Councils unlawfully charging Liability Order and Summons costs at the same time

[outlawlgo]

Re: Councils unlawfully charging Liability Order and Summons costs at the same time

Hi A54,

This letter deals with request to the council to apply to the Magistrates' court to have the liability order quashed.

I technically paid my council tax, but there was a mix-up with the council tax account reference number.

Ironically, this was down to the Magistrates' court carelessly supplying other account details to me (breach of data protection) which I mistakenly applied to my bank payments.

All the best,

outlawlgo

[A54]

Re: Councils unlawfully charging Liability Order and Summons costs at the same time

thanks.

I think you're doing a great job, must be taking a lot of your time.

You're doing quite a thorough job, once you conclude your evidence gathering and analysis you should think about offering your expose' to the press, I don't think the general public have a clue about the dark side of councils, I think maybe a newsworthy item.

btw. I wrote a similar letter to the councils ceo, they declined. Seems all council use the same verbal defense when caught out, 'the council has a legal obligation to collect ct...' or 'the council has acted properly...'

These people probably go home at 4.30pm, put their slippers on and have a carefree evening while their victims get more stressed as the day goes by and go to bed with the threat of losing their home and a ruined future. Sleep well bar stewards.

[outlawlgo]

Re: Councils unlawfully charging Liability Order and Summons costs at the same time

I know exactly what you're talking about. Like you say, when the council are caught-out, they take back their ball, stating they're no longer playing, with an accompanying generic response that they're legally obliged to collect council tax – apparently oblivious to the chaos they've caused.

These government whores would rather keep details of complaints covered and allow injustice to prevail, rather than facing the embarrassment of admitting they were wrong.

Presumably, because officers would be held accountable for the fiasco, the council have deemed it safer to hide behind the legal protection of having the liability orders in place and is why they've refused to apply to the Magistrates court to have them quashed.

Maybe if they were made aware of the details, the LGO could put pressure on the council to make the application to the court to have the liability orders quashed.

I've read some articles recently written by a barrister specialising in council tax law which may inspire some thoughts about approaching your dilemma from a different angle.

Liability Orders for Local Taxes


Discretion at Council Tax Liability Order Hearings: Sentence First, Verdict Afterwards"

This one specifically deals with benefit issues:

Wise to the Council

And a summary of the LGO case detailed in the above link for Sandwell Metropolitan council (No. 03/B/12862) is here: