Council Tax issue

Resident

Resident

Resident

Soldato
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So we moved into a new property back in late November and we got the forms from the Council with the tax bill.

We sent off the direct debit mandate the day after we got the paperwork.

We heard nothing since then until this morning, when we received court summons in 8 days over non-payment.

We've spoken to the council and they claim never to have received the mandate. They said if we pay the missing payment (1 month) then they can withdraw the summons.

The issue is that it's January, funds are tight and we can't afford it till payday, 2 days after the summons.

Surely the council have jumped the gun with the summons?

1. No attempt to contact us in relation to the missing payment
2. Only missing 1 payment and straight to summons

Any advice because I intend on attending the hearing an challenging on the above points.
 
Resident said:
We sent off the direct debit mandate the day after we got the paperwork.

We heard nothing since then until this morning, when we received court summons in 8 days over non-payment.

The issue is that it's January and we can't afford it till payday, 2 days after the summons.
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So you knew they should have been taking it, but spent the money anyway?
 
Council take no *** when it comes to billing. Worst people ever.

Find the cash or they will just sell the debt on and you'll end up paying loads more!
 
VincentHanna said:
So that's two payments that should have come out via direct debit, that he doesn't have the money for.

Why is it harsh to point this out?
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It isn’t.

Given how vicious councils are at going after defaulters, I’d have had the money put aside and been on the phone after not seeing a payment for Month 1 going out of my account.
 
go and speak to your local MP, a work pal had a similar issue with these jokers and it got resolved.
 
It's harsh to ask for a summons so soon.
But should have kept the money aside if you knew they werent taking it

The MP advice is probably a good one
 
VincentHanna said:
So you knew they should have been taking it, but spent the money anyway?
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Tbf all of our DD leave the account by the 5th of the month, whatever is left we use for everything else.

The last 8 weeks have been pretty rough for us with my wife being in and out of hospital, sometimes being admitted 3-4 days at a time due to complications with undiagnosed diabetes and late pregnancy, couple that with a hectic work schedule and sorting out our 2yr old and I obviously neglected to check that all my DD had gone out. January/February are also months where I don't pay anything for my car insurance as I normally pay over 10 months so the extra cash in the account didn't seem unusual.
 
It's not worth going to court over, that's for sure. Get an interest free credit card, pay it off. Borrow the money, whatever. Don't risk a criminal record because your council are a bunch of morons. Get it paid, complain afterwards.
 
Resident said:
Tbf all of our DD leave the account by the 5th of the month, whatever is left we use for everything else.

The last 8 weeks have been pretty rough for us with my wife being in and out of hospital, sometimes being admitted 3-4 days at a time due to complications with undiagnosed diabetes and late pregnancy, couple that with a hectic work schedule and sorting out our 2yr old and I obviously neglected to check that all my DD had gone out. January/February are also months where I don't pay anything for my car insurance as I normally pay over 10 months so the extra cash in the account didn't seem unusual.
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Fair enough, and thank you for the explanation without getting too defensive.

I would call them to explain the situation and inform them when you can make the payment and see what they say.
 
COYS said:
You would have been sent a reminder notice before the summons
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Nothing has arrived at my address and when I mentioned that to the council they just seemed to shrug it off and not offer any explanation or even confirm if one had been sent.

Either way, in court proof of postage isn't proof of receipt.

VincentHanna said:
Fair enough, and thank you for the explanation without getting too defensive.

I would call them to explain the situation and inform them when you can make the payment and see what they say.
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I have. Their response was pay by 27th or go to court on the 29th. They had no interest in any leaway.
 
When money wasn't great for me a few years back, I knew my spending to the pound, and I mean that literally. If money is tight I suggest you make sure you account for every thing you spend, then if suddenly a council tax payment hasn't gone out you'll know because you expected to have X amount in your account and you have Y.
 
Roar87 said:
When money wasn't great for me a few years back, I knew my spending to the pound, and I mean that literally. If money is tight I suggest you make sure you account for every thing you spend, then if suddenly a council tax payment hasn't gone out you'll know because you expected to have X amount in your account and you have Y.
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Believe it or not I have an appointment with the bank tomorrow to do just that. I'm going open a new account, switch my payroll details to the new account then move money to the current, saves changing all the DDs
 
VincentHanna said:
So that's two payments that should have come out via direct debit, that he doesn't have the money for.

Why is it harsh to point this out?
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"They didn't take the money so I spent it anyway" is the worst excuse I think I have ever heard.
If you'd been made redundant you may have an argument.
A court summons is harsh this early on, but there has at least been opportunity made to ask the OP to pay it.

Not sure if a cheque counts as payment, but that was always a good way to pay for something a few days before payday. Is payment by credit card an option? Borrow from a friend? Sell something on Ebay or the MM? There must be a way to rustle up ~£200 if required.
 
Use a payday loan company if no other option but under no circumstances let this go to court.

The relatively nominal interest you will pay on one of these loans is infinitely better than the costs and implications of not settling this regardless of the cause of reaching this stage.

If you can get a bank loan or temp increase in overdraft that you can settle pay day (bank loan within 14 day period) that would be preferable.
 
mrbell1984 said:
Go to court give them evidence and let hem look like fools wasting court time.
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Don't do this. This is really, truly terrible advice. Risk a criminal record over this? Don't be daft. The council have set a machine rolling that is hard to stop. Be the bigger man, get it paid however you can (beg, borrow, maybe not steal) and then go after the morons if you can spare the time.

I once posted on here about getting taken to court by a train company for 'fare evasion'. I received a court summons out of the blue. I was absolutely determined to argue it, fight my corner, bring down the man etc. but I got proper advice from the CAB and they said it's just not worth the risk. The machine rolls on, the council/the man know exactly what they're doing. Don't think they haven't done this a million times -- and are probably quite successfully at it.

Get it paid.
 
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