Council tax

[Celticv11]

I was sent a council tax bill dated 16/4/12 and given 7 days to pay. I went on holiday on the 15/4/12 and did not return until 2/5/12. The next day a summons arrived adding £103 to my bill and giving me a court date due to my not responding to the bill. Have i any right to appeal this?

[douglas9401]

If you contact your council I'm sure they'll give you a defiitive answer. They might wonder why you've waited for two weeks after your return from holiday though.

[bednobs]

i am presuming you already hadn't paid the bill for quite a while, and had already been informed you were in arrears as the council do not ordinarily give you 7 days to pay, or send a summons? i think you'll be on a sticky wicket if this is the case. i presume as we are only a month into the new ct year that it relates to last year's bill too? Again if this is the case, they will argue you will already have been aware you hadn't paid, and have gone through due process about this debt

[ummmm]

You can appeal....

Like bednobs says, by this stage you're obviously already late. So an appeal will more than likely fail.

Pay them sharpish....they don't mess about.

[vodkancoke]

If I were you, like the others have said, get in touch with them now and pay it. Maybe setting up a direct debit to pay them would be a good idea then this won't happen again.

[EvianBaby]

Also, if you appeal it and plead poverty as the reason for not paying already, don't tell them you were on holiday.

[bednobs]

lol eb i did wonder how people who cant afford ct can afford a holiday. however, there might be a really good reason - such as he/she thought it was paid

[tonywiltshire]

Interesting to know which court:

Magistrate’s court, for liability order without which the LA is limited in what they can do. You would not need to attend it is only to establish who is liable for CT and is usually just a rubber stamping exercise.

County court, which would mean they have a liability order and you, would have been informed of the liability order.

As advised I would pay you may find the option to pay by direct debit over a period of time no longer exist.

[vodkancoke]

Sorry Tony I wasn't clear. I meant to set up a direct debit for future payments so it doesn't happen again.

[themas]

No - you have no right to appeal. The previous letters you will have had should have made it clear to you that failure to pay would result in Court action with added costs.

You now have to pay the £103 as well as the bill. The Council will undoubtedly get a liability order & if you still don't pay (or come to an instalment payment arrangement with the Council & stick to it) you can have bailiffs or - if you work - an attachment of earnings order against you. The latter can result in a significant % of your pay being deducted at source each month until the debt is paid off.

And don't forget you have to pay the 12-13 bill instalments as well.

[tonywiltshire]

It may be the LA will not permit you to pay by DD you may have to pay full amount, talk to them.

[factor-fiction]

It must have been overdue for some time. When should the bill have been paid? A year ago? Or had you defaulted on monthly payments?