Court summons for council tax I'm not liable for!

billywoods

Hi all,

(This is my first post ever - please be nice to me! I tried searching similar threads in the past, but didn't quite find the answer I was looking for...)

I'm a full-time student (living in an HMO consisting entirely of full-time students) - so not liable for council tax.

I got a rather threatening-sounding letter in December saying that this was my second reminder that I owed £700+ in council tax or something (I do not recall getting a first reminder??), and that I had to pay or send proof that I was exempt immediately. I phoned them up on the 23rd saying "I am exempt, but I won't be able to send you proof until after the new year because everything's closed", and they said "okay, we'll note that down on your file".

When everything opened again, I went into the relevant offices, got all the paperwork stamped and signed, and sent it off. It's now a few days later, and I have a court summons - I suppose the paperwork didn't reach them in time. So my questions are:

(a) What does this even mean? The letter says, in big shouty bolded capitals,
"YOU ARE THEREFORE SUMMONED TO APPEAR BEFORE THE MAGISTRATES COURT ... TO SHOW CAUSE WHY YOU HAVE NOT PAID THE SAID SUM."
Well, I haven't paid the sum because I'm not liable to. But of course the back of the letter says that the court won't consider that fact. So what exactly is the use of me turning up?

(b) I'm going to phone them on Monday as soon as they're open again. Is it likely that they will cancel the summons if I ask them to (provided they've received my paperwork)? Or, the next best option: if I just quietly pay this off, will I get it refunded as soon as they sort themselves out? (And what about the court costs? I resent paying £65 just because the council have an itchy trigger finger...)

(c) Is this going to go on some kind of permanent record of mine and make me look bad? (Sigh.)

Thank you all in advance!

lincroft1710

If the council have received the paperwork and it is in order then it is likely they will cancel the hearing. If not go to the hearing with the relevant paperwork.

It does seem that the council were not informed of your student status, but if the house is a genuine HMO then your landlord would be liable for the CT and not the occupiers. You should mention the HMO status to the council.

del86

Billy, I'm also new but I'm sure you've posted this in the wrong section. You'll get more help elsewhere I imagine, probably section to do with benefits etc.

I guess you're in England as you mention magistrates (I'm in Scotland where the Sheriff deals with it and Ctax is a bit different as it's Scottish government).

In the first instance I'd contact your local authority, they would have court expenses which if they took you to court despite having information I imagine they would not be able to claim back from you.

I'd contact Shelter as they are best placed to advise you on what to do, they are pretty much the experts.

You're right though you are exempt as long as you are a full time student doing advanced education.

Good luck

tomtontom

Don't ring them on Monday, go to the council office. Take with you your evidence that you are a student and also a copy of your tenancy. It sounds like the landlord has given your name and he should not have done this. As above, you need to be clear that it is a HMO, your landlord is responsible for sorting out any council tax liability.

agrinnall

OP, this section is fine for CT questions. Please do what Lincroft and tomtontom have said.

del86, the Benefits board would be entirely the wrong place for this thread (there is no element of benefits at all in the OP), I suggest that you spend a bit more time on the forum learning what happens on which board before leaping in with well-meaning but misplaced advice.

Savvy_Sue

del86 wrote: »

Billy, I'm also new but I'm sure you've posted this in the wrong section. You'll get more help elsewhere I imagine, probably section to do with benefits etc.

Actually this is a pretty good place for such queries, we have some expert experts around. And the advice to go to the council with your paperwork is correct.

anselld

lincroft1710 wrote: »

if the house is a genuine HMO then your landlord would be liable for the CT and not the occupiers. You should mention the HMO status to the council.

That is not necessarily the case. There are two definitions for HMO. It can be a HMO for management/licensing purposes, but if the tenants share a "Joint and Several" tenancy agreement then it may not be HMO for Council Tax purposes.

lincroft1710

anselld wrote: »

That is not necessarily the case. There are two definitions for HMO. It can be a HMO for management/licensing purposes, but if the tenants share a "Joint and Several" tenancy agreement then it may not be HMO for Council Tax purposes.

For some reason I got the impression (probably erroneously) that these were individual tenancies.

billywoods

Thanks for your advice, everyone! I went to the council (with more stamped and signed documents): they agreed that I wasn't liable to pay anything after all, and my account would be updated (and I'll get written proof of this through the post apparently).