How do i prove single occupancy for council Tax?

Mango0064

I am wondering if anyone could help with a matter regarding council tax please.

I have a back dated council tax bill due to a non-banded annexe that I have been renting for the past 12 years.. the property has just been banded and I have been told I am now liable for the full council tax bill.

However, I have been sorting this out and my question doesn't relate to this.

I was sent an original bill for the full amount at the end of Jan. I was told by the council that a new bill had been sent on the 11th Feb that included the 25% single occupancy for the full period. This bill still has not arrived. I have been in contact with the council over this.
But, the are now saying that as there is no proof of single occupancy before Nov 2013 (when I claimed for housing benefit) they are going to charge back to the full amount.

My question is, how do I prove to them I have been the only person living here during that time (no spouse, no children, no partner etc).
I am able to get a letter from the landlord to state this fact, but is there any other way to prove this to them. It's easy to prove who has lived somewhere, but difficult to prove you've lived on your own.

Any help would be much appreciated, thank you.

Cornucopia

It's not normally necessary to prove this.

I'd be tempted to ask them to say who they think was living there with you, and then prove that that person lived elsewhere.

Mango0064

Thanks. They don't think anyone else was here, just have no evidence that proves I was alone. And i need to make an appeal so need as much evidence as possible.

If they did any checking up they would easily see that there has never been any post or credit checks to any one else here, but apparently it's not up to the council to prove anything, it is up the bill holder to dis-prove it.

bristol_pilot

Electoral register? Children wouldn't be on it, but they don't count for C Tax either.

Mango0064

Electoral register
Yes, I thought that too. however, as I was told by the council (in a nice conversation, not the usual conversation you have with the council) that someone could have been living here but no wanted to vote and so didn't declare themselves to the electoral role.

Same with the tenancy agreement. It only has my name and signature on it, but someone could have moved in for a substantial period and it still could only have my name on.

Same with a gas bill. Or a phone bill. it could just have my name on it as the payee even if someone else lived here.

It's a puzzler!

bristol_pilot

Find out who your local elected councillor is and ask to file a complaint. The council are being idiots, usually a simple declaration suffices for this.

bristol_pilot

Mango0064 wrote: »

Electoral register
Yes, I thought that too. however, as I was told by the council (in a nice conversation, not the usual conversation you have with the council) that someone could have been living here but no wanted to vote and so didn't declare themselves to the electoral role.

They wouldn't have the option not to decalre themselves since the person filling in the form (you) has to put them down, its a crime not to. Contact your local councillor and complain.

Mango0064

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Find out who your local elected councillor is and ask to file a complaint. The council are being idiots, usually a simple declaration suffices for this.

A full complaint is being drafted right now. They are being complete idiots over a lot of things pertaining to this bill.

They wouldn't have the option not to decalre themselves since the person filling in the form (you) has to put them down, its a crime not to
That's interesting. So by law, I have to declare them if they live here, or just when I originally filled out the form?


Actually, thinking about it, i can fill in the councils application for single person occupancy form and sign it, declaring that all the information is correct. i could be prosecuted if it was false, and they would have to prove it was false, which they couldn't

Nick_C

bristol_pilot wrote: »

They wouldn't have the option not to decalre themselves since the person filling in the form (you) has to put them down, its a crime not to. Contact your local councillor and complain.

The electoral roll will indicate that it was likely that no one else was living there, but it doesn't prove anything. You only declare people who are eligible to vote. You don't declare people whose nationality is not from a commonwealth or EU country.

anselld

From what date is the VOA listing effective? Surely they cannot backdate CT beyond that listing date.

Mango0064

anselld wrote: »

From what date is the VOA listing effective? Surely they cannot backdate CT beyond that listing date.

Their listing is back dated from 03/2002. The council have therefore applied CT from that date and required me to pay the amount due.