Single person occupancy - backdated invoice from 2009

pickle84_2

Hi, I have just seen another thread about single occupancy when a partner is in the army but my query is slightly different as it is about an invoice i received asking me to pay back my single occupancy discount from when i moved into my flat in April 2009.
I am currently on maternity leave and am due to be married next month to my fiance who is in the armed forces.
I moved into my flat in April 2009 and my fiance (boyfriend at the time) was based in Cyprus from November 2008-September 2010 and prior to that he lived with his mum and i rented a room from my brother.
I was advised i could get a 25% single occupancy discount for my flat which i claimed until a few months ago when the council contacted me and said i should not have been allowed this discount. When i asked why, they said that even though my fiance was living in a different country with his battalion and only visited me once every 3-4 months for a weekend/week, they have to look at where he would be living IF he wasn't in the army?
Now i am thoroughly confused about this and have put in an appeal as they have sent me an invoice backdating to when i moved into my flat in 2009 totaling nearly £2000!
I have argued how they have come to this decision based on an IF scenario and they said as we are getting married and have a child and even though my fiance still doesn't live with us as he lives in barracks and pays rent and council tax there, that my flat is still classed as his main residency, as if he wasn't in the army then surely he would be living with me. My counter argument was that as we now have a son and are getting married then yes of course we would live in the same home if he wasn't in the army but that is not the situation and it certainly was not the situation over 2 years ago.
I really do not understanding how they can suddenly backdate my single occupancy allowance to when i moved in, when my fiance was not even aware i had the flat as he was on tour in Afghanistan, and if his battalion wasn't based in Cyprus for the next 2 years then he MAY have lived with me? Surely when claiming discounts or benefits it is based on your situation at the time and if these circumstances change then the benefits change with them?
I can understand them saying once we are married, regardless of whether he lives with us or not and pays rent elsewhere, that we have to use my flat as our main residence, but surely they cannot backdate to 2 years ago on a hypothetical WHAT IF scenario?
For information we had been together just over a year when he left for Cyprus and prior to this he had lived with his mum and i lived with my brother so we have never actually lived together ever. I am arguing our case with the council but they do not seem to really care and just keep saying that my flat is his main residency regardless of the fact he pays rent for his single man room on barracks. He is not named on my tenancy or any of my bills and never has been and as i said, i can understand that once we are married it doesn't matter what our situation is but surely they cannot go back to over 2 years ago when he clearly did not live with me.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as the council really do not seem to be much help.

Regards

Marker_2

Reply to the council stating you are seeking guidance from your MP on this matter.

Get in touch with your local MP, write a letter or if he/she has surgeries attend one of them. Explain the situation to them.

PS: The council seem to know your life story, how did their initial letter stating you owed 2k come about in the first place ... how do they know the existence of a partner?