Court summons

Original post by Kaziiii

Hi all i have 1 issue to discuss. I am a full time student with non student joint tenant. As a full time student we are exempted from council tax if you are with non student joint tenant and only non student is liable for paying tax that's what i read on council tax website. Council tax gave 25% discount on our tax as well.. but the thing is the other non student person is not paying tax and we are end up with court summons. But why i received court summons when i am not supposed to pay . ?? What should i do? Can anyone help me with this?. Thankyou

You are quite right to say that as a full-time you are "disregarded" when it comes to council tax. This means that they don't include you when they count how many people are in the property, and it means that when they establish which of the occupants is responsible for paying this tax (which is a charge against the property), you are also not considered responsible.

You say "Council tax gave 25% discount on our tax", which means that either they think the property has only one occupant, or they know it has only one disregarded occupant. It also means someone has applied for that discount. What that you who applied? Or was that your joint tenant?

Councils tend to be lazy when it comes to working out from whom they should be collecting council tax. This is primarily because they don't care who pays - as long as someone pays. The legislation makes it clear that as a disregarded person, you are not liable to pay. So either the council don't know that you are a disregarded person, or they don't care.

You ask, "What should i do?" Would I be right in saying that you've received one or more letter from the council demanding they you pay (these may have been addressed to "the occupier"), and that you've chosen to ignore them. Or have you actually contacted them to explain the situation, and they've chosen to ignore this?

Reply 2

OP

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

Thankyou soo much for reply. Council tax say i will recive letter's beacuse i am joint tenants and they can't remove my name . I have addressed the council tax so many times about the situation and they say i will not pay but other person has to pay. And the other is not ready to pay . I was concerned beacuse i got court summons as well that may effects my future career. Or may i will attend the court hearing to explain my situation to them So they remove my name for future contact .

Reply 3

DataVenia

Original post by Kaziiii

Thankyou soo much for reply. Council tax say i will recive letter's beacuse i am joint tenants and they can't remove my name . I have addressed the council tax so many times about the situation and they say i will not pay but other person has to pay. And the other is not ready to pay . I was concerned beacuse i got court summons as well that may effects my future career. Or may i will attend the court hearing to explain my situation to them So they remove my name for future contact .

OK. If you look at the legislation which covers council tax (the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended), particularly Chapter I, Schedule 6, "Persons liable to pay council tax", you will note that it says:

"(3) Where, in relation to any chargeable dwelling and any day, two or more persons fall within the first paragraph of subsection (2) above to apply, they shall each be jointly and severally liable to pay the council tax in respect of the dwelling and that day."

(The reference to subsection (2) basically says that a person who is "resident of the dwelling" is liable".) The above is the basis upon which they're saying that as you're joint tenants, you're jointly responsible. However, they are conveniently ignoring the very next subsection which says (with my added emphasis):

"(4) Subsection (3) above shall not apply as respects any day on which one or more of the persons there mentioned fall to be disregarded for the purposes of discount by virtue of paragraph 2 (severely mentally impaired) or 4 (students etc.) of Schedule 1 to this Act and one or more of them do not; and liability to pay the council tax in respect of the dwelling and that day shall be determined as follows—

(a) if only one of those persons does not fall to be so disregarded, he shall be solely liable;
(b) if two or more of those persons do not fall to be so disregarded, they shall each be jointly and severally liable"

The part in bold is is saying that if only one person is not disregarded (e.g. not a student - i.e. your joint tenant), then they are solely liable. So there is absolutely no doubt that you are not liable in any way shape or form. The council know this, but they're coming after you anyway. I suspect that this is not incompetence or an inability of their IT system to remove your name because you're joint tenants. I suspect it's done intentionally to scare you into putting pressure on your joint tenant to pay-up.

However, you can't ignore the summons. Is there a section on it which says, "What you must do now" (or similar). I suspect they give you two choices: pay up, or go to court. Is that what your says? So you either need to get you joint tenant to pay-up, or you need to attend court (which may be a virtual court these days - i.e. done by phone or video call). If you do attend court, make sure you have as much evidence as you can muster proving that you are a student, proving that you've claimed the exemption, proving the interactions you've had with the council etc. This will be scary, but you have the law on your side.

Reply 4

OP

Thankyou soo much this is really helpful you explained everything in detail that really help me for next steps . I am trying to convince my joint tenant to pay otherwise i will attend the court for as much as possible evidences. Is there any way to discontinue the joint tenancy agreement for next financial year?

Reply 5

StriderHort

If it's anything like my council they'll just go for anyone they have contact details for. I went through similar and asked why they were chasing me for my flatmates debt and they said right to my face 'because we can FIND' you'

Reply 6

Stiffy Byng

19

Original post by Kaziiii

Thankyou soo much for reply. Council tax say i will recive letter's beacuse i am joint tenants and they can't remove my name . I have addressed the council tax so many times about the situation and they say i will not pay but other person has to pay. And the other is not ready to pay . I was concerned beacuse i got court summons as well that may effects my future career. Or may i will attend the court hearing to explain my situation to them So they remove my name for future contact .

I'm a barrister. Here is what you do:-

Attend Court with six printed copies of (1) a a document proving that you are a full time student, such as a letter from your place of study, and (2) any correspondence between you and the Local Authority.

Dress as you would for a job interview for an office job.

Get to the Court at least thirty minutes before the time of the hearing. Expect to wait.

On arrival at Court ask to speak to the person prosecuting the case. Introduce yourself by name. Give him or her one copy of the documents. Be polite. Explain your position and ask the prosecutor to drop the charge/offer no evidence against you. Stay calm and polite. The prosecutor is just doing his or her job.

Hand four copies of the documents to the Court usher. These are for the Magistrates and their Clerk. The last copy is for you.

Bring a pad and a pen so that you can take notes. If you are unused to speaking in public, write down what you wish to say before you go to Court

There may be a single professional Magistrate (a District Judge, who is a lawyer), or three lay Magistrates (JPs, who are not lawyers). The Clerk has legal training, and advises the Magistrates.

Stand up when the Magistrate/s enter the room. Stand up whenever they speak to you or you speak to them. Call them Sir or Madam, as the case may be. Listen very carefully to what others say. Never interrupt the prosecutor or the Magistrate/s when they are speaking. Wait until they have finished speaking before you speak.

Explain your position simply, clearly, and slowly and refer to the documents. Stay calm at all times.

You may be asked to give evidence on oath or affirmation that you are a student. You can either make a promise on a holy book if you have a religion, or make a civil promise called an affirmation - they have the same legal effect.

Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Good luck!

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 7

OP

Original post by StriderHort

If it's anything like my council they'll just go for anyone they have contact details for. I went through similar and asked why they were chasing me for my flatmates debt and they said right to my face 'because we can FIND' you'

Then how you handled this situation??

Reply 8

OP

Original post by Stiffy Byng

I'm a barrister. Here is what you do:-
Attend Court with six printed copies of (1) a a document proving that you are a full time student, such as a letter from your place of study, and (2) any correspondence between you and the Local Authority.
Dress as you would for a job interview for an office job.
Get to the Court at least thirty minutes before the time of the hearing. Expect to wait.
On arrival at Court ask to speak to the person prosecuting the case. Introduce yourself by name. Give him or her one copy of the documents. Be polite. Explain your position and ask the prosecutor to drop the charge/offer no evidence against you. Stay calm and polite. The prosecutor is just doing his or her job.
Hand four copies of the documents to the Court usher. These are for the Magistrates and their Clerk. The last copy is for you.
Bring a pad and a pen so that you can take notes. If you are unused to speaking in public, write down what you wish to say before you go to Court
There may be a single professional Magistrate (a District Judge, who is a lawyer), or three lay Magistrates (JPs, who are not lawyers). The Clerk has legal training, and advises the Magistrates.
Stand up when the Magistrate/s enter the room. Stand up whenever they speak to you or you speak to them. Call them Sir or Madam, as may be the case. Listen very carefully to what others say. Never interrupt the prosecutor or the Magistrate/s when they are speaking. Wait until they have finished speaking before you speak.
Explain your position simply, clearly, and slowly and refer to the documents. Stay calm at all times.
You may be asked to give evidence on oath or affirmation that you are a student. You can either make a promise on a holy book if you have a religion, or make a civil promise called an affirmation - they have the same legal effect.
Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Good luck!

Hi Stiffy thank you soo much . The hearing will be virtual on a vedio call . I will do the same and follow these guidelines. Thankyou

Reply 9

StriderHort