Council Tax Question

Hi All

I need the collected wisdom of this community

Scenario is:

Friend of mine is a bit skint. They are being chased for late Council Tax, because they haven't had the money coming in - they have had the threat of court action if they didn't pay within ten days of the letter. They are not eligible for benefits

I have seen that there is a way to get out of paying it completely (and not just if you are mentally incapable) because it's not lawful

Any advice or template letters? All help appreciated as always

If your friend is in financial difficulties, and doesn't qualify for the normal reliefs, he can still apply for ‘a discretionary reduction under section 13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992’.

The Council's website should give contact details, or may explain how to apply.

Thanks. They haven't been very helpful to my friend so far. From what I know, they have gone from missing a couple of payments to threats of legal action, with no attempt to come to some kind of arrangement.

daveystoat wrote:Thanks. They haven't been very helpful to my friend so far. From what I know, they have gone from missing a couple of payments to threats of legal action, with no attempt to come to some kind of arrangement.

This is where reading their procedures pays dividends as often you can catch them out with the smallest thing and change a claim from a claim to fraud which is an offence and put them on the back foot by simply asking the correct questions or demanding the correct evidence, quick example:

Got a parking ticket and didn't really care and decided to play with them so read their bumph and their procedures are very clear in that a warden must observe a vehicle and log the registration on his device and must leave the area for at least 5 minutes before he can issue a ticket as the machine locks it out so it cannot issue a ticket for 5 minutes and they fail to register these on their device as they cannot issue the ticket and generally fail to register a vehicle and walk away as they immediately issue the ticket; clear breach of policy and procedures or procedural impropriety. This now becomes a criminal offence so I put a claim in and asked for the machine as evidence and asked for footage from the camera overlooking me.

Machine never had a registration put into it and locked out.
CCTV camera clearly showed the warden come round the corner and issue a ticket.

Slam dunk case, me £30K and council £30K lighter.

These guys appear to have cracked it, although its probably a bit late for
your friend as obviously research and comprehension are required;
take a look at these ;
https://peacekeepers.org.uk/videos/

These guys are good too, I have discovered:
https://www.youtube.com/@SovereignEmpowerment

Anyway, just to update. The other day my friend got a letter, with two documents enclosed, one entitled "Application for a Liability Order" (on HMCTS headed paper), with what purported to be a 'Summons' enclosed, telling them they had to go to a Magistrates Court about 50 miles away next week, but also telling them they cannot attend (ok, riiiiiggghht).

Now, there are several issues here. Firstly 'Liability Orders' were discontinued in October 2003, and not replaced. Secondly, the 'Summons' was for a Magistrates Court, when non-payment of Council Tax is actually a Civil Matter. Also, a real Summons must be on the correct court form, have a court stamp/seal, a case reference, and be signed by a Clerk to the Justice of the Peace, and therefore issued by the court. What was sent was none of these things.

They have had a letter sent pointing out the lack of validity of any of it, advising which laws have been broken (there are several, and quotes from the appropriate legislation in the letter), and reminding them that impersonating a court is a serious criminal offence and they personally were liable.

I can post the text of the letter if people want to see it.

A summons is an order (request) to appear,it does not make sense to order
you to appear and tell you that you cannot.

Magistrates deal in both civil and criminal.

daveiron wrote:A summons is an order (request) to appear,it does not make sense to order
you to appear and tell you that you cannot.

Magistrates deal in both civil and criminal.

No, it doesn't make any sense. But then as it's not a Summons issued by the court (not a proper form), just a piece of paper that says 'Summons' on it. It is because they deal with these things in batches and don't expect people to fight back

Magistrates definitely don't deal with civil cases, here is what they do deal with https://www.gov.uk/courts. County courts deal with civil cases https://www.franciswilksandjones.co.uk/what-cases-are-heard-in-the-county-court/
Makes no sense to have civil cases dealt with by county and magistrates

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1962/made

daveiron wrote:https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1962/made

Doesn't say that they deal with civil cases such as money claims which this purports to be. Civil cases are always County Court, low-level criminal cases are always Magistrates, major crimes go to Crown Courts.

The point being that this is not really a job for Magistrates, it should be a County Court job. What happens is that the local authority hires a courtroom, usually at a Magistrates Court, to deal with these things in batches and not give people a chance to defend themselves, because what they are doing is unlawful. The Liability Order is something that was discontinued nearly twenty years ago (1st October 2003) so wouldn't be valid in any case.

Just in case anyone might find it useful, here is a template letter to my local authority. It's most of what they will have received today (only bits removed are me tearing into them about harassing me). This goes through various laws they have broken/criminal things they have done, seems they are going by the same procedure used nationally. If anyone finds it useful, feel free to use all or any part of it, or modify as appropriate

Sender address
Collection Authority Address


(Date)

Dear (recipient)

Copy to (as necessary)

Account Ref: XXXXXXXXXX

I write in response to the documents I received on (date), entitled ‘Application For A Liability Order’ along with what looked like a court Summons.

These are official-looking documents, presumably a way to intimidate and frighten me into paying.
At this point, I must reiterate that I am quite happy to pay, or negotiate mutually acceptable payment arrangements for, anything I might lawfully owe or be obligated to pay, and which can be validated with documentary evidence as such.
Regarding the documents (authority) have sent me:
In the letter, it is on headed notepaper, with the logo and crest of HM Courts and Tribunals Service. Yet it is not signed by anyone from His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service. It also states the hearing that I either must, or cannot, attend is at a Magistrates Court, when I would expect a Civil Court matter such as non-payment of Council Tax to be in a County Court. As I am sure you are aware, Magistrates Courts are for low-level criminal trials and not civil cases. Also, there is no case reference on this letter. Had this letter actually been issued by the court, under The Magistrates Court Act, Section 51, a Case File with the Magistrates Court will have been created, with a Case Progression Officer looking after it. I would be grateful if you could provide me with the name of the Case Progression Officer at the court, and the case reference. Should you be either unwilling or unable to, I will contact the Department of Justice with a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) under The Data Protection Act 2018. If His Majesty’s Courts And Tribunals Service have no record of this, I can only conclude that the letter purporting to be from them will have been generated and issued by (authority), and fraudulently issued under the pretence of being His Majesty’s Courts And Tribunals Service.
Now to the ‘Summons’. This is a very official-looking document, however, there are a few things which make me question whether it is genuine, as follows:
1. A legally-valid Summons needs to be on the correct court form. What you have sent me is just a plain piece of paper.
2. Official court forms and documents do not have barcodes, and yet this has one at the bottom.
3. There is no official seal, which an official court document should have.
4. Lastly, an official Summons must be signed by a Clerk to the Justice Of The Peace. What you have supplied is unsigned, which means it is invalid.
The above four points lead me to believe that these documents have no legal standing or validity. They have quite obviously not been issued by any court. To the untrained person, these documents will frighten them into paying what you purport they owe.

I take it you are aware that it is a criminal offence to impersonate a court. As this is under your watch, you personally are responsible and liable.

Regarding the ‘Liability Order’, If you are following the Council Tax Handbook you will be aware that the form originally provided to draw up Liability Orders - (The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 UK Statutory Instruments 1992 No, 613 SCHEDULE 2 Form A) - was removed from law on 1st October 2003 in England, and no form has been substituted in its place (Res 3 Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement)(Amendment)(No. 2)(England) Regulations 2003 No. 2211).
Therefore ‘Liability Orders’ were discontinued nearly twenty years ago, and therefore fraudulent, with no legal or lawful validity.  No court will hold a copy if this is the case. If you proceed with the court hearing, and succeed in getting a ‘Liability Order’ against me, I will submit a DSAR to the Ministry of Justice to establish its existence and validity.

(authority)’s behaviour is criminal in a number of ways, as follows:

i) The Local Government Act 1888, Section 28 Part 2, states the following:
“Provided that the transfer of powers and duties enacted by this act shall not authorise any county council or any committee of member thereof-
a) to exercise any of the powers of a court of record; or
b) to administer and oath; or
c) to exercise any jurisdiction under the Summary Jurisdiction Act, or perform any judicial business, or otherwise act as justices or a justice of the peace”


ii) Let us now take a look at what The Administration of Justice Act 1980 has to say.
“Part V section 1 A person commits an offence if, with the object of coercing another person to pay money claimed from the other as a debt due under a contract, he—
(a)harasses the other with demands for payment which, in respect of their frequency or the manner or occasion of making any such demand, or of any threat or publicity by which any demand is accompanied, are calculated to subject him or members of his family or household to alarm, distress or humiliation;
(b)falsely represents, in relation to the money claimed, that criminal proceedings lie for failure to pay it;
(c)falsely represents himself to be authorised in some official capacity to claim or enforce payment; or
(d)utters a document falsely represented by him to have some official character or purporting to have some official character which he knows it has not.”

iii) The Perjury Act 1911, Section 5 states:
“If any person knowingly and wilfully makes (otherwise than an oath) a statement false in a material particular, and the statement is made
i)In a statutory declaration”
They are committing perjury, again a serious criminal offence.

Now, I will move to The Fraud Act 2006, where Section 3, Fraud By Failing To Disclose Information; and Section 7, Making Or Supplying Articles For Use In Frauds, say this:

Section 3
A person is in breach of this section if he—
(a)dishonestly fails to disclose to another person information which he is under a legal duty to disclose, and
(b)intends, by failing to disclose the information—
(i)to make a gain for himself or another, or
(ii)to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.
Section 7
(1)A person is guilty of an offence if he makes, adapts, supplies or offers to supply any article—
(a)knowing that it is designed or adapted for use in the course of or in connection with fraud, or
(b)intending it to be used to commit, or assist in the commission of, fraud.
I would say using false and misleading documentation such as a letter on His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service headed paper, but not issued by them, and a fake Summons which doesn’t comply with the law constitutes fraud.

Now, the Liability Order.  Under Regulation 34 (6) of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations Act 1992, (authority) are required to satisfy the court that I am liable. Whoever makes the claim (in this case (authority) ) has the burden of proof, and needs to provide all the evidence that there is liability.

“Application for liability order
34 (6) The court shall make the order if it is satisfied that the sum has become payable by the defendant and has not been paid.
This requires the council to satisfy the court of the following two presumptions:
1) The sum has become payable by the defendant (me) and
2) That any obligation has not been paid”
To prove I am liable, under UK contract law, you would need to provide a valid contract. i.e., a wet-signed, witnessed, contract that has consent, otherwise a demand for money (or obligation) has no legal validity. I am sure you are aware that there needs to be four elements to a contract which make it lawful, valid, and legally enforceable. These are:
Full disclosure – what every party in the contract is committing to, and why they are committing to it.
Equal consideration – consideration of items of equal value. i.e. all parties must exchange items of an equal value.
Lawful terms and conditions – Terms and conditions must be lawful and not disadvantageous to all parties.
Mutual Consent – all parties have to consent to all terms in the contract
As I have never signed such a document, you would have no ability to prove any liability or obligation on my part.
Therefore, (authority) must immediately: a) cease this unlawful, illegal, and demonstrably criminal, attempt to force me to pay something I am not legally obligated to; b) remove me from any fake ‘court’ proceedings, and c) cease and desist from sending me any future Council Tax bills. I look forward to receiving confirmation that you will be doing all of the above.

Yours sincerely






(name)

daveystoat wrote:Doesn't say that they deal with civil cases such as money claims which this purports to be. Civil cases are always County Court, low-level criminal cases are always Magistrates, major crimes go to Crown Courts..

Have a look a the Magistrates' Court Act 1980, Part II "Civil Jurisdiction and Procedure"
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/43/part/II

And "Money recoverable summarily as civil debt".
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/43/part/II/crossheading/civil-debt

Update on this, today HMCTS 'Common Platform' call centre were called. They have no record of anything under my friend's  name or date of birth for the day of the supposed 'hearing'. Also, they tell me that all my suspicions about the 'Summons' not being legitimate, and the letter not having any 'URN' (Unique Reference Number) on were correct. Also, my friend  had a letter from my local authority on Saturday with the same 'return to sender' address, so it confirms/gives more evidence that these documents were not issued by a court.

Update on this - Dukes Bailiffs were assigned this, and they made various threats, which were strongly rebutted by letter. They threatened 'multiple visits until I paid', which they were told would be criminal harassment as they had no lawful right to contact my friend. It seems they have now realised they were getting nowhere and have passed it back to the local Council, a manager from whom called my freind this morning (who didn't answer) talking about 'making a payment arrangement'.

Any further thoughts gratefully received

Does your friend own his house, with or without a mortgage?

flyingfish wrote:Does your friend own his house, with or without a mortgage?

Owned with a mortgage

OK, something to be aware of is that councils have been known to apply for a charge on the house.

flyingfish wrote:OK, something to be aware of is that councils have been known to apply for a charge on the house.

That's worth knowing, thanks