Yes thankfully. I registered the address with royal mail and bought redirection before we moved so we do at least get post.
Always have to direct couriers though after they call to say they are lost
Council Tax issue
- Thread starter Resident
- Start date
Yes thankfully. I registered the address with royal mail and bought redirection before we moved so we do at least get post.
Always have to direct couriers though after they call to say they are lost
Just to update this.
Unfortunately we weren't able to secure funds to pay before this went to court.
I went to court today and spoke with the council's representative outside the court room.
He was extremely surprised that when we'd tried to sort this prior to court that we had been met with apathy and disinterest in the circumstances of the case and lack of interest which is to be investigated.
He offered to reinstate our account and contact us tomorrow to arrange direct debit info and to adjust the payments to catch up with the financal year deadline, however for this a liability order was needed so we entered the court, the rep explained the settlement we had agreed and I confirmed.
The council rep also agreed to pay the court fees instead of us.
Everything was reasonable, no CCJ and issue resolved.
Unfortunately we weren't able to secure funds to pay before this went to court.
I went to court today and spoke with the council's representative outside the court room.
He was extremely surprised that when we'd tried to sort this prior to court that we had been met with apathy and disinterest in the circumstances of the case and lack of interest which is to be investigated.
He offered to reinstate our account and contact us tomorrow to arrange direct debit info and to adjust the payments to catch up with the financal year deadline, however for this a liability order was needed so we entered the court, the rep explained the settlement we had agreed and I confirmed.
The council rep also agreed to pay the court fees instead of us.
Everything was reasonable, no CCJ and issue resolved.
Caporegime
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- 30 Jul 2013
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Seems like a good outcome.
Did you get names and dates of phonecalls? Or do you have it all in emails anyway?
Did you get names and dates of phonecalls? Or do you have it all in emails anyway?
Good outcome but it is ludicrous that you have responsibilities for housing and a family yet cold not scrape together enough funds to pay two months of council tax. Hopefully this will be a wakeup call to prompt the right sort of responsible behaviour in the future.
Slightly harsh, but I agree...
OP I'm glad you got a relatively decent outcome. Going to court was supremely risky, you were probably very lucky to get a council rep that was understanding and helpful.
Shouldn't have come to that. I had (still have actually) a house with my ex who refused to move out after a bad break up (her doing). Years later she abandoned it and I was left with many months arrears for council tax and mortgage unknowingly as she had someone living there unofficially for a while and it took a while for it to land at my door, but eventually the caught up with me.
I explained the situation over the phone and they let me hold off until I could get in writing the intentions of my ex for the house which took a while, I kept them up to date etc. Hyndburn council were great and very understanding, cancelled the court etc. Once I had an agreement (via solicitors) with the ex I paid what I owed. So it's a surprise you've had the issues you've had, I'd be disappointed with their handling of it, but rent/mortgage and council tax should be the first things you get sorted and paid for. Roof over head and all that, not worth a CCJ or worse. Head in the sand and entitlement aren't entertained but honestly goes a long way in my experience
I explained the situation over the phone and they let me hold off until I could get in writing the intentions of my ex for the house which took a while, I kept them up to date etc. Hyndburn council were great and very understanding, cancelled the court etc. Once I had an agreement (via solicitors) with the ex I paid what I owed. So it's a surprise you've had the issues you've had, I'd be disappointed with their handling of it, but rent/mortgage and council tax should be the first things you get sorted and paid for. Roof over head and all that, not worth a CCJ or worse. Head in the sand and entitlement aren't entertained but honestly goes a long way in my experience
I bet the council rep was surprised and shocked that you had actually showed up. 99.9% of people receiving council tax court summons never show up (and they don't expect them to either) so they just rubber stamp the liability orders through on a conveyor belt in the back room.
And a Magistrates court can't issue a County Court Judgement.
And a Magistrates court can't issue a County Court Judgement.
I've got the time/date of the calls as they're in my call logs. Everything agreed today I have in hardcopy.
Personally I think that the fact that I was honest and openly admitted that we need to pay and had full intention of doing so from the off is what swayed the receptive behaviour and decisions by the representative. But there was no point in digging heels.
That's the thing. The first bill arrived 2 weeks after we moved in, we sent back the DD mandate and until the summons arrived we had no idea anything was wrong.
As I mentioned earlier with everything going on I just didn't check to make sure it'd gone out.
The council rep admitted I should have had at least 2 reminder/notices before the summons but we have had nothing.
As I said, we tried to sort it as soon as the summons came but were met with a brick wall mentality.
Unfortunately the days of councils sending you a series of reminders before proceeding straight to court seems to have gone. I remember getting multiple reminders back in the day and then sometime in the early 2000's council's seem to have decided they get more money by just keeping quiet till the last moment and then sending you threats and fines.
They probably have some kind of extended installment plan you can apply for. I would ask them about any such and start there. Good luck with it. It's a sucky situation.
