Council Tax/Life Mess... Fraud?

CIS

All you need to do is advise the council that your moving in now.

Weeone_3

The council want previous addresses from me. I only stayed with friends/family for years, a month here and there. Never registered although I know I paid council tax at some places. Concerned that council will try and charge me for this. Also have I not commited a fraud by allowing them to believe that my flat continued to be my mums second home over the last 3 years, would I not have to pay the difference?

RAS

I spent best part of 18yrs living that way. Staying in work accommodation, friends/ famlies sofas.. wherever. Just as long as she was ok.

Hi If you lived like a nomad and have no settled address, you need to tell them that.

First thing is to get the scale of the problem right. if you have not yet moved back, where are you staying right now?

If you moved in recently, where did you stay immediately prior to returning home?

Even if you cannot remember where you lived, the chances are you have some records of your employment? Old pay slips? bank statements showing income?

If you were employed on the south coast and the house is in the north east, evidently you were not living in the house.

You do not need to make a complete list just a decent stab at it with " really cannot remember absolutely everything but this is my best stab at it" somewhere in there.

Would you find it easier to talk to a person? if so arrange an appointment and go and see them with your payslips etc.

Your situation is not usual but it is far from problematic. Think of all the people who roam overseas for years or take to a motorhome or traveling for years and then settle down.

Weeone_3

All the time my mum lived there she paid the council tax, with a single persons 25% discount. She moved into sheltered accomodation in June 2006, from then I paid the coucil tax at the discounted rate of it being her second home. I was staying in london in rented accom and sometimes at my brothers on the sofa.
I moved into the flat at the end of Feb this year. I wrote to the council to tell them I moved in. They have written asking for details of previous addresses.
Should I go and se them or the the CAB?
I'm just so scared as I can't prove all the places I've stayed, and don't want to get any friends who put me up in touble if they were claiming a single persons discount.
I'm sure some people I stayed with would have been in this position.
Will I be laible for fraud saying the house was mums second home?
It was left part furnished when she moved out.
I've been in so much debt over the years helping keep mum afloat. I'm just trying to get my life in order. I just feel like running away from it all.

RAS

You really are getting your knickers in a twist about nothing. i amm sorry that nothing we say is helping you. if you need to talk to someone face to face try CAB or Christians against poverty. Details are here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help
For the Ct issue you do not need a specialist financial advisor.

You should be paying CT when you live somewhere on a formal basis.Kipping on bro's sofa does not render you liable for CT.

What I feel is that having lived like a nomad for 18 years and it has obviously been very hard, you are finding it hard to provide "normal" answers to bureaucratic questions that expect people to be settled.

What you can explain is that you hoped mum would be able to return but it is now apparent this is not an option and you need to sort out your life and so you are returning.

And with respect to the debt what concerns me is that being unsettled you will have been excluded from most of the normal low cost loans and cards, so you are likely to be pay very high interest rates etc.

Do check https://www.abcul.org and see if there is a credit union near you as they may be able to help you and to loan you money at a low rate to repay some of the most expensive debts.

Weeone_3

i do appricate your advice, and yes maybe I am getting overly worried. I've spent so many years, working random jobs and living in random places just to make sure mum was ok. Early this year I realise I couldn't go on living like this.
My siblings helped me clear my debts this year, so on paper I have only the mortgage on the flat where mum lived and where I want to live now.
Do you think I should visit a CAB first and then go and see the council in person?
I'm sorry if I appear to be getting worked up over nothing, but I genuinely value your advice. Thank you.

Karen_30

Hi,

Firstly stop panicking, you haven't done anything wrong.

I would suggest that you contact the Council Tax department and just explain that prior to moving back into the property you were living outside of the local area (i.e out of it's ctax area) for a number of year whether it be in shared acc, friends couch etc. They just need confirmation of some sorts.

As for ownership of the property - land registry searches/documentation will confirm that you are the 'true owner' of the property. However this is neither here nor there in the sense that your mother was the sole occupier of the property and therefore liable for the council tax for the durations that she was living there.

The only time that the above would change is if someone was there living with her and she didn't tell them as obviously the single persons discount would not apply in this instance, if not then there is nothing to worry about.

I would say contact the ctax department - or if you don't like speaking over the telephone write to them and confirm the dates that your monther moved out and you moved in. If she is in care home, ask the care home staff to write a letter confirming the exact date she came to stay there and then for the period the property was empty there is some formal documentation to confirm.

Hope this helps, you really do not need to worry re the ctax.

RAS

Hi

It is about what you need. Some people really take to dealing with stuff on-line, some like to use the phone, others want face to face. what makes you most comfortable? just imagine doing each one and note how you feel about each one.

I think seeing CAB would let you check out the rules that you need to comply with rather than what the council would like to ask for. They may not be the same.

Then go and see the council as your situation may be easier to explain in person.

Weeone_3

I have written to the council. I have explained that I am the owner though my mum lived there and I didn't. I have given them my last address where i was staying at my brother and his wife's place. I guess I just need to wait for their response.
Been aterrible couple months for me. Have to start trying to sort things out. Thanks to all for the advice, will no doubt post again soon.

RAS

Hopefully that will sort it out.

Do let us know.