Bill for Council Tax from shared house

MachoShirts

A couple of years ago, I was living in a shared house with two other people. We had one person who agreed to be in charge of bills and who we paid money to. For Council Tax, all three of us were registered and we'd pay said person money to make payments. We moved from the property a year ago, with said person moving away back home and being pretty much unreachable.

Fast forward a year. I've moved back into the council area where we had the shared house on my own (starting again in private housing is not cheap!), and about three weeks after receiving my new council tax bill, I received an invoice for the previous house for just over £300.

I called them and explained that someone else was responsibile for paying the bills (not their problem), they stated they would try and trace the other two former tenants before taking any further action. However, this morning (and a month after I initially called them), I've received a Notice of Enforcement for the full amount, plus a Compliance Stage Fee of £75.

Is there anything I can do? I feel pretty betrayed that the other person has done this, and I understand the council can't give sympathy. With three of us being registered at the address, can they just immediately pursue the entire amount? Can I appeal this in any way? What about if I was to find any of the individuals?

Thanks for any help in advance!

MachoShirts

I've just noticed a section on the letter which reads "Liability Order Date - 16-May-14", which I assume means this was taken to court during the tenancy itself and the person responsible for the bills has hidden any indication of this. I did find it odd they'd just send an enforcement notice without going through the courts. This seems to have got much worse.

crazy_cat_lady

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will say for definite, but I'm fairly sure if there are 3 people named on the bill then any one can be pursued for the full amount. Sourcrates, Fatbelly or Fermi will be around and about at some point and I'm sure will advise.

CIS

Assuming you all had equal (legal) liability under council tax legislation then you are all 100% responsible for payment (joint and several liability) and you can each be pursued for full payment.

fatbelly

crazy_cat_lady wrote: »

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will say for definite, but I'm fairly sure if there are 3 people named on the bill then any one can be pursued for the full amount. Sourcrates, Fatbelly or Fermi will be around and about at some point and I'm sure will advise.

CIS is right on this. To avoid the next charge of £230 and a bailiff visit you need to either pay this now or set up a payment plan with the bailiff's office - and they may not allow a large number of instalments

If you can find the other two guys, they owe you some money. But it's more of a moral obligation rather than a legal one.

National_Debtline

The other posters are right about the liability I am afraid and fatbelly is right about trying to get in touch with the bailiff office to clear the debt or do instalments before the bailiffs visit you. If an arrangement can't be made then the overall debt will increase through more bailiff fees and you need to know what precautions to take against the bailiffs....

They can only come inside your home if you invite them in or if they find open or unlocked access. So from now on, keep your home locked and secure, do not let them in and if you have anything valuable outside (like a car) then you should hide it to try and keep it safe. We have a factsheet that may help you - https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/02%20EW%20Council%20tax%20recovery/Default.aspx


Laura
@natdebtline

fatbelly

Next fee is £235 - I was £5 out earlier

MachoShirts

That is insane! Especially if someone's in receipt of benefits for the time and someone doesn't pay their part of the Council Tax. I understand the amount is essential for the running of services and, to a greater extent, for councils to mis-budget, but they really should have something in place to help in situations like this.

MachoShirts

Thanks to everyone for the help though. I've just decided to tough it out and come up with a payment plan. It's not with bailiffs as of yet it appears, and the council have been pretty helpful.

National_Debtline

Hi MachoShirts


Good to hear the council are being helpful so far. This scenario just goes to show that it's really important to pay council tax directly to the local authority wherever possible. We deal with quite a few callers where their landlord has supposedly "included" council tax in their rent figure, only for the tenant to later discover that nothing has been paid and they've been left liable. Those living in shared accommodation should always insist on being able to see the council tax bills first-hand.


Dennis
@natdebtline