Further recovery action

After the Hearing Date we will send you a notice informing you that the Magistrates has granted the Council a Liability Order.

 

Attached to this notice is a request for information. You must complete this form and return it to the Council Tax office. Failure to do so is an offence and you will be prosecuted and fined (usually £100).

 

 

The Council Tax office will make an attachment to your earnings, if you are employed or your benefits, if you are on Job Seekers Allowance or Income Support.

 

If you are employed, the deductions from your earnings are calculated as a percentage of your income (see attachment of earnings). Your employer may also deduct an administrative fee for each payment made. 

 

If you are unemployed, an amount of £2.85 will be deducted each week from your JSA or IS benefits.

 

 

The Council may decide to send a bailiff to your home. The bailiff will either accept payment in full from you, make a payment arrangement or value the goods in your home. If he believes that your belongings and possessions could be sold at auction to pay of the debt in full, he may decide to levy distress. Usually, goods sold at auction will not realise the amount of money you may have paid for them.

 

There will be additional court costs involved with this process including the auctioneer’s fees.

 

If the bailiff decides that your belongings are insufficient to pay off your debt when sold, he will serve a notice on you informing you of this.

 

If the bailiff calls and you are not at home, he will leave his card. You should either pay your bill in full including the costs or contact us at Council Tax to discuss a payment arrangement or a second visit when you will be at home.

 

If the bailiff has put his name and telephone number on his card, you should contact him directly.

 

Each time a bailiff visits you, it will incur more court costs.

 

 

If you owe more than £750 and a bailiff has previously visited your home it is now likely that you will be served with a Statutory Demand. This document should not be ignored, as it will lead to a bankruptcy petition and considerable costs. Your assets are at immediate risk if this happens.

 

To avoid bankruptcy you should contact the named officer.

 

 

If you own your home, the Council may decide to place a charging order on your property. The charging order means that the Council will receive the money owed to it from the sale of your home.

 

 

We will try to recover the outstanding debt by any of the means available to us but if we do not do so, we may decide to summons you to the Magistrates Court for a second time.

This time, we will ask the Magistrates to commit you to prison for non-payment. The magistrates will decide if you have deliberately refused to pay or been neglectful in not paying and may send you to prison for up to 3 months.

 

If you do not appear at the Magistrates Court for this hearing we will obtain a warrant for your arrest. The court costs of this will be added to your account.

 

 

If you receive any notice from the City Council regarding the non-payment of your Council Tax, do not ignore it! Doing this may mean that further action will be taken with additional court costs being incurred.

 

For independent advice on debt problems contact Sheffield CAB Debtline on Freephone 0808 800 2237; 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday

 

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