Council taking us to court!

sparkle_berry

I have recently received a letter of liability from a previous council demanding repayment of funds outstanding. We moved out of the property in March 2005 and it remained empty until we sold it in October 2005 giving the council full contact details. When we sold the house, I phoned the council to enquire about the council tax account. This was confirmed as Nil balance and the account was said to be closed. The letter states an outstanding balance + court fees. After phoning again the council now states that numerous letters have been sent (none of which we have received) also stated that bailiffs have been sent (no contact has been made). This letter is the first I have been made aware of the situation. I wish to seek advise as the council is demanding the balance. I have requested a copy of the statement. If there is an outstanding balance to pay, I do not mind clearing this, but the court fees, I find unacceptable. I also need to clear the credit report as we plan on buying a second home. Has anyone been in a similar situation, im not sure what we should do, but I thought of sending a cheque for the outstanding amount minus fees in hope the account will be closed.


Many thanks

Susie

hodgester

The maximum period a property can be exempt from charge for is 6 months (unless you were making structural alterations to the property). I would imagine that the charge may have been nil when you spoke to them but when the account was finally closd on completion date there would have been a small balance to pay.

Did you give them your new address? If you did then there should be no reason why you did not receive the amended bills. If you did, then the summons can be regarded as not being properly served. You can tell the council you will seek for it to be quashed, as the bills etc were not sent in line with statutory demand. If you didn't then the council will be covered as they only have to send it to your last known address. Call the bailiffs and ask what address they have been attending, if you want to check before speaking to the council.

The court action will not affect your credit statuys as the application for liabilty order is made at the magistrates court. No blemish will appear on your credit rating for this court action, I promise you, so do not concern yourself there.

sparkle_berry

Thanks for your reply, we did give them our forwarding address the same time that we declared the house as vacant. They even confirmed that our current address was given to them at the correct time when I challenged the liability order over the phone last week.

As the liability order is our first notification of an outstanding balance, would it suffice to send a cheque (without the court payments - which would cover the council tax payments) accompanied by a letter stating that the bills have not been sent in line with statutory demand?

Many Thanks

Susie

hodgester

I would pay, minus costs, and then invite them to confirm in writing where the bills were issued, together with evidence that they were posted to the new address. Otherwise you will ask the magistrates to re-visit the decision to award the liability order. Threaten to subpeona the Council Tax manager, to swear on oath at the courts that it was sent in line with statutory demand. That should scare them more than enough.

Hopefully it's not my office. If it is, I'll let you off! I always back down when it comes to statutory demand as it is so hard to prove.

sparkle_berry

Thanks for this, I will let you know how it goes.