COUNTIL TAX repayment plan not accepted

[catherinejxx]

Hi Everyone,

I am new here so please bear with me,

Basically there was a miz up last year with my council tax as I was working & my partner was not, we have a 2 year daughter so we were getting a bit of council tax benefit.

When I moved into my first career move job my wages went up, I informed the council and told them that I dont qualify for council tax benefit anymore.

It took them a long time to update their records and a couple of month ago I recieved a letter saying i owed £600 for the previous years council tax which was the first I had heard about it.

As i am already paying £115 a month for this years council tax I went up to the local office and spoke with someone who said they could not accept anything these than £100 per month extra for the previous year arrears, I explained the situation about them not updating their records and emending their beenfit sytem efficently and they basically said no it is your fault you didnt tell us soon enough ( enough though i told them the day afrter i was offered the job). anyway they said they would send out an expenditure form for me to fill in which i have.

I offered them £30 per month so in total i will be paying £145 per month, just rang them today to see how it was progressing as I havent heartd anything from them, the man on the phone was very rude and belittling and said because i havent been in contact they have done a court summons so theres more charges on top of what arrears already consisted.

I tried to explain I have sent in the expenditure form and was told to wait for a reply for them but he was having none of it.

So he looked through records and said my offer of £30 per month was rejected because they could see i was paying no priority things , he listed the following as none priority:-

Water Bill
TV License
Gas which occur to £120 per month

To me these are not none priority bills?!
How can I not pay my gas bill with a 2 year child in the house?

I told him i thought that was unreasonable but he said well u should of paid your bill in the first place and not try and rip off the system :ohwell:
He made me feel totally worthless, I replied

"the problem with you people is you make it harder for people with children to work, i would be much better off claiming benefits but no I am trying to do the right thing and working 45 hours a week an get hassled becaused of it!"

I seriousl;y would be better off on the dole its so mind numbing.

Anyway long story short after a bit of a rant he replied " yeah well go sign yourself on then cos we arent accpeting your meesly £30 per month we need at least £90"

I dont underrstand this because my neighbour (self employed no children etc) pays £10 per month off arrears from 5 years ago !

So he said I have to make suitable respectable payments or baliffs could come and remove all my stuff including my duaghters toys (his words!) or worse I could be sent to prison

What the hell do I do I cant go to CAB because the nearest ones are 40 miles away since the local office got shut down?

Someone please help me I am at my wits end with this, i didnt think £30 a month was a bad offer :|

Thanks for advice in advance,

[biondani]

Re: COUNTIL TAX repayment plan not accepted

First things first, did you get that guy's name as he needs to be reported to his manager for being such an @rsehole?

[labman]

Re: COUNTIL TAX repayment plan not accepted

In terms of priority debts, gas is a priority, the water and tv are not. Was the IE you sent CFS compliant, and what did it show as your disposable income?

Without having this information it is very hard to comment. They can, and do accept far less than the £100 mark for arrears and many are well aware of the deficiencies of their systems. However, they can and do act as judge and jury. Perhaps a SAR would be appropriate to see exactly what they have got on you and what was done when.