Adjusted Council Tax

Gingel

A close friend and her husband emigrated 2.5 years ago. They paid all their bills up to date, including what the council told her she owed for Council Tax. She gave my address as a correspondence address, so that I could scan and e-mail anything that arrived after they had gone, just to tidy up loose ends. So, 2.5 years later, a Council Tax Adjustment Notice arrived, asking for nearly £300! I sent it back, saying that the addressees emigrated 2.5 years ago. Now summonses have arrived in the ordinary post. I have sent them back to the Council saying that the addressees do not live at my address and never have, explaining why my address was given initially, and saying that I want nothing more to do with it (for what it's worth). I have also written to the court, with a copy of MY Council Tax bill to show residency, to show that the summonses aren't served. It seems totally unjust that this family can have a bill adjusted 2.5 years after paying it. It would cost over £1000 to come back to defend it.
Any comments, suggestions?

(I must just add that I haven't sent either letter yet; just mulling over whether I've said too much)

lincroft1710

If the CT bill was incorrectly calculated then CT law permits the council to issue an amended bill and also to enforce payment if they are granted a liability order.

You should speak to council and say you haven't sent the adjusted bill on to your friends, so could they delay court action until you can do this. Your friends can then check if a mistake had been made and dispute this with the council and also have the opportunity of paying if they so wish. At the same time you should have informed council that addressees do not live at your home.

It is pointless sending your CT bill to the court, it doesn't prove your friends don't live there. Just return summonses and inform court that addressees do not live and never have lived here. If you are paying CT to the same council as you friends were the council can easily check that you are the registered occupier. The council is unlikely to send bailiffs to your address if they know your friends don't live there.

I don't know if either the court or the council can legally force you to disclose your friends' address.

CIS

Lincroft1710 is correct in that the demand can be issued retrospectively for any council tax due and would still be legal. By sending it to the last known correspondence address it has been issued correctly however the council may be willing to amend their records in respect of the address but until you speak to them you don't know how they wish to proceed. They cant enforce any action against you personally.

Section 3 & 4 of the administration & enforcement regs 1992 allows the council to request information however they wouldn't be applicable in this case.

Gingel

It's not the same Borough as we live in. When the adjusted bill arrived I wrote to the Council saying that the addressees had emigrated in 2008 - it seems they didn't believe me!
So, nobody thinks that we can be forced to disclose their address? It's in Canada, so I don't know whether the Council could do anything anyway. I am wondering if, as the summonses aren't served, they could apply for a warrant to have them apprehended if they visit the UK?
This all seems to go against natural justice.

lincroft1710

I would imagine most councils get a "they've emigrated" response with no overseas forwarding address several times a year, hence their apparent disbelief.

My advice would be to let your friends know what is going on. They may want to pay up if they believe they owe the money.

I don't see where "natural justice" comes into this.

Gingel

You get a bill, you pay it in full, you get on with your life. Two and a half years later the bill get changed and you get a further demand. It doesn't seem fair to me....

p00hsticks

Gingel wrote: »

You get a bill, you pay it in full, you get on with your life. Two and a half years later the bill get changed and you get a further demand. It doesn't seem fair to me....

Fair or not, you need to forward the letters to the people, let the council know that you've done so and then take a step back, and let them sort it out between the two of them.

I'd suggest that the most you want to get involved in this is simply passing communications between the two of them without comment.

lincroft1710

Gingel wrote: »

You get a bill, you pay it in full, you get on with your life. Two and a half years later the bill get changed and you get a further demand. It doesn't seem fair to me....

We don't know why this adjustment has been made, there may have been a mistake on the original bill, or your friends didn't tell the council something they should have done...

I agree with p00hsticks' comments.

Gingel

p00hsticks wrote: »

Fair or not, you need to forward the letters to the people, let the council know that you've done so and then take a step back, and let them sort it out between the two of them.

I'd suggest that the most you want to get involved in this is simply passing communications between the two of them without comment.

I think that is a very good idea. I have been getting very steamed up about it, and it's not really my problem. I have enough to think about myself - two of my children are getting married in the next 6 months (and possibly a third, early next year)! £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££