Council Tax Fraud

expensive_london

I just got home to find a letter addressed in handwriting to my new address. The letter is a demand from the council for unpaid council tax for a property I was room sharing a year ago. Here are the facts

1. This was a house share where I rented one room and I left about a year ago
2. The rent was £300 every two weeks and the agreement was that this covered all utilities plus the council tax
3. I never gave permission or registered with the council to pay council tax as the understanding was that this is covered in my rent payments
4. I only registered on the electoral vote website
5. When the census happened couple of years back I filled it myself for myself

The letter from the council says that the non-payment was taken to the magistrate court, it looks like some amount was paid but there is still outstanding balance of £1,000. The letter is addressed to me , the person I rented the room from and some other guy I do not know (it might be the owner of the house as the guy I rented the room from was renting the house himself). The letter says that they can garnish my wages but I do not think I should pay for a house I have not lived in for a long time plus we had an understanding that the rent I paid covers the council tax.

Can you help me with what would be the best way to handle the matter? It looks like the guy I rented the room from has been perpetuating a fraud.

Please help with some advice.

I did not know this was happening....the letter just arrived today and I never realised something like this was going on....

Is there anything I need to check to make sure my name is not used further in any activities I do not know about?

CIS

I just got home to find a letter addressed in handwriting to my new address

I would be very suspect of any handwritten letter which is supposed to be from the council. At the very least the letter would usually be typed on headed paper.

2. The rent was £300 every two weeks and the agreement was that this covered all utilities plus the council tax

If you only rented a room then it was a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) for council tax purposes and the landlord is liable for the council tax payments (council tax(liability for owners) regs 1992 - as amended). You need to contact the council regarding this.

3. I never gave permission or registered with the council to pay council tax as the understanding was that this is covered in my rent payments

You don't have to give permission for your detail to be used for council tax purposes - any agreement in the tenancy agreement cannot override legislation in any case.