Council Tax Dispute & Court Summons

Ducky059

Hello

I was wondering if you could help me, I am currently travelling abroad for 10 months.

I am normally a resident in the UK and before leaving I contacted my local Council Tax services to notify them I was leaving the property to move abroad. This was around one month prior to leaving. I was told that I would not be able to notify them until 10 days before I moved out of the property. I stated that due to me moving abroad, it would be easier to notify them at that time, they again told me to ring back 10 days prior to moving and not to concern myself with payments etc. as I was making regular direct debit payments.

I made the call 10 days before moving and again told them I was moving abroad. They asked for a C/O address. even though I told them they could contact me via email for any issues due to me travelling for long periods of time with no internet access, they insisted on having the C/O address. I provided my aunts address as this was the only address available. They also informed me that I would not be outstanding any funds due to making regular direct debit payments for the 11 month period of 2011 / 2012 and the only reason they would be making contact, would be to provide any necessary refunds, if applicable.

5 days before I left the UK, they sent a bill to my aunt's address for £269.27. I was immediately surprised at the bill and went into the offices of Council Tax Plus I was told that due to reasons unknown from August 2011 the council tax office had changed the payments with no reasons given. They told me they were unable to offer me any further assistance and I would need to contact the revenues office direct.

I emailed the revenue office when I arrived in South America in April 2012 querying the amount. I received an email to say they would look into the matter and provide a full investigation. I reminded them that I was travelling abroad and that all queries should therefore be sent via email and not to my C/O address. On 19 May I chased them up as I had still not received a response from them. On 31 May a report was sent to me stating that a member of their team had deducted the amounts in error but that I was still liable for the amount outstanding. As I have been travelling across Nicaragua since 30 May to Honduras, I did not receive this email until today. I have again queried why I should be liable for an error that they have admitted and it also turns out that they have been taking payment for my partner at another address for the entire period queried. Something else I asked them to look into. The additional amount was for my partner, who had moved into my property in April 2011, for which I notified them 3 times. They added him on for a number of payments but for reasons unknown, took his payments back off in August 2011.

Since replying to that email. my aunt contacted me to say that they have started court proceedings against myself and my partner for a different amount of £346.27 and have been requested to appear before a magistrate in July 2012. My aunt and uncle contacted the Council Tax office but they refused to talk to them about it. They told them I was travelling abroad and had disputed the bill and it was currently under investigation. They said they did not wish to discuss the matter and the extra charges were for court costs and ended the call!

I have contacted the lady I have been dealing with to query why they would start court proceedings against an account in dispute and to query why they did not contact me directly by email if they had already been advised I was away travelling.

Please can anyone provide me with some advice on where I stand on this matter?

vax2002

Ask where the magistrate is when you get there.
You may get a bit of a surprise, all is not what it appears.

Ducky059

Unfortunately, we can't attend in person as we will still be away travelling.

CIS

Ask where the magistrate is when you get there.
You may get a bit of a surprise, all is not what it appears.

You mean the surprise will be that the magistrate will be in the court and waiting ?. Why do you keep posting your rubbish and give people the idea the process doesn't involve the court?.

Can you clarify a few points ?

They added him on for a number of payments but for reasons unknown, took his payments back off in August 2011.

What do you mean by 'took his payments back off' ?

What has happened with the property you left ?

On 31 May a report was sent to me stating that a member of their team had deducted the amounts in error but that I was still liable for the amount outstanding.

If an error is made then the council tax is still due and the council can bill and recover this amount.

they insisted on having the C/O address.

Most councils don't have the facility for e-billing and so need a contact address for postal documents.

I was told that due to reasons unknown from August 2011 the council tax office had changed the payments with no reasons given. They told me they were unable to offer me any further assistance and I would need to contact the revenues office direct.

I would bear in mind that many front desk customer service staff don't have much in the way of council tax training so I wouldn't necessarily assume they are correct in what they have told you.

and it also turns out that they have been taking payment for my partner at another address for the entire period queried

It would be his responsibility to ensure payment was made and to have made payment if the council hadn't taken it.

Ducky059

Hi

Thanks for responding, please see the answers to your queries below:

What do you mean by 'took his payments back off' ?

The Council Tax department reduced the payments for no known reason. When I queried the payment deductions, they said a person in their department reduced the amounts, they had no reason why but said the person in question had been dealt with.

What has happened with the property you left ?
The property was rented by myself, I am assume it has been rented back out.


If an error is made then the council tax is still due and the council can bill and recover this amount.
We were only notified of the error on 31 May 2012, yet they have already started court proceedings?

It would be his responsibility to ensure payment was made and to have made payment if the council hadn't taken it.
We notified the council tax department three times that he had moved to my address, his previous address also notified them he had moved. They eventually sent a letter acknowledging the change but as stated above they changed the payments without notifying us. It only became apparent when the final bill was received.

CIS

[
We were only notified of the error on 31 May 2012, yet they have already started court proceedings?/QUOTE]

Before a court summons can be issued they must have sent at least one demand notice and at least one reminder in respect of the amount due.

Ducky059

No only the courts summons has been received. In email correspondence, there was no mention of a demand or reminder and they said they were investigating the account. Thanks for your help.

CIS

No only the courts summons has been received. In email correspondence, there was no mention of a demand or reminder

The documents would have been issued (the IT systems used wont allow a summons without them) - whether you received them or not wouldn't be a concern to the council as long as they can show they posted them to the correct address (and they weren't returned).

vax2002

CIS wrote: »

The documents would have been issued (the IT systems used wont allow a INVITATION without them) - whether you received them or not wouldn't be a concern to the council as long as they can show they posted them to the correct address (and they weren't returned).

Corrected...............