rent owing to council???

jellly

hello
this is my first post here just after a bit of advice as searching the forums i cant find anything that matches my problem
many thanks in advance for any help you can give to me

i left a council house back in 2001 as far as i was aware all the rent and other charges they decided at the time was payed in full unfortunately any letters i had at the time i cant seem to find now
i moved into a new house now i have just recieved a letter saying i owe the council £500 and that they are taking me to court for this amount now as far as i am aware i dont owe anything i was wondering if this is statue barred and should i send a letter which there are plenty of samples on this forum.

again many thanks for any help and advice
paul

fatbelly

If you didn't acknowledge the alleged debt in writing, or make a payment after 2001, then they had until 2007 to start court action. If they didn't, the debt became statute barred in 2007. There's a letter in this thread that you can send:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2606811

jellly

hi fatbelly
many thanks for your reply i had read that thread but wasnt sure if it was just for debts like credit cards and loans or if it applied to the likes of rent
i have not acknowledged the debt in any way i only got the letter yesterday and i read on this forum about the statue barred but wanted to check before i send a letter in to the council
again many thanks

McKneff

Debts to councils never become statute barred. So you will have to pay it. Ask them for a breakdown first.

It may well be council tax owed when you moved out.

fermi

McKneff wrote: »

Debts to councils never become statute barred. So you will have to pay it.

Not true.

Council tax has it's own provisions, but they still only have 6 years to issue legal proceedings. Just the date that starts from can be a bit different to normal debts.

If this is not Council Tax, then the normal statute barred rules apply.

Jellly: can you confirm what this is? CT? Rent?

jellly

hi
on the letter they definately state its rent
they say when we left the council house they had to move rubbish which i know isnt true but that is what they are charging us and it is being handled by the rent section
i have just reread the letter and the second page states what the money is for i hadnt noticed it before as i was in shock lol
thanks

fermi

jellly wrote: »

hi
on the letter they definately state its rent
they say when we left the council house they had to move rubbish which i know isnt true but that is what they are charging us and it is being handled by the rent section
thanks

In that case, it is statute barred. As they had six years to start court action from when the "cause of action" accrued. i.e. when you first became liable to pay the charge.

jellly

hi

many thanks for you quick advice am now going to write the letter of the link fatbelly gave me and get it in the post to them and see what happens then i will report back and let you all know what happens as and when i have any updates
again many thanks
i am going to spend the day trawling through the threads on here as i have found a few usefull tips already for different things

fermi

It's 'fatbelly', and I think you mean 'trawling'.

If you want to double check what applies to this debt, then look here:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=25_liability_for_debts_and_the_limitation_act

And then give the people that wrote that a call.

Freephone on 0808 808 4000

jellly

hi
sorry fatbelly i just realise my mistake and was coming back to alter it as you posted too much being forced to watch eastenders by the wife lol and yup i mean trawling my typing is terrible today my apologies i hope i didnt offend you
thanks paul