to ask if you are still paying your council tax, utilities, rent, mortgage etc or been forced to stop them?

[boringrobot]

Just that really.

Everyone is in the same boat and they courts wouldn't be able to prosecute everyone for non-payment, especially if they can't pay because they have lost their jobs and have no money.

I will probably pay but will be late as my wages will be much less.

They can prosecute for none payment, although, mortgage companies are offering holiday payments.
If you can't pay maybe contact them and ask if you can pay less, I wouldn't just stop paying. Also you just end up with lots of debt to pay back later.

We don't have council tax or a mortgage, but yes we are still paying all of our utilities.

All of our bills will still be paid, buts only because dh is lucky to have a job where they can wfh without business inturrpution and his wages cover everything, my wages are just a "top up" so we can actually do stuff... when we are allowed to do stuff.

@boringrobot Council match pensions payments by approximately 5%- nothing special. If pension payments take up a third of council tax payments, then the actual salaries would far exceed all council tax payments!

We're not expecting much income next month. Luckily have family that will loan some money to help with bills. Council tax is delayed until June. Other than that everything to be paid as normal. I was thinking about contacting companies to not pay but figured I would probably just be in debt...

I am
Still working, still being paid, still paying my bills.

Still paying utility bills here . You can’t just stop paying them . They’ll just get bigger . People taking mortgage holidays will pay back more in the long term .

And don’t assume everyone is in the same boat . This won’t have much effect on some people .

Thankfully we are both still being paid so its business as usual on that front. My CT increase for the monthly payment this year was a lot more than I was anticipating so I really feel for people who wont be getting paid and having to cope with it.

If you've lost your job, aren't you claiming UC?

Where I live (affluent village) most people are professionals who can easily wfh and who already do quite a bit anyway. Lots have au pairs or nannies so have at least some help with children. DH is wfh, I'm on mat leave but if I wasn't we would be able to juggle childcare & flex our working and continue being paid. Everyone we know is in a similar position and will continue to be financially ok as usual.

Here you have to apply to defer council tax, and need to apply for a mortgage holiday, all simple online processes but probably better than just not paying. If you don't have that option with your council though, I don't know if there's much they could do at the moment, I am sure over a 12 months period they would receive the same. People who claim UC sometimes get a reduction anyway, I wonder if that will apply straight away to those who have to claim?

@boringrobot

Something like a quarter or a third of council tax is just paying towards their pensions. It's not all paying for services. I don't even have a pension myself yet I have to pay council workers pensions!

OP, you are very unreasonable for just making up numbers and stories.

@TippledPink that's not true, every LGPS scheme I've seen is more around the 14% mark with much less in employee contributions.

Also, remember councils are still paying for the golden handshake pensions of yesteryear.

Not that I'm entirely agreeing with the OP's sentiment, but their pension bill will be huge, I'm not sure what proportion but an FOI would show that.

@Bluepeace I work for a London council, the LGPS scheme is set at 5.8%. That's what I pay in and the council matches it. Like every company is required to do by law. You can increase your payments (or lower them) and they will match it but the standard is 5.8%.

@TippledPink I was in the London Pension Fund LGPS only a couple years ago and their contribution was 14%, I've worked in about 3 councils across the country and everyone of them was in the region of 14%. I know the authority I live in now is around 14% as I had to do the salary calculations for them, recently. My mum is in an LGPS scheme and that again is in the high teens.

LGPS is more than a matched scheme. I'm not sure why yours is so low.

@TippledPink are you sure they're only matching? 5.8% is the contribution rate for a set salary on the LPF, I've just checked, but LGPS pays in more than that, I'll be extremely surprised if they're are just matching.

I was in the LGPS for about 15 years and tippledpink is right. Its only about 6%.

Yes, as our income has only reduced slightly and we're still in a position to cover everything.

@Willyoujustbequiet it really isn't. Your contribution may be about 6% but the employer's is much higher. I can't find the figures online as it does vary by the authority, I can't speak for yours but the London Pension Fund which the other poster is in is around 14%.

I couldn't find figures, but private employer pensions usually only match, public pensions are one reason why the public sector is a desirable employer (though they're not what they were).

"The LGPS is one of the most generous pension schemes in the UK. The LGPS is a salary-related, defined benefit scheme". Matched contributions is not a generous pension scheme, I've had that working in charities, public sector is where it is at for pensions which means it costs money.

Thankfully all ours bills are being fully paid. I appreciate we are very fortunate right now as DH is WFH and I'm at home for 12wks isolating/shielding and being fully paid.

I do worry for a lot of others though who are suddenly finding themselves in a dire situation

Yes I am still paying all bills, struggling but will still pay. I'd be pretty pissed off if I head that some families have not paid and got away with it whilst I have struggled to still pay

If you've lost your job aren't you claiming UC?

I've been trying to get through to Universal Credit for 5 days. I've finally made an online application after numerous problems with the website crashing and I'm now in an online queue of hundreds of thousands to get my claim looked at.
There is then a 5-6 week wait to have a claim processed.

Realistically I might get something in June. Around half a million people have tried to make new claims due to the pandemic.

I've had to let utillity bills stack up and default on council tax.

You don't get taken to court for none payment of Council Tax, the Council apply for a Liability Order that gives them the power to make an attachment of earnings, benefits, issue to bailiffs etc. This doesn't affect credit score as it isn't a CCJ, however I would think most Councils would try and help in some way assuming you have applied for all the benefits/support you are entitled to. So best advice would be to speak to your local Council Tax department.