I am liable for outstanding Council Tax 3-4 years old

isabella23

Hi
I am new to this site, can anyone offer any advice.
I recently moved from a property, and the council have sent me to outstanding invoices from 3-4 years ago of £390. Can I be made to pay such an old invoice? They told me my account was in credit after moving and sent me a cheque of £9.61. How can an account be in credit this year, and in arrears 3-4 years ago. There explanation is that they made an error under charging me by six months by saying my flat was under occuppied because it was being re-decorated...I never told them this and do not where they got this info came from. I do remember trying to pay a certain time of year and them telling me I had made an overpayment (I sometimes use to pay a few months in advance.)
They have said if I do not pay this, I will be issued with a Court Summons and then have bad credit rating.
Can a debt be wiped off after a certain amount of time.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards
Karen