Hello one and all

Very very new to all this.

Let me tell you about my situ and any advice on how to proceed or what to read would be fabulous.

I was recently homeless... The council said they couldn't help me even though I have 2 children under 2 at the time. So I left it and sofa surfed and continued to make it work in my own special way. As I hadn't lived in the county for over 2 years they said it wasn't their job basically. After 45 days I was contacted and offered a place on the housing list and I could bid for properties. However I could bid for all 2 beds and the first one I am shown I must accept. They kept telling me to bid on all 2 bedroom 3rd floor flats (which were in some unsavoury areas) I continued to just bid on 2 bedroom houses lol. Needless to say I was accepted for a new build house in September 2019. Moved in.... The rent is acceptionally high £225 a week.... Raising it from £215 in the first 8 months of living here. So I round this up to £1000 a month. When I came to look I was told I wasn't allowed any thing else and had to take this property. (I may still have the email correspondence somewhere if this helps)

I'm on benefits and affected by the benefits cap so 1666 is maximum I can claim.... 1000 for the house. 200 each month is paid back due to the advance I got when first signed up. So I have 400 to live off with 2 kids for a month. Whilst this is doable.... Gas and electric 60, TV 100 including license, 250 is left and sometimes water needs to be paid... I cannot make it stretch to council tax as well.

When I first moved in I did try to pay but they had no record of the address as it was a new build... After contacting them by email as well I couldn't find a way to pay so just sat tight and waited to be contacted. Sure enough April I think they sent a letter with a huge bill over 2000. I replied via email that I couldn't afford that and could some kind of payment plan be worked out given my situation.

They emailed back they wanted my bank statements etc to be able to reduce the bill. I didn't manage to get them back in time.

I got another bill stating that the time had passed and I would have to start a new claim for reduction. Along with 1000 ish bill.

Ignored it.

Now I've just recieved a bill stating that they want 300 that I'm in arrears lol
.... Not quite sure where that figure is plucked from lol. This was more of a letter than a bill, invoice type thing.

Now I just don't know where to go from here? I am thinking of becoming self employed but I don't think I'll earn as much as I would need to be self sufficient so will need to rely on some kind of hand out whether it be working tax credits top up to my own wages.... If that would even help I don't know.

Where to go from here?

Also any links to where to find draft letters to send to your debt companies?

TIA xxx

Hi LilMissMushroom

Welcome to the site.

You're not alone, CT is a big issue and has been for years.

What we all want is a simple stress-free method to combat what we see as, and probably is, the fraud of council tax.

Unfortunately there isn't one  -  at least not to my knowledge. i am fortunate in that i have never had to deal with it myself so have not studied the subject in depth, and while i am sure some people have had success in their dealings over such i'm also sure they didn't achieve success without a certain amount of stress.

There are several approaches you could take but all involve personal study time, if you try a 'technique' without really knowing how or why it should work you can land yourself in more trouble than you have now...

Bear in mind that this is not legal advice!

If it was me in your position i might start with a few questions via recorde delivery eg (if my name is John Henry Doe):

Dear (name of CFO for your council),

My name is John-henry although I have also been known to use the name 'John Henry Doe'. Someone from _______ Council, for whom I understand you hold a fiduciary responsibility, has sent to my home a demand for payment from a JOHN HENRY DOE.

Before I go to extreme hardship in trying to satisfy such a demand can you please confirm that myself John-henry and the named debtor JOHN HENRY DOE are in fact one and the same person?

Upon receipt of such confirmation I will immediately make arrangement to discharge any and all obligation.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely

John-henry

...and that's the simplest i can come up with, obviously no guarantee as i have not used it for CT, but will be happy to answer questions if i can.

There is also the BoEVAT remedy (there's stuff on this site about it, or you can google) though i'm not sure if suited to CT, and you might find assistance on goodfforumotion site, and i would highly recommend that you check out commonlawcourt.com and at least get registered (i believe it is free to do so) and gain some protection.

Cheers!