Council tax debt for old flatmates

The_Woolley

I had enforcement officers come to my flat (shared, 2 others) last night about an outstanding debt from 3 years ago that has the names of my then flatmates names plus my own name to it. The problem being that they no longer live her and havent for some time, and i`m being told that its my responsibility to chase them up and get them to either pay their share to the debt company, or i pay it and get it back of me ex flatmates or seeing as i am the only one of us 3 that still lives at this address, I am liable to pay the whole debt myself, the debt being £899.90!!!! Surely this cant be right? I just simply cannot afford to pay this!!!! I do not work and as such my only income is JSA

HappyMJ

The_Woolley wrote: »

I had enforcement officers come to my flat (shared, 2 others) last night about an outstanding debt from 3 years ago that has the names of my then flatmates names plus my own name to it. The problem being that they no longer live her and havent for some time, and i`m being told that its my responsibility to chase them up and get them to either pay their share to the debt company, or i pay it and get it back of me ex flatmates or seeing as i am the only one of us 3 that still lives at this address, I am liable to pay the whole debt myself, the debt being £899.90!!!! Surely this cant be right? I just simply cannot afford to pay this!!!! I do not work and as such my only income is JSA

Then tell them you can't afford it and your only income is JSA.

The bailiff will return the debt back to the council.

You'll then need to consider other options. Firstly don't ignore it. If you have nothing and cannot get any money whatsoever you have a few options. You can ask the council to take small payments directly from your benefits which won't affect your credit rating but you'll have less money each week. You could also ask the council to make you bankrupt which will write the debt off. If you wanted to hurry it along you could apply for a debt relief order yourself which will also write the debt off.

National_Debtline

Unfortunately, the bailiffs don't have to return the debt to the council straight away just because you are on JSA, they can keep chasing you for the money (especially if you are the only one you can find). This debt will have Joint and Several liability between you and your old flatmates...so each of you is responsible for 100% of the money owing separately and together - so the bailiffs are right in what they are saying - if your old flatmates don't help, they can choose to just chase you for the full amount.


Make sure you keep your home safe from the bailiffs - this type of bailiff can only come inside your home through open or unlocked access or if you invite them. Make sure they don't get in (and if they have already been inside make sure you get full advice ASAP). And if you have anything of value outside of your home, such as a car, you will also need to hide that from now on to keep it safe from the bailiffs.


Only offer what you can afford - do a SOA to help negotiate in writing and save whatever money you can to one side at home if the bailiffs reject your offer.


Laura
@natdebtline

dancingfairy

What type of tenancy agreement did you have then? Did you all rent a room seperately and have individual tenancies or was it one joint tenancy? If you each have seperate tenancies then the landlord is repsonsible for council tax, if it's a joint tenancy then you are all (the tenants) responsible.
Do you have any contact with your ex housemates at all?
df