7 year old council tax bill

artangels · 11 November 2015 at 6:09PM

I have returned from being away a few weeks to find a letter from the council telling me that I owe over £2k in council tax from a property I lived at with my then partner from 06 to 09. I paid money into his account for rent and bills and to the best of my knowledge at the time everything was taken care of, although it did become apparent further down the line that he wasn't especially honest where money was concerned. We split in 2011 and he took his own life in 2013.

I've since this morning received letters from a civil enforcement agency addressed to both of us threatening bailiff action.

I have spoken with debt advice line who've said I should make a formal complaint to the council, cite mal administration due to the length of time it has taken to contact me and the circumstances, although I felt they were quite vague. I've just sat down and started to try and write a letter and still feel like I really don't know what I'm doing. They also suggested that it could be statute-barred.

I am petrified. I already have large credit card debts, in part that he left me with at the time we broke up and having recently managed to at least bring these under control - manageable payments on low interest - having to pay this back as well as a priority debt would potentially ruin me. It was not an easy relationship and one that left me with many mental scars. I am self employed and suffered from pretty severe depression for a few years after we split, the debt I was trying to cope with not helping matters. The last five years have been really bleak, and I was finally starting to see the light at the end of it all until now.

If anyone can give me any more advice as to what to write, or point me to some template letters then i'd be very grateful.

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vlad · 11 November 2015 at 6:52PM

perhaps a chat with someone at the CAB might help,a local councillor or even your MP

sourcrates · 11 November 2015 at 8:07PM

There's a guy on the forums, username is CIS, who works in council tax recovery.

Hopefully he will pick this up and be able to advise you.

fatbelly · 11 November 2015 at 9:51PM

artangels wrote: »

I have returned from being away a few weeks to find a letter from the council telling me that I owe over £2k in council tax from a property I lived at with my then partner from 06 to 09. I paid money into his account for rent and bills and to the best of my knowledge at the time everything was taken care of, although it did become apparent further down the line that he wasn't especially honest where money was concerned. We split in 2011 and he took his own life in 2013.

I've since this morning received letters from a civil enforcement agency addressed to both of us threatening bailiff action.

I have spoken with debt advice line who've said I should make a formal complaint to the council, cite mal administration due to the length of time it has taken to contact me and the circumstances, although I felt they were quite vague. I've just sat down and started to try and write a letter and still feel like I really don't know what I'm doing. They also suggested that it could be statute-barred.

I am petrified. I already have large credit card debts, in part that he left me with at the time we broke up and having recently managed to at least bring these under control - manageable payments on low interest - having to pay this back as well as a priority debt would potentially ruin me. It was not an easy relationship and one that left me with many mental scars. I am self employed and suffered from pretty severe depression for a few years after we split, the debt I was trying to cope with not helping matters. The last five years have been really bleak, and I was finally starting to see the light at the end of it all until now.

If anyone can give me any more advice as to what to write, or point me to some template letters then i'd be very grateful.

National debtline are OK

but

http://www.debtadviceline.org.uk/

are sharks who should be kept at the end of a bargepole.

The key question here is 'what period does this relate to?

Then

'Was I liable for council Tax during that period'

artangels · 12 November 2015 at 2:45PM

It was National Debtline - sorry, CAB put me through to them.

The period it relates to is from 2006 until 2009. I was liable to pay it and paid it into my then partner's account in good faith. I realise that as so much time as passed and he's no longer with us that this is incredibly difficult to prove either way.

I have lived under the same council ever since and always been on the electoral roll and paid council tax directly myself so I have no idea why it's taken them this long to contact me.

chesky · 12 November 2015 at 4:32PM

If the money wasn't paid to the council, then you still owe it. You are jointly and severally liable for the debt which means that, even if your friend were still alive, if you were the only person the council could contact, then they would still hold you responsible. It doesn't matter that you gave money to this person, you didn't actually pay your council tax.
A lot of councils now employ consultants to go back years and years to trace unpaid council tax debts so a lot of these ancient debts are coming to light, with those involved being unable to even remember the circumstances or the exact dates of when and where they were living.

artangels · 12 November 2015 at 5:28PM

Is the advice from debtline to pursue it as a complaint worth anything then? Is it possible for council tax debts to be written off after six years?

I really don't know how to face this.

Angry_Bear · 12 November 2015 at 5:45PM

Debts become Statute Barred if they haven't been acknowledged in 6 years. So if the date was 2009, then it will be statue barred - unless you mean the year ending 2010, in which case they have until April next year to claim for the last year.

Note that if they have applied to the court and been given a liability order then it will never become statute barred, you should be able to see if they have a liability order from your credit report.

Angry_Bear · 12 November 2015 at 5:46PM

Just to add, there is a template somewhere on this site to send if a debt is statute barred, I'd suggest sending that but I don't know if there's specific guidelines or legislation you should reference for Council Tax as opposed to other debts.

artangels · 12 November 2015 at 6:18PM

Thankyou. I had a credit report a couple of years ago which was fine and the limit on one of my credit cards was recently increased quite substantially.........If he acknowledged it or had a liability order I'm assuming that would also count?
The date is april 2009, this is actually slightly wrong as we had moved from that place at the end of feb.

CIS · 12 November 2015 at 6:47PM

artangels wrote: »

Thankyou. I had a credit report a couple of years ago which was fine and the limit on one of my credit cards was recently increased quite substantially.........If he acknowledged it or had a liability order I'm assuming that would also count?
The date is april 2009, this is actually slightly wrong as we had moved from that place at the end of feb.

Liability orders do not show on a credit record.

What you need to do first of all is to establish what period the charge is for, when demand notices, reminder and summons were issued and when the liability order was granted.

The 6 year period for obtaining a liability order is from the date the amount became due - it doesn't become due until a council tax demand notice is issued so this could be later than the actual period the charge was from.

Flying straight in with a complaint is not always the way to go - just because a person is living in the same area does not always mean that they can be linked together to be same person. Legally the onus is in the tax payer to identify themselves, not the council to try and make any connection,

7 year old council tax bill

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