To expect to not be chased frequently for council tax debt during maternity leave

[Panicatthezoo]

I am due 2 grand in council tax payments, please spare the lecture and judgement I know it's stupid but these are from 8 years ago when frankly I did not have the money, it was eat or pay council tax.

I have recently been contacted about this debt, however im on maternity allowance at the moment and obviously on a very tight budget,
I do have a partner however these debts are from before we were together and frankly I don't think it's fair to drag him into it when it's from a time he wasn't in my life.

Can I defer paying this debt until I'm back in full time employment or will I be made to pay on the basis I have a partner (not married) in full time employment? Any advice would be appreciated.

My DH would absolutely offer to help me if I had debt from years ago.

Speak with DP and see if he can give you a hand with this?

Agree with PP, it needs to be paid quicker rather than later

You want the council to provide services your maternity leave is irrelevant they are entitled to be paid after eight years
you have a partner ask him to help

I've just read your post about them not contacting you for 6 years about the debt. I'm not a lawyer, but isn't there a statute of limitations on how old a debt is before it can't be pursued? Might be working taking some advice.

For future reference, your credit card debts are the least important of any that you owe. Get the companies to freeze the interest rates on them and come to a payment arrangement x

You shouldn't as it's not true. Students, or all student households do not need to pay. They haven't since council tax was introduced and they didn't have to with Community Charge either. In a shared house with non-student housemates, they may agree to split the bill between them but this doesn't sound like OP's situation.

Op says she's sent them in one/expenditure form

But has she included full household income??
Which would include her partners....

Otherwise she's put herself paying all bills on her £700 a month

Which one op?

Hi OP I unfortunately have first hand experience of this. When I was 18, 19 and 20 (I’m in my 30’s now) I didn’t pay for the same reasons as you. I just couldn’t afford to pay it and feed myself pay rent etc.

I completely forgot about it until I was around 27 and they sent me a letter saying they’d take me to court for a liability order if I didn’t pay.

I owed around £3800 with fees and other stuff added on for non payment.

They did let me pay it off in instalments, they were quite difficult about agreeing on an amount. They did want it all paid off in a year which I wasn’t able to do. After some negotiations and proof of my income etc they agree to let me pay it off over 3 years. At the time I had a relatively good job so I could afford it. If you genuinely can’t they likely won’t defer payment (more than a month or so) but if you’re firm they’ll accept a lower amount.

As long you you call them and arrange a payment plan it’ll be okay and no further action will be taken. But please do call them. They’re actually really nice on the phone.

Sorry but being on maternity leave has nothing to do with it. You must’ve had the debt before you got pregnant so I don’t understand how you were expecting to pay it back and find maternity leave?

We are due our first in January and it’s taken years of meticulous saving to ensure we will have enough money for baby and maternity leave.

Why should the fact you are on maternity leave be taken into account. These debts are 8 years old. you have had plenty of time to repay them but choose not too.

I would, in your position telephone the council or visit - which ever is easiest. Ask them to set up a SPA special payment arrangement for £25 a month until either March 24 or if your maternity finishes sooner that date. Also ask for all the council tax demands for the tax owed and make sure the amount is council tax - if there is court charges see if you can reduce these - ask nicely and see if you can get anywhere with getting court fees either reduced or taken off the debt (sometimes this does happen but they don't like doing it)

This is probably the least they will accept so bargain with them and start at £15 and work up to £25. If it makes it easier have the SPA set up weekly or fortnightly to coincide with some money entering your bank account - it doesn't have to be a monthly payment and can be weekly. BUT you must pay it 3 days before the due date and can't default on that part - the system will not allow that and will automatically go into ,let down and default - so make sure whichever date you agree on you pay every time 3 days before the date.

You'll not be the only one in this position, committal to prison letters get sent out but its rare for a council to see this through to court and a prison stretch. Tax is a priority though over other debts and its great your up to date with current years tax demands as so many that do have these debts are also behind with current years

Just to say, (as others have also mentioned) if you show proof to them that you were a student at the time they you may well have been exempt or entitled to a reduced amount. (it used to be like that back in the day) Tell them it was a genuine error on your part that you didn’t let them know you were exempt/entitled to pay less at the time.

Being 'vulnerable' (unless it's severe mental health issues) isn't relevant to breathing space. It's also not intended just to be used to delay paying debts, it's so you have time to explore ways to actually deal with them.
You also have to go through an FCA authorised debt advisor, not the Insolvency Service.

You just need to come to some arrangement to pay it, OP. You've had your head in the sand long enough.

I read it that OP had the council tax debt before becoming and student and the reason the debt hasn't been paid is due to her becoming a student after accruing the tax debt.

Please try not to worry, these things can be sorted 😊

She has had 8 years to sort it. Thst ship nas sailed. Deserves to be penalised

Maternity leave has nothing to do with this- that's your choice. You owe them that money and have had 8 years to sort it out.

Well aren't you a delight.

Ignore these ridiculous sanctimonious responses OP, you know what you need to do now and that the Council, unlike a lot of these posters, will be reasonable and agree to instalment payments. You're working with them to pay the debt now, that's what is important.

I know you said it's not a debt you built up when you were with your current partner, but is he in a financial position that he could settle the debt in full on your behalf and then you just pay him back? This would mean you can come up with a reasonable payment plan that works for him and you and might help relieve some of the stress while you have enough on your plate with a little one! However be careful and maybe get something written up between you just incase in the unfortunate event you did break up before you settled the full amount with him.

OP How much longer are you on Maternity for?

Firstly I would call them, explain your circumstances and offer a notional payment of £10 per month until you return to work.

If they dig their heels in you can access something called Breathing Space which will buy you two months during which time they can not enforce the debt. It is a government scheme so read into it.

Hopefully after the two months you will be in a position to make more payments towards the debt.

That would certainly make more sense!

@Panicatthezoo people aren't being mean. Council tax is a priority debt and the consequences of not paying can be very serious. You absolutely need to sort a payment plan and be proactive in doing so.

Oh dear. Maybe it's worth you speaking to Stepchange debt charity or Citizens Advice about this. You should have prioritised this debt over others because you can be sent to jail for not paying. Credit card debt is not as serious in that regard. It's unclear why you didn't know this - maybe read up on priority debts on the Citizens Advice website? Hopefully you are now in the process of arranging payment in installments.

This isn't correct, an arrangement needs to be based on income and expenditure. OP could have a billionaire boyfriend with no essential expenses or she may be contributing to bills. Only after seeing this can the council agree an amount.

I mean, this. YABU.

8 YEARS. I mean EIGHT years and you have done NOTHING, contacted NOBODY to arrange even paying a small amount back and now you are tired of them "chasing" you? Give me a break.

I believe there is a statute of limitations for chasing debt and I know my local council is 6 years so that is probably why they are chasing you now.

The council will probably already have a liability order against you. They hire a room at the court and rubber stamp in large quantities so it can happen without you realizing it.

They are very quick to send bailiffs if you are not working or have no payment plan set up. They may well send onto a collections agency so it really is worth calling and offering, even if it is £5 per week.

Also being chased for debt is very stressful so it is worth dealing with just so you haven't got it hanging over you at a time that is already bringing big change.

A council should not go to the magistrates’ court and ask for a liability order for council tax more than six years after the council tax became due. This is under Regulation 34(3) Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.

It doesn’t mean they don’t expect debt to be paid and will try. They just can’t go to court like normal. Now you have acknowledged the debt you’ll struggle to claim it as statue barred.