Only Deal with the Council for Council Tax
Start the 4 letter process if the Council refuse to take the matter back
Talk to the Council and let them know they are acting illegally by sub-contracting out the collection of a TAX to sub-contracted debt collectors. Ask for their DEBT RECOVERY POLICY (quite a few Councils haven't even bothered to draft one! Whether they provide one or not, start the 4 letter process to force them to take the matter off the unauthorised debt collectors.
Give the COUNCIL a clear 14 days between each of the 4 letters to see how they RESPOND.
Only Deal with the Council for Council Tax
Council's across the England and Wales are increasingly turning to the use of Private Debt Collectors to collect Council Tax. But one little element they appear to have not considered is they are NOT allowed to delegate their powers to collect Tax to private Corporations. The ONLY official body with the authority issued by the Crown to collect the TAX, which is the the Council.
The coat of arms issued to the Council gives them the authority to collect tax on behalf of the Crown Corporation and affords them the status as a BILLING AUTHORITY. This authority is not something that can just be handed to another Corporation. The Councils simply don't have the authority to delegate the collection of a TAX to a third party Corporation it is illegal, or Ultra Vires. So the Council could employ an enforcement officer (some Councils have started to do just this recently) to ask for payment but not subcontract the task.
The reason they do this is simple, it is less work for them if they can get someone else to deal with it and CHARGE YOU for the pleasure! But you can simply DISPUTE the private debt collectors fees and simply refuse to deal with them.
So, the Council when you don't pay straight away, threaten you with court action. The issue a fake court summons and whether you go to court or not, they issue a fake liability order.
Now that they think they have a liability order, they instruct private debt collectors, to come and harass you to pay.
This page provides you with the tools you need to get the matter taken back by the Council so you can:
Deal with the organ grinder and not the monkey!
One document you can ask for (which they are required to have but often don't) is their "Published" Debt Recovery Policy. There is evidence If ANY Council does NOT have a ‘Published debt recovery policy’ – then ‘any enforcement’ of CT debt; could be deemed to be unlawful as it is clear ‘mal-administration’ on behalf of the council. https://www.lgo.org.uk/.../can-t-pay-won-t-pay-ombudsmen...
The LGO 2011 report says that the Ombudsmen are likely to find maladministration if a council:
· does not have a formal, published Debt Recovery Policy
· has not gathered and considered information about a debtor’s circumstances
· does not include in its Debt Recovery Policy the step officers must take before deciding on bankruptcy, committal to prison or charging orders, or pursues bankruptcy without clearly recording that each of these steps had been taken. A ‘civil committal hearing’ – is too late for a financial means test… The ‘regulations’ which are not a statute; have not been approved by the houses [commons & lords] and have not had nor passed – Royal assent [approval] these ‘regulations’ are a clear breach of human rights, international law and our constitution. Hence why 95% of all Judicial reviews done on committals for council tax are successful and deemed unlawful.
Even if they provide their "Published" Debt Recovery Policy, they are acting ILLEGALLY by sub-contracting out the collection of a TAX, so don't deal with a sub-contractor.
If you are Vulnerable, you simply do not have to deal with Bailiffs, Enforcement Agents or Debt Collectors. It is simply against their regulations to "Levy Distress" of take goods from a Vulnerable person. So if you are Vulnerable, Include the Vulnerable Person Notification to the other two letters and send a copy of this letter to the Council and the private debt collector. You need to send it by email and post to make sure they get it. Don't be concerned if the debt collector writes back and says they will carry on anyway, we are not concerned with what the monkey says. We are simply NOTIFYING the debt collector. If he attempts to "levy distress" we can report him for misconduct.
You should send the FAKE Bailiff NOTIFICATION that you do not want them to attend the property. This can be done by sending them a Notice of Removal of Implied Rights of Access. If they attend after being served with this notice (send it by email and post to their head office) they will be Trespassing. If they obstruct you in any way, they are then committing the CRIMINAL OFFENCE of Aggravated Trespass.
The debt collector (as monkeys do) says "so what!" and the Council says "deal with the monkey anyway"! Don't be concerned, the Council WILL take the matter back from the debt collector, they just haven't realised it yet (it actually goes back after 90 days if the debt collector doesn't get you to agree to pay anyway!). Send them THE SECOND LETTER. This simply asks the Council to take it back from the private debt collector and makes an offer of how much you can afford to pay. This is an excellent way to get the Council to take the matter back straight away.
As in the film Back to the Future, Marty says "why don't I have more time?"
This is little known about gem is a good way to get the Council to sit up and take notice of the fact that you simply REFUSE to deal with debt collectors who have no legal authority to harass you. THE THIRD LETTER is not simply just a letter either. It is an application for a discount that is sent to the "151 officer" at the Council. This really busy guy is normally the head of finance for the Council. So in this application, you get to have the top guy consider if he should ZERO your Council tax or not. As well as considering that, he has to answer ANY questions you pose like "is the Council financing the bombing of men women and children in Yemen?" or you could ask "why is the Council using unauthorised debt collectors to harass me?" If you ask the right questions, you will find that the Council will WANT to take the matter back and deal with you directly.
The still haven't got the message that you will NOT be dealing with unlicenced private debt collectors for Council Tax? It is a battle of wills, they WILL take it back because what they are doing is illegal. So to apply a bit more pressure, send them a SUBJECT ACCESS REQUEST. You can send as many of these as you like. Don't get too detailed in any single application, they have an easy get out saying your request is too complex to respond to. So keep it simple and ask them for ALL the information they hold about you on computer. There are lots of questions that you can ask the Council, like "isn't the Councils sharing information with a private debt collector a breach of Data Protection Act 2018? and the General Data Protection Regulations EU 2018?" Once armed with this information, you will be in a far better position to write to your Member of Parliament which is a follow on to Letter 4:
Despite sending the FOUR letters, the Council STILL REFUSE to take the matter back from the unregulated debt collector:
At the end of the day, these people WORK FOR US! So take it to your MP. Parliament is in the process of cracking down on private companies trying to fleece the general public:
One MP appraising all parties of the debate where Parliament agreed: ''we need to crack down on these rogue companies. They are an absolute disgrace to this country. "
So contact your local MP and ask him a question "I wonder if you can help".
A letter from you to your MP will have more impact if you write it direct and about your own individual situation, but some of the points listed below could be included within the template to help you. You can also find the contact details for your MP listed at the end. (Name of MP) MP, (e.g. Mr Andrew George MP) House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.
TEMPLATE LETTER TO MP
[YOUR ADDRESS]
[MP's NAME]
[MP's ADDRESS]
[Date]
Date Dear [MP's NAME] MP,
RE: Council Tax enforcement by my local Council
I am writing to you (as a disabled person, carer, family member etc.) (Insert here the issues that affect you)
I have asked the Council to deal with me directly on the issue of Council Tax but despite numerous letters they instruct me to deal with a unregulated debt collector who is making unreasonable demands. When asked to provide evidence of their right to levy distress, the unregulated debt collectors have been unable to provide any Court documents.
There appears to be not mention of sub-contracted debt collectors in the Tribunal Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 a matter that has been publicised and leaves the sub-contracted debt collector using threats to remove goods without any lawful authority:
I have asked them to prove their Legal Standing in the case but they have been unable or unwilling to provide any Court Liability order in relation to my Council Tax Liability. This appears to be because the Council are issuing their own summonses and no real Liability Order exists. I believe that the debt collector is attempting to add their fees on unlawfully to my Council Tax bill.
I have asked the Council for more time to pay them directly and asked them to reduce the Liability under Section 13a of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, but they have refused and I have appealed to the independent adjudicator who has also refused my application despite me stating the reasons that my liability should be reduced, which are:
[YOUR REASONS]
I would be grateful if you could use your influence to persuade the Council to act fairly in my case and deal with my directly so that I can make an affordable payment arrangement based on my means, directly to the Council and not their sub-contracted debt collector.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
[YOUR NAME]
Can I be arrested or committed to Prison for non payment of Council Tax?
You can not be arrested by a police officer, it would be a civil arrest warrant, nothing to do with the police. You can not be committed to prison unless you have appeared at two committal hearings. They not only have to prove refusal or neglect but have to prove that imprisoning someone will make them pay up. They can not use imprisonment as a punishment. Pages 24 -36 you will find interesting, this makes it near impossible to lawfully imprison someone for council tax debt. http://www.irrv.net/.../2017/webinar_2017_09_21_JA.pdf
Success stories:
November 2021
October 2020
