Council tax arrears

[andyofborg 11]

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

 

if your finances are that bad then you really need to get some proper advice on your situation. Whether it's from payplan, cab or one of the multitude of others it up to you, but i'd suggest you do some research on the organisations and reputation first.

 

by not going to court, you have probably almost missed your chance to sort this out which is why you need to get onto a real person in the council as soon as you can on monday morning. it's all well and good telling us you are wanting to resolve this but you need to tell the council this and come to a proper agreement with them and you should certainly not miss any more court dates. these things tend to take on a life of their own and once they have started they become harder, but not impossible, to stop.

[pdbmn 10]

I do regret not going to court now to try to sort it out, but just being told to 'man up' or 'go without' isn't going to help matters, i don't live extravagantly exactly, it's all too easy to just sit behind the keyboard when you don't have the same problem, making theoretical suggestions

As for benefits, i've always earned just a bit too much to claim any apart from a small amount over the years and i'm not sure if that has all been taken into account by the council . I've already tried contacting them but they just say that the amounts are right so basically it's my word against theirs and they are somewhat more powerful than me

[Guest makapaka]

I do regret not going to court now to try to sort it out, but just being told to 'man up' or 'go without' isn't going to help matters, i don't live extravagantly exactly, it's all too easy to just sit behind the keyboard when you don't have the same problem, making theoretical suggestions

As for benefits, i've always earned just a bit too much to claim any apart from a small amount over the years and i'm not sure if that has all been taken into account by the council . I've already tried contacting them but they just say that the amounts are right so basically it's my word against theirs and they are somewhat more powerful than me

 

I lost a bit of sympathy when you said about not going to court - surely if it was such an issue to you it would have been a priority.

 

Anyway - how much do you owe exactly?

[Hairyloon 10]

Anyway - how much do you owe exactly?

 

That is unnecessarily personal and largely irrelevant here.

[pdbmn 10]

to be fair, yes the amount is a bit irrelevant though almost £1000 is 'just' charges applied over the years on top of the debt,

the court date was my birthday, i was also worried in case i was told i couldn't go home, i really didn't know if my freedom was at immediate risk

and also , as i have already mentioned, i made a payment , and thought they might have taken this into account

[Hairyloon 10]

As for benefits, i've always earned just a bit too much to claim any apart from a small amount over the years and i'm not sure if that has all been taken into account by the council .

 

If you have not put in a claim for the benefit, then they will not have taken anything into account.

I've already tried contacting them but they just say that the amounts are right so basically it's my word against theirs and they are somewhat more powerful than me

 

Not just powerful, but belligerent and bloody minded. I have been in a similar position, but mine was due to their mistake. Damn near killed me getting them to admit it, despite the truth being written in black and white in front of them, in their own writing.

[pdbmn 10]

i claimed benefit before, temporarily, but i'm not sure that it has all been taken into account with the colossal amounts they say i owe, and/or if it has been clawed back.

[swede1973 10]

to be fair, yes the amount is a bit irrelevant though almost £1000 is 'just' charges applied over the years on top of the debt,

the court date was my birthday, i was also worried in case i was told i couldn't go home, i really didn't know if my freedom was at immediate risk

and also , as i have already mentioned, i made a payment , and thought they might have taken this into account

 

I don't think Sheffield Forum is a place for something as serious as this. You can go to Prison over it. Get some proper advice from a professional.

[andyofborg 11]

I do regret not going to court now to try to sort it out, but just being told to 'man up' or 'go without' isn't going to help matters, i don't live extravagantly exactly, it's all too easy to just sit behind the keyboard when you don't have the same problem, making theoretical suggestions

As for benefits, i've always earned just a bit too much to claim any apart from a small amount over the years and i'm not sure if that has all been taken into account by the council . I've already tried contacting them but they just say that the amounts are right so basically it's my word against theirs and they are somewhat more powerful than me

 

all the suggestions on here are theoretical, only you can do the things in the real world necessary to resolve the situation you now find yourself in.

 

the how's and why's of how you got to this point are pretty much irrelevant, the solution is you contact the council and try and set up an arrangement and you must do this first thing on monday. if you can't come to terms with the council or you don't contact them then there will be another trip to court which you must attend.

 

on the plus side, the court should look at your circumstances and will help you and the council come to a settlement, one the minus side, if the magistrate thinks your not serious about resolving this then they might send you to jail or impose an alternative penalty and you will still owe the money.

[Hairyloon 10]

i claimed benefit before, temporarily...

 

Why did the claim end?

[Dales 10]

You should have attended court and made arrangement to pay there

 

I agree. I have some experience in this field from past employment. You attend court and are taken into a private room before the hearing. If you come to an agreement with the council (usually a very small payment per month) they are happy with that and you don't even have to go into the court room.

[davyboy 19]

Go to the CAB they have advisers who can help you out.

You must tell the council that you are going to the CAB and ask for some slack.Before they get bailiffs involved, which will only add to your debt.