Council tax arrears

don't know what to do about literally £000's arrears in council tax, 20% of which is charges accrued for non payment

i'm on a low income though earn too much to claim any benefit,

have been threatened with an arrest warrant , even though i made a payment last month to try to show some willingness to pay something (Even though it's left me short)

i can't possibly afford to pay the arrears, and i won't be able to earn anything or pay rent if i'm in jail,

i'm not sure what on earth i'm supposed to do

Make an offer to pay what you can afford in addition to ongoing CT.

i effectively did this, by paying £30 more than my regular monthly payment ,

and i didn't attend a court hearing because i had made this payment ,

but i still have been told that a warrant had been issued

You should have attended court and made arrangement to pay there

i didn't go because i had made a payment, and thought they might have taken that into account (i set up a standing order) . correspondence i received, and a recorded message while waiting to speak to someone to confirm that the payment had been received, stated that there was no need to attend court if an arrangement was in place . i made an arrangment, it wasn't necessarily an 'agreement' with them , but they received something nonetheless,

can they still seriously issue a warrant or are they scaremongering ?

i didn't go because i had made a payment, and thought they might have taken that into account (i set up a standing order) . correspondence i received, and a recorded message while waiting to speak to someone to confirm that the payment had been received, stated that there was no need to attend court if an arrangement was in place . i made an arrangment, it wasn't necessarily an 'agreement' with them , but they received something nonetheless,

can they still seriously issue a warrant or are they scaremongering ?

The council does not scaremonger. They are not a private company trying to fleece you. They are simply getting what is due and doing so in a very specific process. To put it bluntly you need to engage with the council to sort this out now. Stop trying to make excuses. This needs to be resolved.

i didn't go because i had made a payment, and thought they might have taken that into account (i set up a standing order) . correspondence i received, and a recorded message while waiting to speak to someone to confirm that the payment had been received, stated that there was no need to attend court if an arrangement was in place . i made an arrangment, it wasn't necessarily an 'agreement' with them , but they received something nonetheless,

can they still seriously issue a warrant or are they scaremongering ?

while it's good that you have made a payment, that's not an arrangement.

as others have said, you need to engage with the council first thing on monday and sort this out.

while i wouldn't suggest you contact these people the information on this page might help focus your thoughts.

https://www.payplan.com/advice/types-of-debt/council-tax-debt/

thanks for the link to the info on Payplan though why is it suggested to not use them ?

i'm not so much trying to 'make excuses' as to point out that 20% of the debt is made up of charges, sometimes more than once in a year for relatively small individual amounts (of CT, not the charge itself)

It's easy for people who are possibly earning very good money and have plenty of property equity, savings and no debt, to be quite clinical about what needs to be done ,

i already set up my standing order consituting a monthly payment plus about £20 or £30 extra

thanks for the link to the info on Payplan though why is it suggested to not use them ?

i'm not so much trying to 'make excuses' as to point out that 20% of the debt is made up of charges, sometimes more than once in a year for relatively small individual amounts (of CT, not the charge itself)

It's easy for people who are possibly earning very good money and have plenty of property equity, savings and no debt, to be quite clinical about what needs to be done ,

i already set up my standing order consituting a monthly payment plus about £20 or £30 extra

it's up to you if you use them or not but i know nothing about them and was pointing out the information not their services.

I haven't checked but I imagine they charge a fee for something which you can do yourself or with a bit of help from CAB or similar for nothing.

simply overpaying, while good, doesn't really advance your case very much, especially as you don't seem to have told the council what you have done and why you have done it. unless the council agree that the amount you are paying is sufficient to clear the debt in an acceptable time then you haven't done anything to halt or delay the enforcement action.

i'll never realistically be able to clear the debt, though by paying something extra does show some willingness to deal with it , and show that i'm not simply 'refusing' to pay , my financial circumstances are terrible and it's not like i've just got a huge bank balance and could pay it off right now if i could

Would the council and the magistrates just assume that i had, unless i can prove otherwise ?

ps Payplan don't charge a fee

don't know what to do about literally £000's arrears in council tax, 20% of which is charges accrued for non payment

i'm on a low income though earn too much to claim any benefit,

have been threatened with an arrest warrant , even though i made a payment last month to try to show some willingness to pay something (Even though it's left me short)

i can't possibly afford to pay the arrears, and i won't be able to earn anything or pay rent if i'm in jail,

i'm not sure what on earth i'm supposed to do

you should have not let it get that far? you have obviously been sticking your head in the sand, why didnt you go to court at least then you would have got something sorted instead of the "i cant be bothered to go" attitude and by chucking them a few extra quid you think it will go away?? thats whats wrong today some peple just think things will just go if they bleat enough, man up and pay whats due go without for a while, its your fault nobody elses.

Have you applied for Council Tax benefit (or whatever it is called nowadays)?

If not, then do so and ask to backdate it as far as you can.