taken to court for non payment of council tax.. shit

[not2nitedarling]

we pay by debit card each month. we have missed 2 payments since the start of the year. We owe £190. They are now demanding the money for paymnts up till april (over £400) because we have been late with payments on more than 3 occasions

Just ring them and say you can't afford the lump sum and arrange to pay it in instalments.

The monthly amount will be increased to cover the 2 missed payments obviously.

Where I live (it might be different for you) being taken to Court isn't that much of a big deal as such:

Basically they will give you a choice; either pay money in one go or if you are unable to they will issue a court summons for a liability order. This liability order does not alter your criminal record or credit record. It is basically the councils way of securing the debt. Once you receive the summons you can phone up the council and arrange a payment plan to clear the debt. They will accept this and still take the case to court to get the liability order (you don't have to attend). The liability order basically means that if you miss a payment they can then apply for enforcement measures...eg bailiffs.

I would recommend you ring the council and see if its the same for you.

If you have any more questions just ask. Try not to worry its not as bad as it sounds honestly.

That is normal , have you paid the arrears . If you can get up to date then they may negotiate monthly payments again.

Because if they're saying you've lost the right to pay by installments/dd due to the missed payments (which is my councils policy) then it will be a lump sum payment or court and what I've explained above.

Obviously if you can come to an arrangement with your council to avoid being taken to Court then that is the way to go. But if they stick to saying that it's "lump sum or Court" then that is what to expect.

Your best bet is to call them up and explore all your options.

Even if you have lost the right to pay in instalments for now, when it goes to court the liability order will be granted and then you will once again be able to make an arrangement to pay in instalments.

Try to make an arrangement with them to avoid court as the fees are quite steep. Exxplain you don't have the lump sum (and can't afford the court fees either) but you can pay £x per month.
Our council sent us a court letter (their cockup, not ours) and I got the impression they just make a block booking for court and give you the impression you've been summonsed personaly.

I rang them when we got the final reminder(pink paper)
Said to pay arrears asap and set up dd as it usually takes a while to go to court. Didn't pay arrears and was told not to set up dd until arrears paid as I wanted to do it there and then. I have paid last months and this months but we still owe 2 missed payments.

the letter says they have added £40 court costs and even if we pay arrears we still must pay court costs

Call them again.
I had similar problem and spoke to a Manager - he was sympathetic and sorted out an affordable repayment plan.
Don't panic or bury head in sand... just call and hopefully they will sort something out again.
Good Luck. You're not alone, happening to lots of people at the moment

Said to pay arrears asap I think the fact that you haven't even though you have made 2 payments since means it may already be too late to agree a payment and stop it going to court.

If you can pay them something now do so. You should be able to pay online.
Also, check that the paperwork has actually come from from the court. Although ours looked official, when we checked the paperwork the contact was the council. If it doesn't go to court there will be no costs so do call them again. If that doesn't work try your local councillor.

This has just happened to me. Came home to find a letter from a solicitors demanding £380. This is because we've been late 3 times this year paying the council tax (paid around the 10th-12th of the month rather than the 1st) so have technically never missed a payment. But it's Glasgow City Council's policy to take you to court if you're late more than twice. I called and they said to call the solicitors who then arranged a payment plan which basically involves us paying them on the 1st of the month for the next 3 months rather than paying the council. So nothing has actually changed apart from paying the solicitors instead of the council. Hope you get it sorted