Can the council demand payment before year is up??

[lisad123isasnuttyasaboxoffrogs]

things have gone slightly wrong here with everything with the girls autistim stuff and dh blib in treatment. I missed 2 council tax payments its completely my fault.

they have sent a letter saying theywant to full amount in 7 days or its going to court I have tried to call but they arent answering.
What the hell do I do?? They want £870!!
Can they demand the full amount like that when the CT isnt due to finish till april?

I feel like such a wally and last time i rang up they spoke to me like something they has stepped in.

Just write them a cheque for the two missed payments and I am sure they will accept that.

I think your best bet is to keep trying to call them, I think because you're behind they can ask for it :( but I would call them, and then follow it up in writing as well, good luck

Go to your local housing office if you can and speak to someone.

If you can't pay it, they should set up a payment plan with you to pay it before the financial year is out.

My sister did this a few years ago, and they were fine about it, I'm sure under your circumstances they would understand.

Good luck.

Don't stress about the way they speak to you on the phone. It's nothing to do with you, just a reflexion of the person's lack of professionalism.

Pay what you can ASAP and send a letter saying what you are paying and when you plan to pay the rest. The council don't really want to take you to court, it costs them money to do this.

ok, finally gotthough to them, they want £290 a month for the next 3 months or I can let them take me to court, have to pay £80 court fees but it will give me more time to pay it over.
Think Im going to be living on beans on toast for next 3 months then :(

That is a lot of money! How much are your monthly payments?

If you can't afford it, they might accept you paying it over this full year (so into the next financial year).

Glad you've avoided court though.Not a good start to 2011 :(

Are these quarterly payments as it seems very high for 2 monthly ones ? Normally if you choose monthly it is divided into 10 installments April to January. Basically if you default then they can demand it in full. Could you at least pay it up to date instead, that may be enough to keep them quiet.

Whatever you do, you should pay what you can afford now, and don't wait until you reach an agreement. They may have limits below which they may refrain from issuing proceedings.

When I missed a payment (due to the bank not setting up a standing order) I was told that in fact the whole amount is actually due at the beginning of the year and that letting you pay in instalments is a concession that is withdrawn if you miss a payment.

I had to go to the council offices for a 'personal interview' and convince them it wasn't my fault - luckily, due to DH's habit of photocopying every document that goes inor out of this house, I had a copy of the request to the bank to set up the standing order and they reluctantly accepted it, though pointing out that it didn't actually prove we'd sent it to the bank....

there was one missed payment early on as there was confusion about wether or not i was entitled to discount turned out i wasnt :( so it was started late too, so was paying to march instead of Jan iyswim
that plus the 2 missed plus the 3 outstanding for jan, feb and march. My payments are slightly less than £150 a month atm.
they wont consider lower payments unless they take me to court first

So effectively you have defaulted on an existing payment plan. Agree with RB in that it is actually due at the beginning of the financial year but that you can usually elect to spread over 10 months. You may well find that having now reached this situation you won't have the monthly option next year and that 2011-12 will be due again in April (sorry). Might be worth asking about before you commit to how you pay this debt. CAB or CCCS should be able to advise as to how you deal with this.