Court summons from council tax..

[Poppymailaw]

Right so basically I'm 18 and living by myself I get payed next to nothing but do work! Even though I would get more on benefits I don't want to live like that...

I didn't pay council tax for a good 6 months thinking that I just would get a bill at the end of the year to pay... but then I started getting letters and would pay anything I could.. I'm £789 in arrears now.

I called up council tax yesterday and made a payment of £50 and agreed to pay £50 fortnightly as that's when I get payed.

But I just got a letter through which is a court summons and now I'm pankicing. What do I do? I can't call them until Monday and they are asking for over £400 + fees....

And I know I should have payed before but I'm young and stupid and was still trying to understand the world.

Please could someone tell me what to do and because I made the arrangement yesterday to pay £50 fortnightly will I not need to go to court?

They will have posted that before they spoke to you.
The fact you've committed to pay something is great.
You can ring them on Monday to work out what's what.

What's the exact wording of the letter?
Does it say the next step is a court summons?

Even if you do go to court they look at your earnings and you agree to make payments. It isn't like having to go to court for assault etc.

Try and find distracting things to do until Monday like going on a walk or making something.

It's horribly stressful getting letters like that.

If you're 18 and living alone on a low income make sure you're getting all the benefits and help you can, as a person living alone you get a 25% reduction on your council tax and then you may be eligible for council tax benefits,

Thank you @SuperLoudPoppingAction and @fruitofthenight for being so understanding!

It says I have to go to court on the 13th November but like you said hopefully they sent that before I called!

I'll call them again Monday and hope for the best as I'm really struggling as it is! And I'm trying my hardest to pay as much as possible with the amount I earn!

If you thought it was paid 6 monthly and were expect a bill, then I assume you saved the correct amount each month in order to pay that bill? Where did that money go?

If for whatever reason you DO actually need to pay this at X date, make sure you do so within 30 days of the court date or it appear as a black mark and will ruin your credit for the next 7 years.

I expect the letter was sent before they spoke to you. It may have some small print on it saying if you have already paid this / spoken to us please disregard this letter. In my experience council tax people are helpful and they don’t want to take you to court so will do what they can to help you get the money to them. FWIW it’s great that you are working and unlikely you’d actually be better off on benefits! It takes time to get used to paying bills and plenty of people who have been doing it for years still mess up so cut yourself some slack and well done for sorting it.

Apply for council tax relief - or whatever it is called in your area, it’s separate from UC and should - if your in a low income - reduce your council tax demand. But you will need to submit your two months bank statements and wage slips

As your or if your wages fluctuate you need to submit these to the council so they know how much to alter your tax relief by

Large cooperate companies don’t worry about claiming tax relief so why would you?

The court summons will probably have been sent in the post before you set up the payment plan for the £50 a fortnight- but the person on the phone probably thought you’d had that and was why you telephoned.

Keep paying, don’t go to court, it’s a formality. If you know your going to have a problem paying go or ring and speak to the district council

You’ll get another bill next February, telephone and make sure you’ve paid of this year and ask them to add it to a payment plan for next year if not all paid of

Can you afford to pay them £50 a fortnight? Remember you'll need to pay the ongoing amount at the same time.

If you are entitled to help then do apply for it. You're doing your best and it's better to claim than to get into a mess.

What country of the U.K. are you in please?

@FluffyMcCloud thank you so much! :) it's just so hard and no schools teach this kind of thing so it really hits you when you leave home!

I'm hoping the letter was sent before but when I called them yesterday they said nothing about a court summons on the phone which was very odd! Hopefully it will get sorted Monday and I'll let you all know!!

The court fees will still apply unfortunately- as the council will have paid these already to take the matter to court - but I would expect the court fee to have already been added to your arrears- ask on Monday, so will be included in your payment plan

Op there will be different organisations out there that can help you if your struggling

But first look online and see if you can apply for council tax benefit through your local district council and then get all your documents to take in to get this benefit - that will reduce the amount from now until March and will at least make your debt smaller

Citizens advice and stepchange are others who can help you

Or if you want to post here with questions there maybe others that can help with advise

You have been summonsed to appear in court where the council will apply for a Liability Order - it is a legal process they have to go through in order to carry on and recover the outstanding debt if you do not stick to the payment arrangement you agree with them. Once you pay a sum onto the account they will in most cases reinstate the instalments for the rest of the financial year - so spread what is left over the months left - November- March so 5 instalments.

The figure is high because once you have been summonsed you loose your right to pay by installments and the full balance due for the rest of the financial year becomes due.

It will have no baring on your credit history as it is an agreement between you and the local authority and is conducted in a Magistrate Court not a County Court so not a CCJ

I hope you have got it sorted and do ask if you need any more advice.

They always get a liability order in the Mags court in order to secure the debt. They will not withdraw the application unless you pay in full now, even though you have an arrangement in place and are sticking to it. It's an expensive lesson.