£4 million of council tax unpaid in Bristol as courts issue 62 summonses a day
NEARLY £4 million of council tax is currently outstanding in Bristol – out of a total of nearly £50 million that the council has had to pursue through the courts in the last three years.
New figures have revealed that an average of 62 court summons a day were issued in the city in 2010 chasing people who had failed to pay up.
Figures released to the Evening Post after a Freedom of Information request show that between the start of 2008 and the end of last month the city council issued 73,077 summons, relating to more than £47 million in unpaid taxes.
In 2010, nearly £15 million was pursued through the courts, £16 million was chased in this way in 2009 and nearly £14 million in 2008.
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The unpaid tax amounts to about 10 per cent of the overall sum of council tax which should be collected by the authority each year – for example in 2009/2010 the collectable debt was £167 million.
For the council tax arrears noted up to the end of March 2010, £3.75 million is outstanding – but the total figure could be much more. The council was not able to tell the Evening Post exactly how much of the £47 million remains unpaid, because the latest figures have not been published.
The sum of unpaid tax is not an amount the council can currently afford not to have – earlier this week they approved its spending plan for the coming year, and the biggest cuts in its history.
The spending plan includes £28 million of cuts – just the first in a four-year plan that will see £70 million shed from the council's budget between now and 2015.
At least 340 council jobs are to go in the first year, in addition to 400 that have already gone by not replacing departing staff. There will be less money for the arts, for voluntary organisations, for school subsidies and pest control.
When someone fails to pay an instalment of their council tax on time, they are sent a reminder; if they fall behind again they are sent a second reminder.
But if it happens a third time a final notice is issued and their right to pay by instalments is withdrawn – if they then fail to pay the requested amount within the specified time they will receive a court summons.
The summons is an order to attend magistrates' court, where the council asks the magistrate to grant a liability order. This type of order gives the council the authority to collect the money owed using methods such as asking your employer to take the money from your salary, having the amount taken from your income support or Jobseeker's allowance, instructing bailiffs to remove items belonging to you and sell them, applying to make you bankrupt or applying to have you put in prison.
Councillor Mark Wright, cabinet member for efficiency and value for money, said: "There is a small minority of people who do not pay their council tax on time, but most of this money is in fact collected within 12 to 18 months. For the outstanding non-payers, our council tax collection teams take a robust approach, leading ultimately to the use of bailiffs or bankruptcy proceedings in a small number of cases.
"We do work with our residents to encourage prompt payment, however we are sensitive to those with problems paying due to the recession – thus our campaign to increase awareness of council tax benefits for those eligible."
Comments
by BristolDJ
Monday, October 01 2012, 10:41AM
“@citizen cane...
Council tax is weighted by the value of your premises, and therefore people who are more affulent or live in a more affulent area pay more than others. That is linked to salary. However it does get into the quagmire of house prices etc which is a different kettle of fish completely...”
by lolly60
Monday, October 01 2012, 9:31AM
“@Citizen Cain, St Pauls
Lots of people think the grass is greener on the other side but its not always the case,they have their own kind of Tax in many other countries.
And lots of people could pay their Council Tax but would rather spend it on Drink and Cigs.”
by poly_anchor
Monday, October 01 2012, 8:39AM
“I notice that Bristol City Council front load all associated court costs to the £103 summons charge.
A very underhand trick I think:
Councils unlawfully charging Liability Order and Summons costs at the same time....
http://tinyurl.com/6vbckwa
http://tinyurl.com/cs8lnds”
by poly_anchor
Sunday, September 30 2012, 10:54PM
“"New figures have revealed that an average of 62 court summons a day were issued in the city in 2010 chasing people who had failed to pay up."
There's money in them there court summonses...
Over 22 and a half thousand summonses per year at £103 a go makes over £2.3 million court costs revenue. With a split between the council and Her Majesty's Court Service at around 33:1 in the council's favour, over £67,000 of this goes to the MoJ. Now that's business sense.”
by R_stiltskin
Sunday, September 30 2012, 9:57PM
“This article's insane....
Maybe its correct from an accounting perspective but it bears absolutely no resemblance to the real life situation.
All these quoted £millions in arrears, owing or dodged are pretty much meaningless.
You could wipe out almost the entire figure by accounting for the money owed purely as a consequence of the council withdrawing instalment facilities. In actual fact this element of supposed outstanding money owed is technically not outstanding debt. It will be down to slack payers or householders struggling to hit instalment due dates, having the added pressure of paying the entire years liability in one go and consequently being forced into paying additional fees for court costs and bailiffs when they obviously cant do it (it's a money trap set by the MoJ).
The majority of this money will have been paid by the end of the financial year despite court action and bailiff enforcement. The only reason they throw around summonses like confetti is because they probably make a couple of hundred thousand pounds a month in court cost.”
by DOUGLAS, Bs6
Friday, February 25 2011, 11:14PM
“Would be interesting to have access to the who's who of these free loading tax dodgers, if their details were made public maybe some would pay up.”
by Me, Bristol
Friday, February 25 2011, 9:49PM
“I wish BCC would actually employ some people with brains, I am still trying to resolve a billing error since December. When I called again, despite mutiple pieces of evidence being sent and previous phonecalls I was told there was no issue highlighted on my file which is why I was still being billed incorrectly.
I have also been given false information by employees over the phone, which I recorded and have full evidence.
What is wrong with these people?”
by Citizen Cain, St Pauls
Friday, February 25 2011, 8:25PM
“I think this article simply highlights the fact that many people find it difficult to make the extortionate payments each month. Nobody honestly wants to evade the payments and worry about answering the door incase it's the bailliff trying to confiscate the belongings you've worked so hard to acquire.
The tax is unfair in my opinon because it's not based on ones ability to pay, and entitlements for benefit subsidies for people earning over £20k regardless of being a single earner in a household of 3 dependents are null and void. The tax should be scrapped and replaced with a fairer system, based on income and resposibilities. Millions of households up and down the country including my own are crippled by this perpetual unforgiving burden of a tax, and after paying their income tax, mortgages, utility bills, fuel and food, there's literally nothing left in the pot until next pay-day. I can honestly see why so many Brits emigrate for an easier life, as this government want to shake every last penny out of our pockets.”
by CEEBEE, Bristol
Friday, February 25 2011, 8:04PM
“Hmmm, I wonder how many of these are mistakes? I received an arrears notice for the previous year's tax so I went to Amelia Court armed with the payment book stamped at the Post Office when I had made monthly payments. Was told 'computer error' (an oldie but goodie). Went away thinking all was well. Wrong. County Court summons a few weeks later.
Another rather more tetchy visit to Amelia Court. Outcome? Letter from bailiffs. Finally resolved after letter to MP.”
by General, Swindon
Friday, February 25 2011, 7:30PM
“I know of a story where someone didn't pay their council tax so the bailiff took their car and sold it at auction. The buyer of the car at auction was the person who didn't pay their council tax! So instead of just paying their council tax they let their car go to the bailiff and bought it back. Ridic.”