Council Tax

elliejake

Has anyone had dealings with a Co called Rossendales and can offer any advice.
I have just received a letter from them saying my account has been passed to them by the Borough Council for an over due balance £700 for council tax and they are threatening me with the Enforcement Officers.

This is for a property I lived in for 7 months 11 years ago. I don't no anything about this debt and its the first letter I have ever received about it. Im sure the whole street has been demolished.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

System

Hello,

I'm not an expert, but according to this the debt is statute barred because of the length of time that has passed:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/IHTmanual/IHTM28384.htm

I am unsure if this applies to Council Tax.

Do you think the debt is correct or have they made a mistake?

elliejake

Thanks for your quick reply.
Im not sure about the debt, around that time I was going through a hard time and may owe money, but its the first I've herd of the debt and the amount owed £700..

Its closer to 12 years ago I was in this house, I was renting for about 7 months.

Ive never had a court letter or anything. Surely it would of had to have been to court before they could send enforcement officers..

System

Hmm....I'm not too sure. Have a read of this, which may help:

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/25%20EW%20Time%20limits%20for%20recovering%20debts/Page-04.aspx

You could also contact National Debtline directly tomorrow to see if they can help.

National_Debtline

Hello there,

If the council obtained a liability order within six years of issuing the bill it may not be possible to argue that they are out of time. Given the time delay you may wish to try and lodge a maladministration complaint although if you have moved around the local authority may have fair reason to justify the delay.

You can learn more about council tax recovery - and how to deal with the bailiffs via this fact sheet.

Best wishes,

David @ National Debtline

elliejake

Hi. I rang the council today and they said I had to deal only with Rossendales.
The debt is for between 24/6/2003 and 29/2/04.
They obtained a liability order in 2004 and original amount £440 and now its £705.
I have moved around 2/3 times but this is the only letter Ive received..

fatbelly

elliejake wrote: »

Hi. I rang the council today and they said I had to deal only with Rossendales.
The debt is for between 24/6/2003 and 29/2/04.
They obtained a liability order in 2004 and original amount £440 and now its £705.
I have moved around 2/3 times but this is the only letter Ive received..

Ask the bailiffs how the £705 is arrived at. The debt is at stage 1 and the bailiff fee for that is £75. If it moves to enforcement it's a further £235. Can you clear this in one hit or afford to make a sensible instalment offer?

elliejake

I spoke to Rossendales to find out exactly what they need from me for proof of earnings, in the conversation he told me the debt was passed to them 9 months ago.

This debt is 10 years old and this is the first letter I have ever received. Its an enforcement letter.

I have been at the same address for the last 6 years and 3 at the address before this.

Rosenedales charges for sending 1 letter £264.73...

fatbelly

elliejake wrote: »

Rosenedales charges for sending 1 letter £264.73...

er...no.

If they did not commence an action prior to that letter (which was after 6 April) then as I understand it the new fee structure applies - this allows them to charge £75 for this stage (the compliance stage) regardless of how many letters they send.

If you do not comply and make an arrangement to pay then they can give a minimum of 7 days notice and move it to the enforcement stage where an additional£235 can be charged.

I'd suggest setting up some sort of arrangement but complain about the excess fees to the council. That's an odd figure - are they applying VAT? I think that's also wrong if so.

elliejake

Now I feel as tho im being ripped off and theres nothing I can do about it...

I rang the council to complain about Rossendales charges £264.73 for 1 enforcement letter.
Rossendales were passed my case 11/10/13 and they hand delivered 2 letters to my last known address (I've been here 6 years) so must have been the one before this. If they were delivered at all..

He says what Rossendales charge is out of his hands, even tho I can prove I was not living at the address when these letters were suppose to have been hand delivered...

hallowitch

you really need to send an e-mail to the council and Rossendale's asking for a full breakdown of fee charged (there is a template for this in many of my previous posts)


don't let the council fob you off with what Rossendales charge is out of there hands this is simply not true
legislation sets the fees charged and the local authority are fully responsible for agents including fees charged


Im not up to speed yet on the new legislation but I believe there is legislation to cover the transition between the old and the new legislation


http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?421864-Guidance-The-Taking-Control-of-Goods-Regulations-2013-Transitional-Stage