Council tax arrears dilemna- help!!

[Councildilemna]

In a bit of panic

i was owing previous years council tax because i wasn't working and it ramped up to about 5k. Balliffs kept coming but ignored them and was paying on the council website directly, bill came down about to about 3k.

Because im now a bit financially stable, i decided to ensure i paid this year CT on time and try not to miss any month's payment (while still paying the arrears from years back).

Unfortunately it is due on 5th of every month and would have been difficult for me to pay then as i get paid 15th of the month , so was making the payments then

Wasn't aware this counted against me as late payments could remove your right to pay by instalment and got a court summons which shocked me to be honest.

I called the council before the court summons date and arranged a payment plan to clear out this years debt before the end of the tax year next year.

I wanted to ensure the payment plan was in place and called again today, and the person i spoke to confirmed it was in place , then as i was about to drop the phone, he asked if i was working, out of panic mode (because i know they would probably track my work and take a huge chunk), i blurted out "Not at the moment."

i asked him why he asked, he lied ( I assume) and said he wanted me to apply for council tax support and i said i would look into it and dropped the call immediately

IM panicking now. Do you think they could still get where i work and start taking wages out even though I'm sticking to the payment plan ?

I cant afford to have 1/3 of my wages taken out. It would kill me

it good that you have a plan for this year, but what’s happening with the other arrears?

OP, it’s not about being perfect as stated, it’s about meeting your obligations.
You are in control of this. Stop lying and take control of the situation and don’t ignore your responsibility.
Call citizens advice tomorrow and make sure what you’ve got in place all the benefits and relief in place. Then if there is follow up with the council call them and put everything right.
I really don’t mean to be harsh, but you need to be an adult!

i haven’t thought about how to sort these as there is no way to pay online against previous years and I really want to do these

previously I was paying the arrears before we started this tax year ( it was with the bailiff but I was paying the council directly on the website )

but now I’m paying this year’s tax , not sure how to sort the arrears

to be honest I m just avoiding conversing with them so they don’t ask for my place of work 🥹so I just go online to make regular payments

So are you currently not paying anything towards the arrears?

I can understand how daunting it must be to talk to them about this, but it'll honestly be a huge relief to organise a DD payment plan that will give you a light at the end of the tunnel.

If it's easier, why not email?

Detail all of the debt as you understand it.

Give dates you were unemployed.

Query whether you can claim any backdated discount for when you weren't working.
Ask them to confirm the total arrears due.
Tell them the day of each month you'll be making payments on the current year and the amount and date of each month that you'll be sending a payment towards the old debt.

Ask them to confirm their agreement to this plan.

Do all of that in one email. Don't do it in dribs and drabs so that you or they can lose track of the conversation.

Then set up direct debits. If it goes out automatically, you can't forget.

You can do it. And you'll feel so much better once you've got a plan that works for you and that you have written confirmation that they agree to.

You really need to have a proper conversation with them. As a former council employee who dealt with council tax debt you should know that it can vary which debt is being paid when you are making ad-hoc payments. Once things are clear you can start making inroads into clearing everything over time.
I always found that once people had an arrangement they could manage it was a relief to them (I was quite lenient, at the end of the day you can’t get money out of people who truly have none).

Thank you for all your advice and help

I’m quite teary now 🥹

will send an email as you have said

think that’s the best

Thank you 😊

Local authorities can only backdate Council Tax Reduction for a maximum of six months from today's date. Generally you can only choose out of four dates in the month when you want to pay your Council Tax when you pay by direct debit, payments online have one date and one date only that the payment is to be made by.

Also local government staff in Council Tax and Benefits Departments do have limited access to DWP and HMRC information, so they can look up a person's details themselves as long as it's justified. So no point lying about it.If they want to recover Council Tax debt, councils can always go for a Universal Credit deduction, so not necessarily an Attachment of Earnings. In this case, I imagine that the advisor was simply trying to be helpful, just try and make sure that the repayments are realistic and keep to them. They'll be pleased that you are engaging with them tbh

I was in a situation a few years back where I missed payments for council tax and was issued an attachment of earnings order. It actually worked out much more affordable way of repaying the debt. I think they took 2% from my wages per month. Always best to deal with debt then burying your head in the sand. You can definitely change the date you pay each month as well.
Citizens advice are great if you need help.

Just read that you said you wasn't working when you built the debt meaning you probably shouldn't have been charged it in the first place. Go to citizen advice with proof.. hopefully it can be dismissed as a mistake.

Hiya first of all I would go onto the council website abd apply for. Discretionary housing payment ( this applies for CT too) tell them you was in arrears and you have a payment plan in place and you are prioritising paying this but need some support. It is worth applying for as if you don’t ask you don’t get ( there is no guarantee) also you need to change date that CT is paid as previous poster advised: These payments have to be a priority:

Also please double check you are paying the right amount due to your circumstances (of which I don’t know so double check).

Good luck xxxx

You mentioned bailiffs calling in regards to the debt. Has some of the debt been passed to the bailiffs? If so you need to make a payment plan with them as the money you are paying towards your council tax will not be clearing this debt. If you are unsure which bailiffs the debt has been passed to the council tax department will be able to tell you this. The council should be able to sort out an affordable payment plan for you for any debt that has not been passed to a bailiff.

Thank you. Will do