Council tax

carrieuk

Hi,

Sorry I wasn't sure where else this should go.

A colleague of mine (I have got her permission to post this) has some issue with council tax.

She originally moved into a property with 2 other people - they split the council tax across everyone. One of the people (lets call her A) she moved in with, then moved her sister and boyfriend in and wouldnt pay any extra towards the house so they asked her to leave.

A left in June 2013 leaving outstanding bills. My colleague has continued to pay the council tax. The bill has just been released for this year and she realised that A's name is still on the council tax. She asked the council to remove the name and they have opened a new account under colleague's name and charged her from June 2013 up to next April 2015. They have also asked for the info so they can release the funds from the closed account (funds from June 2013 up to April 2014) to all three parties.

Colleage has proof she was paying the council tax from her account and all payments from A ceased in May 2013. She has confirmation from the landlord that A moved out in June 2013.

The council has come back and essentially said that they are going to release the money across the three of them - my colleague is angry as this girl hasnt paid the council tax from June and will be getting a third of the money.

Is there anything she can do about this? At the moment she has a outstanding bill of 1.5 years of council tax and a credit of 0.5 years worth of council tax but the council will not assign it to any new accounts and want a signature from the previous girl and her bank account to pay it into.

Thanks for reading!

dippy3103

Why is there a refund on the account?

carrieuk

As they have closed the first account from June 2013 and moved my colleague to a new account. The original account has had payments made to it but as they have closed it from June they now have a outstanding amount on that account to be credited back.

dippy3103

Ah right I'm with you. Have they applied an SPD to the account?

dippy3103

I guess as A was treated as liable for the period (jointly and severally with your colleague) then I guess refunds are joint and several too.

Have you put this in writing to the council?

Housing_Benefit_Officer

You have proof you paid so the refund should go to the person who paid. Get in touch with your local Councillor with this issue - they will respond far quicker when there is a councillor involved.