Council tax court summons

[doyouseeme1]

I received a letter four weeks ago claiming that I had council tax overpaid as they said my partner was working - he wasn't and we have disputed. We have visited the council put in documents and evidence and they said it would be reviewed but there is a back log so it's taking some time.
Today we received another letter saying it needs to be paid in 5 days or else we will receive a court summons. My partner rung the council who said the full amount needs to be paid by then or else we will end up in court, if it turns out they were wrong then it will get repaid back to us.
Any advice? We can't afford to pay the full amount, they won't accept a payment plan and the thought of a court summons is filling me with dread. We've never been in this situation so not sure what to do or what to expect

Did they say they have reviewed it? Did they not give you any details of the review? I would reccommend you visiting your local CAB they might be able to help. If you have proof though that your partner wasn't working and therefore you don't owe the money then I would just go to court, no skin off your back if you know you don't need to pay it. So I'm a bit confused. If you're not sure if you owe the money or not then you need to visit CAB or contact a solicitor (you can find your nearest by searching for one on the Law Society website).

Turn up at court if it is not resolved beforehand. The council will have staff there to deal with issues before court and much gets sorted then. It is not a criminal conviction; all the court can do is make an order that the person named on the summons is responsible for that debt. This then allows the council to take the next steps. You would also be perfectly entitled to ask for an adjournment for them to deal with the backlog. Don't panic in essence, it should all get resolved correctly.

When they checked to see if it had been reviewed they said it hadn't even been opened as there was such a backlog. Thanks for the advice, I was more worried about it somehow going on my records as a criminal conviction. I'll try the CAB tomorrow and I'm going to try the council again to see what they say, if nothing works I guess I'll be going to court.