Council asking for unpaid council tax from 2010

Angela1413

I have been living at my address since April 2010 and since 2013 have been receiving help with our council tax as our money has unfortunately reduced.

I have now received an invoice for £537 saying we did not pay the full amount in 2010. After checking our statements etc I think this may actually be right. But can they after this long ask us to pay the money, and why did they not say so when we asked for help (reduction) in 2013. They know we are unable to pay it but say it has to be paid.

Does anyone know if there is anything I can do?
Angela

rogerblack

In short - yes.
There is absolutely no requirement for anyone in law to require payment immediately.

April 2010 is under 6 years ago - so if you're in England, any debtor could present a debt this old to the courts, and require repayment.

You may in principle ask for compensation for them not telling you in 2013 - but this seems unlikely.

CIS

Angela1413 wrote: »

I have been living at my address since April 2010 and since 2013 have been receiving help with our council tax as our money has unfortunately reduced.

I have now received an invoice for £537 saying we did not pay the full amount in 2010. After checking our statements etc I think this may actually be right. But can they after this long ask us to pay the money, and why did they not say so when we asked for help (reduction) in 2013. They know we are unable to pay it but say it has to be paid.

Does anyone know if there is anything I can do?
Angela

As posted above they have 6 years from when the amount became due to obtain a liability order from the magistrates court - once they have the order then it remains in force for as long as the monies remain outstanding.

allen35

You would of received a letter stating you are in arrears and the total amount needs to be paid within a certain time.

As you didn't address this, you would then of received a court date and been told you don't need to attend if you agree.

You would then of received a liability order for Council Tax owed for that year with charges for the court process.

Once this happens your Council has options to use bailiffs to recover the amount.

As you still didn't address the debt it has now come back on you and if you can't afford it submit an income/expenditure form to request instalments.

If you don't and leave it unpaid i would expect bailiffs to become involved.

nad1611

allen35 wrote: »

You would of received a letter stating you are in arrears and the total amount needs to be paid within a certain time.

As you didn't address this, you would then of received a court date and been told you don't need to attend if you agree.

You would then of received a liability order for Council Tax owed for that year with charges for the court process.

Once this happens your Council has options to use bailiffs to recover the amount.

As you still didn't address the debt it has now come back on you and if you can't afford it submit an income/expenditure form to request instalments.

If you don't and leave it unpaid i would expect bailiffs to become involved.

Obviously you know something we don't. The OP has stated that she/he have just received an invoice, where does it mention all the other letters/liability orders etc that you mention? This isn't helpful, seems to me that you are attempting to scare the person about a situation they aren't even in yet!! It would appear they weren't aware of the mistake, so it's a hardly a case of " has now come back on you".
I'm sorry to be picky but it's "would then have" not "would then of received"!

If you accept that an error was made Angela 1413, ring the Council and ask to make arrangements to pay off the debt. Yes the debt has to be paid but it doesn't mean you have to do it in one go.They can send you a form to fill in, with questions about your financial status and info where you can suggest an amount you can afford every month. They don't have to accept your offer, but most Councils are happy to come to some arrangement. You're a long way off from the bailiffs, but do get it sorted now.

CIS

You're a long way off from the bailiffs, but do get it sorted now.

Not if a liability order has been granted - which is a very strong possibility after this length of time. If so the enforcement agent can be instructed at any point after the order has been granted.

The OP needs to clarify exactly what action has already been taken and what the notice she has just received is - a demand notice (not an invoice), reminder, summons etc. A copy of a demand notice can be sent to a person even if action has already progressed to further action.

dibdabable

Well given that they have been living at the same property where they would presumably have received any prior letters/notices and it's presumed from the post that this is the first they have heard about it, there are procedures that the Council need to got through before a Bailiff comes knocking on their door.

I agree they definitely need to sort this out, but all I said was, that if this is the first they have heard of it and we've no reason to believe otherwise, there's time to get this sorted before it gets to that stage.

Angela1413

I didn't actually receive any reminder letters. That's why I thought I wouldn't have to pay it. But I'm realising that was just wishful
Thinking. I have gone through all my statements and it looks like they are right. It's actually £513 that was unpaid. I have phoned them today to sort out payments etc.

I received a liability order about 2/3 weeks after receiving a letter saying I owed the amount which is strange. But not a lot I can do about that. Thank you so much for everyone's reply. I really appreciate it.