Council Tax nightmare

[rippedoff15]

We repaid the oldest amount total £610.00 leaving the balance current year, I have checked now we have paid our council tax bill now bang up to date. should we still send them our employment details even when we were up to date in payments.

[tomtubby]

Firstly, well done for managing to clear two of the Liability Orders!!

 

What I was trying to ascertain was whether the amounts that you have been notified are the correct amounts for each Liability Order or whether bailiff charges have been applied. It is certainly worth checking.

 

As I have stated above, given that a Liability Order has been granted for this year (£1,408) you are sadly under a legal obligation to provide your employment details if the council have asked you for this info. By providing the information ( assuming of course that you are working for an employer) then it is possible that the council will use this information to apply for an Attachment of Earnings Order. The deductions can be very high indeed but many people say that they have objections to AEO"s as at least the deductions are being made and the debt to the council is reduced.

 

Once the Liability Order has been obtained there is a legal requirement for the council to write to you to give you 14 days notice BEFORE sending the debt to the bailiffs. With the latest account, have you spoken to the council and have they agreed a repayment proposal ?

 

You need to ensure that the account does not get send to bailiffs.

[sillygirl1]

tomtubby, I thought there was a limit to the amount they could take on an AOE, or doesn't this apply if it is a council tax debt?

 

Wouldn't it be nice if the rules were changed and a council could not issue a liability notice until the end of the financial year, that way I think a lot more people would be able to pay what they legally owe rather than what the council believe they legally owe.

[rippedoff15]

good point the current is a debt if not paid, if the liability order amount is for the full current year, can they apply the order ????? also the other 2 orders were debt plus the court fee no bailiff charge. Can they demand via bailiff if the amount is not due for payment, or would they demand only part amount ?????? will be calling the council later today.

[ploddertom]

Council Tax is payable in full on 1 April each year. As a dispensation you are allowed to pay in instalments but should you fail to pay as the Council dictate then all that is outstanding becomes payable immediately.

 

If they already have a liability order then even if you have caught up they could still go for an AoE. If it has not gone to the Bailiff yet you are better speaking to them to see if a plan can be thrashed out. It may be they will insist on the AoE and failure to disclose the relevant information they ask for could see you hauled up in front of the beak.

[rippedoff15]

well had a letter today from the council confirming they are applying the attachment of earnings direct from my wages for the current years council tax. Reading the leaflet it looks like they will take 17% of my monthly wage, which in real terms we will not be able to pay our rent gas electric bills, we applied for housing benefit and council tax benefit and according to the council own web site we would get the help. No shock after we applied they confirmed that according to there amounts we have wages to cover living bills etc etc.

 

But if they apply the attachment in real terms they will take over £241.00 month, I feel we have lost the war asking for help and would be far better claiming benefit instead of working.

Also when my employer gets the paperwork how the hell can I explain the mess.

 

any help would be great

Edited December 19, 2013 by rippedoff15

[rippedoff15]

On checking the council have sent my employer 2 letters stating details for the attachment to my wages total of 405.00 month. Can anyone help as to the process as the council issue liability order via local court. Do they have to go back to court to get the attachment order ????

[Ian olney]

Once a LO is obtained, a council can apply an AOE

 

 

Not much help now, but you'd have been better off holding onto the £610 you paid them & used it to supplement your AOE deductions.

[rippedoff15]

I have tried setting up the repayment plan to clear the full amount by the end of march 2014, listed payment dates etc and sent via email to council. when they sent the attachment order to my employer they did not enclose the percentage amount therefore my employer stated they will send all my wages.

 

As the council is closed at present and their auto reply stated they will reply in 28 days joke, but will chase on 2 jan 2014, just hope they accept the plan instead of the attachment which will drag on few months.

[sillygirl1]

Your Employer is WRONG to send all the wages, that is not correct at all - there is a formulae they should be using - not sure off hand what it is but somebody on this forum should know.

 

You MUST challenge these orders should they come up with one for the next financial year - I challenged my local council and they were left looking like idiots in court - and the judge was not happy with the way they blanket issue these. The more people who challenge them the better, then the judges will soon see that the council are using the courts - BECAUSE THEY CAN - rather than using the courts as a last line of collections.

[brassnecked]

Is the £405 a weekly or monthly nett amount?

 

If monthly then according to this I found on Northampton Council's website if monthly pay 3% would be the deduction or thereabouts

 

http://www.northampton.gov.uk/info/200028/council-tax/996/council-tax-attachment-of-earnings

 

Your employer is laying themselves wide open if they send your entire salary to the council.

Edited December 31, 2013 by brassnecked

[sillygirl1]

By law you are supposed to have a minimum of £71.40 to live on - the basic JSA/ESA amount. As mentioned, your employer is leaving themselves open to a major tribunal hearing if they send all your salary to the council.

 

Your employer is meant to have an adequately trained person dealing with payroll issues, if they are 'short cutting' this end of the business then a report to HMRC might be in order.

[tomtubby]

 

On checking the council have sent my employer 2 letters stating details for the attachment to my wages total of 405.00 month. Can anyone help as to the process as the council issue liability order via local court. Do they have to go back to court to get the attachment order ????

 

 

 

Would you mind posting back to confirm the NET monthly amount of your wages ( after tax and national insurance have been deducted).

 

The 17% deduction rate only kicks in for NET wages over a certain figure. If you could post back I can check the figure for you.

[brassnecked]

I think 17% kicks in at £355 nett per week or £1420 per month

[tomtubby]

Post on Brassnecked

 

On the above figures the amount of deduction would be £60.35 per week or £241 per month.

 

Debtors who are employed need to be very careful indeed if they get into arrears with council tax because; as soon as a Liability Order is obtained the debtor is under a LEGAL OBLIGATION to provide full details of their employment and employer address etc and this information is then used to apply for an ATTACHMENT OF EARNINGS to have the council tax arrears deducted at source.

 

A employer is under a LEGAL OBLIGATION to make the deductions

 

The use of AOE's are being a common feature and even more so given that so many debtors are being encouraged to send these stupid Removal of Implied Right of Access notices.

Edited January 1, 2014 by tomtubby

[brassnecked]

So question again for clarity and best advice, is the £405 a weekly or monthly nett?

[rippedoff15]

i have checked and my employer will deduct 17% from my nett wages ( ie £1423.85 wage nett ) therefore the council will take £242.05 leaving me £1181.08 my out going are £1145.59 leaving me 36.61 to feed a family of 4. Also been told we can not apply for housing benefit as my gross wage is over the living limit. My wife works part time term time only and gets £236 per month

 

Great start to 2014 don`t even know how we are going live, would be far better not working claiming full benefit just so fed up of the whole system.

 

[ploddertom]

If it is not too personal you may need to look more closely at your outgoings as the Council may class some of them as non-priority eg credit cards, sky subscription.

[rippedoff15]

We already have cut all out going :

 

Rent 710.00

water 66.10

house insurance 13.27

car insurance 29.95

gas 85.00

electric 70.00

fuel 140.00

internet 13.00

housing benefit over payment 10.00 ( out going £1137.32 )

 

wife wage of 236.00 per month cover food only, so seems we are stuffed now anyway. when i was on benefit we claimed housing benefit council tax benefit school dinners etc etc, mangaed to get off the sytem but now seems we are worse off ever month.

[rippedoff15]

Well seems like this issue is never ending, i have been repaying last years council tax and finally managed to clear the full amount which has been nightmare. And today the local council Cheshire West have issue a court hearing letter requesting a court date of 19th November for balance of this year council tax in full £799.90 plus the £40.00 court fee.

 

The council have been fully aware that i have been clearing the old council tax from last year, we moved house in April this year and informed the council of the move and they issued a new bill. Theirs no way i can find the full amount by the date, when i called the said that i can discuss the issue when the bailiff attends the property, surely this type of action should not be acceptable.

 

I have never refused to pay just unable to pay the amounts they demand, i get paid in the morning and will paying £150.00 towards the bill, but they said its not enough, just fell like going on benefits as we will be better off. The same council have sent a housing benefit overpayment demand as well £579.99 and informed me they intend to take the funds directly from my wage.

 

We applied for benefit via their own web site and it showed we will get help, and after submitting all the paperwork they came back and said "Sorry we do not qualify " complete joke.

 

Is their anything we can do or have they got me over a barrel,

 

 

:-x:-x:-x:-x

[rippedoff15]

Well all old council tax bill repaid and confirmed as paid, only now to be hit with a court order for this years bill, i have cleared the old council tax account, today they sent a letter stating we are due in court 19th November and they will stop the case if i pay in full, clearly i don`t have this years amount in full so stuffed again. To make matters worse the same council have issue demands for a housing benefit overpayment dating 2008.

 

Just fed up of the whole mess, i will be paying towards the bill on 1st Nov but no way near the full amount, what should i do now.

[ploddertom]

The Council go for the Liability Order in order that they can use any form of enforcement they choose if you fail to pay. You should still be able to negotiate a payment plan with them but they will be looking to have this cleared by the end of the financial year.

[Bailiff Advice]

Well all old council tax bill repaid and confirmed as paid, only now to be hit with a court order for this years bill, i have cleared the old council tax account, today they sent a letter stating we are due in court 19th November and they will stop the case if i pay in full, clearly i don`t have this years amount in full so stuffed again. To make matters worse the same council have issue demands for a housing benefit overpayment dating 2008.

 

Firstly, well done for managing to clear all accounts. It cannot have been easy.

 

The position has changed since your last encounter with bailiffs in that once they receive the instructions from the local authority they must by send you a Notice of Enforcement. On that notice will be a date by when full payment OR a payment proposal must be made by. Most enforcement companies allow a period of between 3 to 6 months to clear the debt but if you require further time, then please make sure that you provide a simple Income & Expenditure.

 

Have you spoken to the council to ask them whether they will allow you to make a payment arrangement with them?

[tezza1234]

Hi, did you get any advice, help re.. this matter

[rippedoff15]

Sadly the council still took me to court charged the fees and now have a letter stating they can take directly from my wages, i have to pay £220.00 today which i cannot pay as i only have £0.07p in the bank until 24th December, my wages have dropped by over £300.00 month and my wife`s ours have been reduced to 10 per week. We applied for housing & council tax benefit and according to the on line totals we pass. but they still have refused our claim on the grounds we earn to much money.

 

At the point of giving up selling everything and buying caravan, to make matters even worse my employer can issue warning as i have to have clear and clean credit history its in my contract of employment.