Council Tax Court Action

[Ammers1]

Hi There,

Apologies if I have posted this is the wrong forum.

 

I few months back I fell behind with my council tax and owed them £700.

 

I wrote and asked them if they would add it onto this years bill and to spread the cost.

 

They refused to do this and advised me to pay what I could and then wait to hear from them.

 

In the meantime I contacted CCCS to sort out my finances and wrote to the council to ask if I could pay the bill in installments of £50 per fortnight.

 

I never had a respnse back to this so I emailed them.

They ignored my e-mail as well and then sent me a letter giving me 14 days to pay or risk court action.

I telephoned them and left a voicemail asking for a call back. No one rang me back..

 

I wrote another letter asking them to please reply and help me sort it out.

 

To date I have heard nothing and received in the post today a court summons.

 

Since it began I have managaed to get the debt down to £400 from the original £700 and am still making the regular installements.

However they have now added on £55 court fees.

 

I don't know what to do.

 

I have proof I have been in contact and they have ignored all my requests for help.

Any Advise please.

Ammers

[padja]

is this the first court action?

[Ammers1]

Yes I have never been to court for this or anything else

[dx100uk]

ok so they've go a liability order

 

nothing really bad there

they just want their pound of flesh.

 

in this this years bill or last years [ i would assume last years?

 

dx

[padja]

If they have had liability order then they should be able to arrange a repayment plan with you, however if you dont keep to that they tend to very quickly pass it to bailiffs. If they havent got liability order yet then you can try to make arrangement with council, however I suspect they will press ahead with court but if you go to court the arrangement can be done then in court. Dont worry to much about it like DX said its just the council getting their pound of flesh

[Ammers1]

What annoys me even more though is the fact I have been trying to arrange a payment plan and paying this in installments and they have ignored every letter

[victoria_siempre]

Hi Ammers

 

I concur with above and suggest you contact council asap; much depends on their attitude, some are very reasonable whilst others (outsourcing to Capita and Bailiffs are less reasonable).

 

x

 

v

[dx100uk]

you dont HAVe to negotiate with the council at all

 

just pay them via your internet banking site

aith the info on the back of any CTAX bill.

 

they cannot refuse it that way.

 

dx

[victoria_siempre]

Hi again Ammers

 

I totally agree with dx; pay what you owe and leave the rest.

 

It's just sometimes less stressful to deal with the Council than bailiffs.

 

x

 

v

[assisted blonde]

A number of years ago I had the same situation so i went to court and they just sorted out the repayment plan that I had been trying to sort with the council, they are mostly really helpful.

[Ammers1]

Thanks for all of your help and advice everyone, I feel much better now..