6 yrs post BR and creditor chasing me

timpe

Hi there,

This has probably been asked before so apologies in advance! (I had a quick look through and couldn't find the answer btw)

I am now 6 years since BR and I've had a debt collecting agency appear out of nowhere chasing me for council tax that was for a period prior to my bankruptcy.

Apparently as I hadn't listed this debt in my BR I'm still liable for it.

Is that correct? I was under the impression that ANY debts pre going BR were wiped. Did I need to have written this debt on my BR form? I may have forgotten at the time I'm not sure. It's been 6 years now after all!

I've told them I went BR and to leave me alone but they are saying the city council still say I am liable. This is the 2nd time they've called me about it.

What is right?

Thanks

Tim

Potbellypig

Hi Tim - Not 100% on Council Tax but when I went through bankruptcy, I owed tax credits and they didn't take them into the BR. They haven't chased me for it but they said at the time that it was possible they would once I was discharged. I would assume that this is the same for Council Tax. Don't take that as gospel though.

timpe

Hiya. I know somethings can't be included such as student loans so that may be similar.

To clarify the council tax owed relates to a pub limited business that was liquidated (again after the council tax period concerned).

However thinking back now. There were business rates paid by the pub by the limited company that ran it. There was also council tax paid by myself and my business partner for the flat upstairs. I may well have forgotten/or not realised that that council tax was still owed . . . . and maybe not put it on my BR form.

Does anyone know if that council tax (separate from my home council tax) will have been included in my BR if I forgot to list it on the BR form?

silvercar

AIUI it isn't whether you listed it or not that is the issue, it is whether the council tax can be included in the bankruptcy.

timpe

silvercar wrote: »

AIUI it isn't whether you listed it or not that is the issue, it is whether the council tax can be included in the bankruptcy.

Aha ok. Interesting. As far as I know Council Tax can be.


can anyone confirm please?

Mouse007

timpe wrote: »

Apparently as I hadn't listed this debt in my BR I'm still liable for it.

Is that correct?

No, It's b0110cks

It IS included in bankruptcy (unless they had a liability order dated before your bankruptcy) and even if it were not it would now be statute barred, that means they can do nothing to recover it through the courts.

tell them to get lost.

timpe

Mouse007 wrote: »

No, It's b0110cks

It IS included in bankruptcy (unless they had a liability order dated before your bankruptcy) and even if it were not it would now be statute barred, that means they can do nothing to recover it through the courts.

tell them to get lost.

Ah as I suspected. It's probably debt collectors trying to sh*t me up so I pay right?

Might call the City Council though to put a stop on it

ToxtethO'Grady

You definitely went BR not a DRO?

If a debt is left out of a DRO it isn't included but as others have said it doesn't matter with BR it's included even if you didn't put it down.

Council tax is a weird one as they can recover it during the year of the BR IF it is with bailiffs and the council decide to continue collection until your discharge.

With statute barred it only becomes statute barred if the council did not get a liability order for the debt. That's very rare to hear.

To the OP -
contact the council make them aware of your date of discharge
you can get a certificate of discharge from the OR to confirm this, there is a charge but I'm not sure how much it is but its about £15 I think
tell the DCA your date of discharge and raise a complaint, they'll ask for proof and you're getting it so ask them to put your account on hold

And last but not least, don't worry about it as it was definitely included in your BR

CIS

In respect of Council Tax arrears the council have 6 years from date the amount becomes (the date the demand notice is issued)

And last but not least, don't worry about it as it was definitely included in your BR

Most likely, but not guaranteed to be the case.

You need to check when the demand notice was issued for the amount that is being chased - council tax demand notices can and do get issued retrospectively. This would be valid even if issued after the bankruptcy for a period before the bankruptcy.

There's also the question of when the debt is from, compared to the date of bankruptcy. The changes to allow the whole years balance only came in to place in 2014, prior to that the situation was different and council tax charges were apportioned.

It's unusual for council's to use debt collectors as vert few cases get timed out by not having a liability order issued within 6 years - I've only ever come across a handful where this has happened (the council tax software council's use is specifically written to stop things like that happening).


Craig

ToxtethO'Grady

I stand corrected CIS thanks for the information