Council tax outstanding

motionx

Hi,

In the middle of last year I moved out of a flat with my previous housemate assuming all bills were up to date, however about 1 month ago I received an email from the council saying that there was still around £1,000 outstanding.

My ex housemate and I are both account holders so everything being equal we both owe around £500 each however he now appears to be ignoring all my messages and emails on this.

I've since been in touch with the council to arrange the payment of this and they've been sending me threatening responses to pay this immediately to avoid debt collectors coming around to my property (although I'm currently abroad travelling). I've since questioned why there has been a limited attempt to contact the other account holder and that I'm seemingly being punished for trying to resolve this with them rather than ignoring it like him. I'm happy to pay half of the total amount but feel that equal pressure should be applied to the other account holder to reclaim the remainder. Before I went back to their latest message I wanted to get some advice from the experts on here around what the best approach would be to resolve this without having to pay for the other account holders share? If this isn't going to be possible, what measures/evidence will I need to collect to ensure I can reclaim the other half through small claims?

Valli

Council tax is owed 'jointly and severally' they can/should chase both but may have failed with flat share so now they're after you and they can claim the whole amount.

However
Is your former flatm ate still in the flat?
Did you inform them you had left?
What exactly is the amount they are chasing for? Dates?
If the house/flat was under occupied ie one adult liable to pay then the tax should have been reduced, usually by 25%
When did you leave? Council tax is calculated on a financial year basis not a calendar year.

agrinnall

If (and it could be a big if) the money is owed then it will be in your interests to pay it before any more gets added to the amount. That will get the council off your back, and you can then concentrate your efforts on recovering as much as you can from your ex-housemate, including taking him to court once you return to the UK if necessary.

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

motionx

Thanks for the responses. In answer to your questions Valli:

- No he's left the flat and I believe moved back to his original home. Through google i've narrowed it down to one of two addresses to supply to the council if needs be.
- We never informed them we left but everything was set up originally by the managing agent. I believe they must have provided our email addresses to be chased up on this.
- They are chasing for £1,087.54. From checking my records it appears to be accurate. The dates cover 08/08/14 - 07/08/15. We have paid £467 into it so far so that partly covered the bill.
- We were both occupying the flat at the time
- We both left around 07/08/15

I've spoken to a couple of people I know who are lawyers (not in that particular field) who have initially advised I should pay my half in now and provide all his contact details to them to chase up the remainder. Is this something that could work? Or would you still advise paying the full amount and then having to chase him down for the remainder once I get back? Is there any specific evidence I will need in order to do this?

JJ_Egan

You should go to your local council office and explain the situation .They will either agree to your half or want you to pay the full amount .

HappyMJ

You will still be liable for the other half so if your ex housemate refuses to pay they'll just come after you for it.

bris

Have you been paying council tax elsewhere? You should have informed them when you left and you would have been removed from the council tax liability for that property.


It may not be to late, write to them informing them there has been a mistake and you are not liable from the time you moved out. Send them a copy of your new lease, rent record or what ever you have as proof. Proof of paying council tax on another property would help the most.

motionx

Unfortunately, I'm abroad at the moment so can't go into the council until May.

I've tried contacting my previous housemate again in the hope he will reply before I go back to the council. If I needed to take it to small claims court, what evidence would I need to gather to prove that I was owed the outstanding amount?

naedanger

motionx wrote: »

Unfortunately, I'm abroad at the moment so can't go into the council until May.

I've tried contacting my previous housemate again in the hope he will reply before I go back to the council. If I needed to take it to small claims court, what evidence would I need to gather to prove that I was owed the outstanding amount?

As others have said if you are jointly and severally liable for the council tax debt they are entitled to pursue you for the full amount. Indeed they are likely to pursue the person they think they will find it easiest to get the money from.

If you take your ex-housemate to court you only need to convince the court on the balance of probability that you ex-housemate owes you money. Therefore I would suggest you obtain evidence both of you were renting the house (e.g. a copy of the tenancy agreement) and evidence both of you were to pay your share of the council tax (e.g. council bills showing both your names plus possibly wording in the tenancy agreement) and then evidence you paid the full amount (e.g. copies of bank statements). Even if you cannot find evidence you agreed to share the bills equally I think a court is likely to conclude this was the most probable arrangement in the absence of any evidence to the contrary.

Remember if you win you may need to enforce payment, and it is not always possible to recover what you are owed e.g. if you cannot locate your previous housemate or they have no assets etc. In other words you could win in court but still not be paid.

CIS

motionx wrote: »

Thanks for the responses. In answer to your questions Valli:

- No he's left the flat and I believe moved back to his original home. Through google i've narrowed it down to one of two addresses to supply to the council if needs be.
- We never informed them we left but everything was set up originally by the managing agent. I believe they must have provided our email addresses to be chased up on this.
- They are chasing for £1,087.54. From checking my records it appears to be accurate. The dates cover 08/08/14 - 07/08/15. We have paid £467 into it so far so that partly covered the bill.
- We were both occupying the flat at the time
- We both left around 07/08/15

I've spoken to a couple of people I know who are lawyers (not in that particular field) who have initially advised I should pay my half in now and provide all his contact details to them to chase up the remainder. Is this something that could work? Or would you still advise paying the full amount and then having to chase him down for the remainder once I get back? Is there any specific evidence I will need in order to do this?

Trying to pay only half is a potentially expensive gamble - you are both responsible for ensuring full payment and, as such, you can be pursued for 100%. If you pay half and give the council the alternative addresses they may try the other person for the remaining balance (it's certainly a tactic I have used in the past for recovery - although less effective since the legislation changed) but they are still within their rights to pursue you in full.

With a small claims court the fact you are personally responsible for the full charge may work against you - did you have any agreement to split payments ?.

unholyangel

CIS wrote: »

Trying to pay only half is a potentially expensive gamble - you are both responsible for ensuring full payment and, as such, you can be pursued for 100%. If you pay half and give the council the alternative addresses they may try the other person for the remaining balance (it's certainly a tactic I have used in the past for recovery - although less effective since the legislation changed) but they are still within their rights to pursue you in full.

With a small claims court the fact you are personally responsible for the full charge may work against you - did you have any agreement to split payments ?.

The joint and severally liability bit only relates to who is liable to the council for it. It doesn't have any bearing on liability between the two tenants.

For example I could have an agreement with you to take a loan out for you. I'd be liable to the loan company and could not ask them to chase you instead, but you'd still be liable to me for the whole amount iyswim.