Moving out after council tax summons

Ryan_Williams

Must admit I was somewhat unsure where to post this exactly, but hopefully someone can help with my issue!

A couple of months ago I received a council tax summons for the first two months of rent for a flat. I was under the impression a direct debit had been set up and indeed had the active direct debit in my HSBC online account (in addition to the previous expired one at my previous property) — but it turns out they'd been taking no money out of it.

As you can imagine I was given the blame for not regularly checking my statements for it, which in all honesty is a fair point. So they won't budge, but agreed to integrate the additional costs for the summons into monthly payments and I'm basically just continuing to pay the council tax each month with a bit on top. Not great but better than paying the whole lot at once like they initially wanted.

My issue is this: what if I need to move out in a couple of months? They've agreed to take no further action beyond the liability order so long as the payments keep coming, but am I actually still liable for the remaining months should I vacate? The council told me I was liable for the whole year of payment at once when the summons appeared — so what happens if someone does pay a whole year off in advance then moves out halfway through? Do they get it redeemed or what?

molerat

I think you should write an official complaint. The fact that a direct debit debit was set up and active on your account is proof that the council had received your instructions to pay and had accepted it. By not collecting it they have shown that they are incompetent and I feel would be a case for the ombudsman if they had not given you due warning that the monies had not been paid. What correspondence did you receive after the first missed payment, I hope you did not ignore any letters thinking that a DD was set up.

Technically by being in default on monthly payments the whole year is due immediately but you would get a refund of any amounts paid for after you moved out. If they have agreed to monthly payments they will give you a settlement amount after you move out, if you are staying in the same LA area they may agree to the extra to be added to the new address payments.

lincroft1710

If you move out before the end of your tenancy and it has not been mutually ended with the landlord and no one else moves in or is living there prior to the end of the tenancy, then you will still be liable for the council tax until the end of the tenancy.