months into her job was not entitled to maternity pay. Out household income dropped by over 60% and I was really struggling to keep up with my mortgage payments and bills, defaulting on most of them. I was really stressed out over my house being repossessed and all this stress clouded my judgement and I made this stupid mistake. back to me being caught. When the inspector caught me he began asking me for my details and I panicked so I gave him a false address. As he was going to check up on my address, I realised my mistake and confessed and gave him all my details. I explained to him my situation and why I did what I did. He confiscated the pass, told me I would hear from the TFL and let me go. Around July I received a letter asking me to come in for an interview. I thought if I go up to TFL and admit my guilt and confess that would encourage my chances of an out of court settlement. in hindsight I should have consulted a solicitor (not that I could afford one) I went there admitted everything in the interview and was told that I should write a letter to the prosecutions department to explain my circumstances and I had a good chance of an out of court settlement as I have been honest and admitted my guilt. I wrote 2 letters to them but heard nothing from them till I got a summons from them on 17 Oct for a court hearing on the 30th Oct (next wed). I called them up to plead my case but they are having none of it. I am really nervous now. I have no criminal record and have never done anything illegal in my life. I'm otherwise an honest hard working IT professional who just made a really stupid mistake for which I'm really sorry. Since the incident I've worked hard, got a promotion and have managed to improve my financial situation for me and my family. If I get a criminal record, I will lose my job (I have confirmed this with HR) and would not be be able to find another job in IT. Obviously that would have a huge impact on mine, my wife and my baby's livelihood. I have a 9 month old son and the court verdict and it's impact on our future is causing me sleepless nights and having an impact on my health. I have been having severe neuralgic type headaches for which I have visited the doctors and obtained medication. I have pled guilty in the summons forms and sent it back to the magistrates court along with the following documentation: Detailed apology letter explaining my circumstances Letter from my wife's employer verifying she wasn't entitled to maternity pay Letter I sent TFL requesting an out of court settlement 3 character references Letter from HR saying that if I get a criminal record, they would seriously consider terminating my employment Doctors note confirming my neuralgic headaches Doctors prescription I will be going personally to the court to plead guilty without a solicitor. Can someone please advise me what else I can do and the possible verdicts? Am I looking at a prison term, criminal record and fine? Thanks very much in advance for your response.

Hello, We are a small limited company and have recently rec'd a small claims summons from a tenant for £5,000+ interest. We have tried to research this fully and are confused as it appears that the small claims limit is £3,000. We wish to defend this and would like some advice on how to do so - we have sufficient evidence regards defending the actual content but need to know if it will even get this far as the amount is outwith the scope of the small claims court. We have also read that Ltd Companies must be represented by a solicitor in the small claims court. This will prove difficult for us as we are barely solvent. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi I have read some threads about this issue with DVLA, I just needed some help. I sold a car over a year ago or so and I posted the V5 1st class post to them. However I received a letter from DVLA stating someone had applied for the V5 and if this was correct then I don't need to take any action and they would issue the V5 withing 14 days I think it was? So I took no action. I then received a letter saying I had failed to notify the DVLA about the change of ownership and now had to pay them an out of court settlement. After receiving this letter I phoned them to explain I had posted the V5 the clerk told me not interested sorry don't bother writing in as it will make no difference. just pay the fine. I refused to pay it as I had posted the V5 and didn't think I was in the wrong. Hence now I have a court summons for the 27th of Feb. I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction of similar dismissed cases that I can use in my defense. Thanks

Hello all, I'm writing on behalf of my partner who received a court summons due to an unpaid parking fine issued by Parking eye. She said she was parked for roughly 2 1/2 hours without realising there was a limit of 1 1/2 hours. She says that she didn't see any signs declaring a maximum parking time limit. Like many people, she looked online to forums like this and read the countless threads of people in similar situations. She decided to ignore the notices and warning letters from the company believing them to be unlawful and believed they wouldn't take any action against her. A few days ago she received a summons from Northampton county court for a sum of £165 for the amount claimed plus court costs and solicitors fees. The court papers look legitimate and she is now extremely worried but adamant that she doesn't want to pay this so called fine. Can anyone give advice about what to do next? Thanks, Donny.

Hi. So the story goes... In May I was in Derbyshire and got flashed by a speed camera van. Shortly after I moved and forgot to change my address on my licence for a few weeks. In the mean time they sent a letter to my old address. Eventually I got a letter to my new address, but it was after 30 days from the offence. I replied. They responded that they had issued the notice to the registered address in time. fair enough. On the trip in question, my wife and I swapped drivers a few times. I asked for evidence to identify the driver. I received the photo (from the rear of the car), and was not able to see who is driving. I then requested advice from the police, and told them that I was not trying to avoid punishment, but we were unsure of who was driving. I even offered to take the blame as the registered owner of the car. They replied that my case would be passed to the criminal justice department for consideration of prosecution for failing to identify the driver. I have now received a summons for court at the end of November. I cannot attend, because of work commitments. One of the options on the forms is to plead guilty by post; Should I do this for the speeding charge? even though I can not say with 100% certainty that I was driving. I do however want to plead not guilty to the failing to identify the driver charge; especially since I TRIED to enter into dialogue with the Derbyshire police to reach a conclusion. Is there any point in replying to them via email? or should I just return the forms and enter my plea? Any constructive advice is most appreciated.

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.

Hi, I've been having a problem with Birmingham City council for almost 2 years now regarding my 2011-2012 council tax on a now previous property. I had privately rented a property as a student in September 2011, with the intention of house sharing with a few classmates. Unfortunately this fell through and I was stuck in the lease alone. I filed a council tax benefit claim as a full-time student and thought all was well. Several months later I had a court summons for unpaid council tax with added costs. No reminders had been sent previously. I contacted the council and luckily my university electronically sends them the enrolment lists, which they checked and confirmed I was a full time student. I was told that the discount was now applied and the court summons would be cancelled etc. About a month or so later I found a housemate with the approval of my landlord and they were to pay half the monthly rent. I contacted the council to say that my benefit had changed as there was another person in the house and gave the housemate's name as a point of contact. A few days later I received a letter demanding over £300 from ME because of the change of occupancy. This was then followed by numerous bailiff visits as apparently the court case had gone ahead and a liability order had been granted against me! I was extremely annoyed that I had not been given the opportunity to defend this liability order as I was told that the case would not be presented to the court. Here's the really confusing bit..... It turns out my new housemate was actually claiming JSA and housing benefit (which he had not previously mentioned). I found this out from the council when I called to discuss the bailiff situation and ask why my housemate was not being billed for the council tax when I had a valid exemption. They told me there was an ongoing housing benefit claim (but no council tax benefit claim) at the property but could not give me details due to data protection. Long story short I ended up getting sucked into my housemates benefit claim, trying to get confirmation from the landlord etc that he was living there and that it wasn't a sub-let or anything. My landlord was in Saudi Arabia due to a family bereavement and so I told the council that I was unable to provide an updated lease at that time with my housemates name on it. It had not been done previously as it had not been an issue, my housemate was happy to wait until the lease was renewed to have his details added to it. After 6-8 weeks or letters and phonecalls trying to sort it out (which was difficult due to DPA restrictions) the council tax was changed to my housemate's name and the bailiffs stopped coming to the property. I was told on the phone that the council's legal department had warned them that they would not be able to prove in court that the council tax was being lawfully levied against me as a full-time student with an exemption. Case closed June 2012. This August 2013 I received a letter at my new property demanding the payment of the outstanding council tax, totalling £316.00 in SEVEN days. They said that they had been given "new information" by my old housemate that he was my lodger and as such I was liable for the council tax as a landlord! I do not know how after over a year they can suddenly overturn the previous decision and make me liable for this council tax again, based on information from a third party that IS liable for the council tax! Furthermore, I am unable to find out exactly WHAT new information my housemate provided/invented to make them think this, due to the data protection act! I am seriously at my wits end with all of this. I have sent several letters stating that at no time was he my lodger, the landlord provided the furniture in his room, had all of his details etc etc and that any information my housemate had provided to the contrary must be a fabrication to allay his OWN liability. I have now been sent a court summons (which I intend to attend) for the full amount with costs. Could anyone give me any advice on how to prepare for this. I am finding it hard to know how to defend this matter as I have NO IDEA what my housemate has sent/said to them, and I have no way of finding out!! Also, is there any way of getting costs against the council? I feel they are totally abusing their powers reopening this case over a year after it had been resolved. Thanks for any advice, and sorry it's such a long post- there's a lot to explain though!

Hi All. Newbie here. Seems there are endless posts on what to do with one of these. I am confused by the references to POPLA.... should I make contact despite ignoring all previous "letters" prior to the Court Order. ------------- In its very simplistic view the following occurs? So I have the summons - I feel I should contest the Claim of the £165.( £100, £15 and £50 usual) I am going to have to pay it regardless (seems general feeling is this is the max cost if I lose) First thing to do is Complete the Acknowledgment to contest.... this then gives me 28 days. Correct?

I have just received a summons in connection with an alleged outstanding mobile phone bill from T-Mobile. However would I be right in assuming that this cannot be enforceable as Sigma are the claimants and have obviously bought the debt from T-Mobile? I understand that the original alleged debt has been repaid and as I have no contract with Sigma I cannot owe them any money. I am about to fill in the defence bit on the summons so any words of wisdom would be appreciated.

Hi all, Got a letter in the post today out of the blue that i have been summonsed for non payment of council tax. My wife always pays the council tax via there online payments system, but somehow she missed paying September as i hurt my back and ankle and was going back and to hospital and doctors and just forgot. I spoke to a lady from the council on or around the 7th October 2013 and she said we had missed a payment for September of £135.00 but Octobers had been paid on the 1st October. I rang on the 7th as i thought the balance should have been lower. The lady at the council told me that as long as the outstanding £135 was paid before the end of October and Novembers payment was made then there would be no problems. I paid the £135 yesterday 25/10/2013 which means we are in credit by £11 or ahead as i write this. Today i got a summons in the post to show cause why i have not paid the sum The balance at the moment is £604, that's with the £75 they have added for the summons. Any advice would be great