Council tax shakedown

LlwydO

Hi everyone,

I am looking for some advice. I moved into a property in December last year. I received the standard council tax request for payment shortly after. As I am a full time student I am not required to pay this bill t all. In February I got around to sending a scanned copy from my University of my council tax exemption form and I considered the matter dealt with.

Then in the first week of April I received a letter saying that I was found guilty at the magistrates court of not paying by bill and that I was laible for the full amount plus £80 in fees.

I phoned the council advice line who told me that I was my fault they had not received the letter but if I emailed the form the matter would be resolved. The next day I sent an email to them with the scanned copy of the form attached as a .tif image.

On Friday, some six weeks after sending this email, I got a response insisting tha they had received my email but nothing was attached to it. I still have this email in my sent box which indicates that the problem wa again at their end. Today they have acknowledged receipt of a further email and agree that I am not liable to pay any council tax.

However, they are insisting I pay the £80 'liablity fee'. I am unsure how I can be liable for a debt I neve had.

Has anyone had experience with this kind of thing before and knows where I stand legally?

Thanks

CIS

A Council Tax Discount/Exemption only applies from when it is added to your Council Tax account - until that account any Council Tax is legally due as shown on your latest Council Tax Demand Notice.

In your case the Class N exemption only applies from when the council received it and your account was updated. Until the council have the proof of your student status then they treat it as a straight forward liability and bill accordingly, this includes any costs incurred if payment is not made.

Any costs incurred are fully recoverable by way of the Court Summons and Liability Order (irrespective if an adjustment means that no Council Tax is then due). It was your responsibility to ensure that you provided the student information in a timely manner (2 + months is not timely), the fact that they did not award the exemption from your first email made no difference as the Liability Order had already been issued and that costs were due already by point.

The council have correctly awarded the exemption now but they are also correct in pursuing the costs - if they had the information prior to the costs being incurred then you would have an argument against them but not in this case.