Council Tax - Student - Liability Order

Chad1980

Hi,

I have recently found out that a liability order was granted against me in 2007 for unpaid council tax (£700), i have only found out about this debt last month because the council has sent an attachment of earnings order to my employer (they did not contact me first!!), apparently it has taken them 5 years to do anything about it because they upgraded thier computer system!!. Now the thing is i'm not sure if i am liable for this debt as during the period that the bill applies i was a full time student, i was however living with my wife (now divorced) at the time, as i understand it the property is liable for council tax with a single occupier discount (25%) but only my ex wife should be legally responsible for the bill as i said i was a full time student...

Does anybody know if that is correct? I had no idea that we had this bill outstanding, as far as i was concerned she was paying, now i have a £700 bill that she does not have to pay because she is unemployed and i have an attachment of earnings. If i cannot be held leagally responsible then is their a way i can appeal against the liability order?

I have written to the council stating my case but as yet have received no reply unsurprisingly..

Cheers!!

FireWyrm

No. In short, when it comes to council tax you are both equally and severally liable for it. My guess is that the £700 did in fact take into account your exemption, but because she was your wife, you were living there at the time and you were therefore counted as severally liable regardless of her current situation.

Sorry, but I think you should pay this as fast as possible using (almost) any means necessary. You wont win against the council and all that will happen is that this can get very much worse than it is right now.

Dont make the mistake of thinking that this is a civil debt you can 'argue' and get away with. Councils can and will employee bailiffs to seize your goods, they can and may send you to court and they can and may begin bankrupsy proceedings.

Red_dog_Sam

If you can prove you were a student then you could still get a 25% discount (a student discount disregard) on the bill for the period you were studying. This can be backdated but you may be asked to get proof from the place you studied - though some Councils have lists from local colleges/universities that they can check against.

**correction** If you prove you were a full time student you would not be jointly liable for the charge because it related to charge after 01/04/2004 but would be if it were prior to that.

SpendyMcSpenderton

In my experience is no 25% discount for single occupancy if there was more than one person living there or not (Students included).

Best advice is get a letter from your university with the dates in questions, stamped for verification.

Hound the council as well with this and ask them what paperwork you would need to supply etc. Councils are notorious for just seeing if they can scare people, who aren't necessarily responsible, into paying. I had this myself when I lived in a house of multiple occupancy (HMO) that the landlord was diddling on tax. Because I was the only one honest enough to put myself down I got whacked with a bill and then spent about 3 years trying to prove that I wasn't liable. In the end I got my money back and won because I put in a complaint.

Good luck!

Chad1980

Thanks for that, i wasn't even going to challenge it initially if we agreed to pay half but she wont, surprise surprise!! Looks like there's nothing i can do about it then and will just have to bite the bullet..... again!!

Chad1980

Thanks!! Yeh i've already contacted the uni, they're sending me the proof, not sure if it'll work though because we were married, will try my best if i can even get the council to reply to my letters that is!!, sick of being screwed even still, 4 years after we got divorced lol!! :mad:

SpendyMcSpenderton wrote: »

In my experience is no 25% discount for single occupancy if there was more than one person living there or not (Students included).

Best advice is get a letter from your university with the dates in questions, stamped for verification.

Hound the council as well with this and ask them what paperwork you would need to supply etc. Councils are notorious for just seeing if they can scare people, who aren't necessarily responsible, into paying. I had this myself when I lived in a house of multiple occupancy (HMO) that the landlord was diddling on tax. Because I was the only one honest enough to put myself down I got whacked with a bill and then spent about 3 years trying to prove that I wasn't liable. In the end I got my money back and won because I put in a complaint.

Good luck!

SpendyMcSpenderton

Chad1980 wrote: »

Thanks!! Yeh i've already contacted the uni, they're sending me the proof, not sure if it'll work though because we were married, will try my best if i can even get the council to reply to my letters that is!!, sick of being screwed even still, 4 years after we got divorced lol!! :mad:

Ahh, good luck. The married-ness adds an extra spin to it, I guess. Let us know how you get on.

I would maybe call the council stating you have the proof that you were a student and see what they say?

CIS

i was however living with my wife (now divorced) at the time, as i understand it the property is liable for council tax with a single occupier discount (25%) but only my ex wife should be legally responsible for the bill as i said i was a full time student...

You can't as a student (from 1 April 2004) be held jointly liable with a non-student (e.g your ex-wife) however the council need to be aware that you are a student before they can disregard you from the bill. The fact you were married and living in the same property does not affect this disregard.

ValHaller

FireWyrm wrote: »

No. In short, when it comes to council tax you are both equally and severally liable for it. My guess is that the £700 did in fact take into account your exemption, but because she was your wife, you were living there at the time and you were therefore counted as severally liable regardless of her current situation.

Sorry, but I think you should pay this as fast as possible using (almost) any means necessary. You wont win against the council and all that will happen is that this can get very much worse than it is right now.

Dont make the mistake of thinking that this is a civil debt you can 'argue' and get away with. Councils can and will employee bailiffs to seize your goods, they can and may send you to court and they can and may begin bankrupsy proceedings.

I am not sure about this. Certainly all normal occupiers will be jointly and severally liable. But in the back of my mind is the thought that an exempt student is also excluded from Joint and Several liability. The housing board is the place to ask - or even to search ("Student" and "Council Tax") as this question does crop up.

CIS

The housing board is the place to ask - or even to search ("Student" and "Council Tax") as this question does crop up.

Answered in my post above - I think they crossed.

FireWyrm

ValHaller wrote: »

I am not sure about this. Certainly all normal occupiers will be jointly and severally liable. But in the back of my mind is the thought that an exempt student is also excluded from Joint and Several liability. The housing board is the place to ask - or even to search ("Student" and "Council Tax") as this question does crop up.

Worth a try....how much mileage the OP will get it well, questionable.

Is it just me or are councils becomming less merciful since last year? They always were pretty hard hearted, but....