Can the council be trusted and drop summons?

[skookum]

Hi,

 

I haven't had to post on here for ages as I feel I am finally making headway.

 

 

Just a brief background I had a period of homelessness and illness, then struggled to find work when I had a home.

 

Last April I got work and have worked so hard to get on my feet, after mistake after mistake from the CSA and Council I am making headway.

 

Unfortunately another council bombshell hit me on Monday.

I have been paying an agreed amount of council tax monthly and have kept up payments so assumed everything is fine.

 

On Monday my day off, I walked in to a summons on the doorstep, the amount was exactly £400 + £55 costs + £50 if it goes to court.

 

I assumed it was a mistake so phoned the enforcement agents on the letter.

The first lady was totally unhelpful and just said I had defaulted and that was the only information I could have.

 

I then went back through a year of bank statements to see if I had missed anything but I hadn't.

I did however receive a letter in January for an outstanding amount of £12.

Now I wrongly assumed it was an extra on a recalculation,

this recalculation was made when my Girlfriend moved in and I lost my single person discount.

I had informed them and the payments went up. I paid the £12 the next day after the letter.

 

On phoning again armed with this information it seems to have been a calculation error, they didn't put enough on my bill.

The long and short is that the Council only send one reminder then it is summons time, they counted the £12 as a reminder.

 

My Girlfriend and I then did a calculation and found with what I paid and this extra £400

I would be paying £161 MORE than the maximum for the band B I am in in my area.

 

So yet another call this time to the council.

They finally admit a calculation error and the figure was lowered to £239 which I paid £130 there

and then and a promise of £109 on Monday (I get paid weekly) then they will lift the summons.

 

Now one problem is

 

 

I am still getting stitched as I was single from April to January but am being forced to pay the whole year without the discount.

Now I am prepared to let that go as she did spend a lot of time with me

and I don't really want to rock the boat on what is legally living together or not (she had her own place however).

 

But are they likely to lift the summons and not charge me the £55 costs with the £50 court fee?

They say it will be on Monday but the other enforcement officers said there is no way it could be lifted unless the fee was paid.

 

I am at my wits end.

 

 

It is so grossly unfair I received no letters and

 

 

everyone I have spoken to claims a different number of letters were sent.

I know I received nothing or it would have been paid.

[skookum]

Just to update I was stitched up.

 

The breakdown came out and I opened it today.

 

The information they gave me was not accurate. The £239 I will have paid WILL include the £55 court fee. So the calculation error was £184 not the £400 on the court summons.

 

So I am paying a court fee for a calculation mistake by the council.

 

WTF has happened to this country? I am dogged with debts caused by incompetency of civil servants (I have another thread with the CSA).

 

Imagine if I was a business and took and individual to court for under charging them and not informing them, I would be laughed out of court.

 

I have to pay fines and arrears for mistakes they make.

 

So sick of it all, are the coffers so short they have to be topped up by scams?

[brassnecked]

Write a Formal Complaint clearly marked as such, by email followed by a written hard copy sent by a signed for service, or hand delivered and signed for to the CEO, Head Of Revenues, copy it to your Councils Elected Leader, your local councillor, and MP. In fact contact your local member to investigate what is going on and to help you, do iot today, they should be available 9am -9 pm.as a must.

 

The complaint can be ongoing whilst Caggers advise other actions you can take