Can’t afford to pay council tax; what happens next?

[coldinearlyspring]

Slightly complicated one as it isn’t mine; I’ve been paying council tax for a relative who is autistic (but not diagnosed) and vulnerable but ‘high functioning.’ He basically falls into that grey space where he can’t fully function independently but also isn’t eligible for support (and probably wouldn’t engage anyway.)

So he moved into his flat February 2024 and didn’t pay the council tax so it obviously built up. I started paying it back and I have paid all of it bar £350. I just can’t afford to pay it this month because my pay has gone down.

I obviously need to speak to the council but I’m wondering what’s going to happen, what they will be likely to say? This payment was already part of a payment plan and I have made three payments before and this was the last instalment.

Speak to the council. In my experience if people are engaging and making a plan they aren't going to take enforcement action

I forgot to ask: is he receiving council tax support now he's on UC? He should be eligible, unless his savings are over whatever his council's threshold is.

I would try to get a diagnosis/medical evidence. People with autism/severe disability are exempt from council tax on the basis of severe mental impairment. Ask the council if there is a way to go about that with a signature from a GP on the form for example. If that goes through it may be backdated and you refunded.

I work for council tax. In my council It depends how far it went before. If it got to a liability order we can spread payments into the next financial year. If not the system won’t allow it and your missed payment will then trigger the recovery process of reminder, final notice and then a liability order. Give them a call because they will be able to tell you more

Hahahaha (bitter)

Not if you're the not- quite- disabled- enough type of autistic like OP's brother, and like me.

I'm still paying thousands back because I unknowingly exceeded the savings limit for council tax support. I didn't know for the simple reason that they never told me when the limit changed 😠.

I did tell them I'm autistic and they couldn't have given less of a fuck.

Is he paying council tax now?

?

This is pretty much what happened; thanks for explaining. Anyway it is sorted now and I don’t have any more payments - hallelujah!

What country are you in op, as that will make all the difference. I work in revenues and benefits for my local authority and in this situation if you called us up and explained then we'd absolutely let you spread the payment over a longer period. Also is your brother getting full council tax relief now and does he get universal credits?

If you're in Scotland, it doesn't affect credit files, you don't go to court or jail for council tax arrears and you don't get CCJs.

Edit to say just seen your last post. That's great it sorted.

OP you say he is not disabled enough. What was his plan regarding paying council tax when he first moved in (before you were involved)?

plan? <laughs despairingly>

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/severe-mental-impairment-dementia-council-tax-rebate/

Thanks - he wouldn’t be classed as severely mentally impaired, or even mentally impaired I doubt.

So is he just lazy and irresponsible and used to others taking responsibility for him?

Probably not. There is a yawning chasm between "able to function 100% in this society" and "deemed deserving of help"- a chasm which exists in part due to attitudes like yours- and an awful lot of us fall into it.

OP my DS is like your relative and it took me two years to pay back monthly the council tax he wasn’t paying. He ended up homeless for a while after being evicted but luckily at that point still had his van to sleep in and then found a room in an HMO where he didn’t have to manage bills other than rent. Right now he is fully employed and house sharing with a friend, paying his share of the rent and bills to his friend, who is managing the payments. I really hear you - DS is also autistic and in that sense is disabled, but not disabled enough for any actual help. You might look into the organisation MoneyHelper, https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en which is helpful to many. Sadly this was not the case for DS, who wouldn’t cooperate, as he didn’t with SS when he briefly had a social worker, but right now he’s in a good situation so I’m enjoying it while it lasts.

And @EvangelineTheNightStarhe is neither lazy nor irresponsible. His autism wasnt diagnosed until he was in his early thirties so he had no help at school, which he left at sixteen. He has an excellent work ethic and has been mostly employed in low wage labouring jobs since he doesn’t work well in a team (surprise!) He’s bright enough but has very poor executive function, poor impulse control and little ability to look at long-term consequences in the sense of connecting them to his decisions here and now.

He should go to court and plead poverty so he can pay it back at a small token amount,

Honestly I’d just ring them. May vary by councils but we were £1000s in debt at one point and they were actually always pretty accommodating as long as you actually spoke to them.

Haven't you just answered your own question?? - you asked what happens if he doesn't pay, then just typed it out above!

The trouble is soon he (hopefully not you) will have to start paying the bill for 26/27 - whato are the plans for that?

He needs to claim Council Tax Reduction. If he’s on UC he won’t automatically get it, needs to claim separately. This isn’t the single person 25% discount, it’s mean tested.

Without a diagnosis it's going to be hard to claim that his financial difficulties are because of autism. Anyone could make that up.

To be fair @WallaceinAnderland you speak to him for about three minutes before realising he’s undeniably autistic.

It isn’t about being lazy or irresponsible. He is definitely not lazy and wants to work but just cannot hold a job down - his timekeeping is terrible, his hygiene dubious, he has no people skills whatsoever (he managed to piss everyone off at the last place by eating all their food and couldn’t understand why they were somewhat put out by this.) He then gets anxious and stops sleeping and then becomes even more hyper and wired, and it culminates in some big showdown and he is either dismissed or has to leave.

But this is by the by. It is one of those - when i have tried to explain him before other posters either have a similar relative and say ‘yep - with you’ or they don’t and assume there’s support there (there isn’t) or that he’s just choosing this and would stop if I didn’t step in (he isn’t and he wouldn’t.)

He’s entitled to benefits for 26/27 as he is not working. Last year he was so wasn’t..

I have to admit I had the same thoughts as you when I read this post @Ilikewinter!