Bought a house but no council tax bill

Burokas

Hello, this is my first thread, and I could not find the answers anywhere on the net.

Bought a house (period property) in April 2017. Tried registering for council tax, with no success. Emailed, called, still nothing. While on the phone with a council, the lady said that according to their records the owner of the house deceased. Council requested me sending a proof of purchase so I can prove that I now owe the house. I did send all the required info, and a month on, still did not hear nothing back.

My question here would be, in general terms, what could be the consequences of leaving council records as it is now (that the owner deceased and I am not paying anything). I know by law I have to do it, and I will make a personal visit to the council to make sure I am registered, but this is question out of curiosity, to know what would happen and what I would be loosing, or how would I eventually get into a situation where it would come out that I am the real new owner but never registered....:cool: Any experience, similar situations?

Rambosmum

Happened in our house with the gas meter. Was unregistered due to previous death of tenant. We just didn't pay gas (saved the money) eventually someone registered the meter, but they didn't ask us to back pay. I suspect council tax will be different though!

ReadingTim

Well, you couldn't vote until you register. Applying for things which need proof of ID and proof of address would be slightly trickier, as you couldn't provide a council tax bill, which counts as one proof. Obviously, you'd face a pretty large bill when they do catch up with you.

One assumes however, that in the absence of either a new owner/tenant registering for CT, or an application for exemption, they'd send someone round after a set period of time, and get you that way. Assuming you managed to evade them, and gave the impression that the property was empty/unoccupied for a number of years, the council could theoretically seize the property under an Empty Dwelling Management Order. However, it seems occurrences of this are rare.

00ec25

so the council already know you exist from your earlier contact with them

the council gives an exemption from CT to the estate of the deceased for up to 6 months. After that date CT liability will resume. The council will presumably try to contact the executor of the estate to restart payments at which point they will prove they are no longer liable and you will receive a back dated bill.

one of the "advantages" of levying tax against property is it is harder to hide a property and who was liable for it when

bertiewhite

Can you go to the council offices in person?

CIS

My question here would be, in general terms, what could be the consequences of leaving council records as it is now (that the owner deceased and I am not paying anything). I know by law I have to do it, and I will make a personal visit to the council to make sure I am registered, but this is question out of curiosity, to know what would happen and what I would be loosing, or how would I eventually get into a situation where it would come out that I am the real new owner but never registered....:cool: Any experience, similar situations?

Simple answer is that at probably a lot of messing around with the estate they would work their way back to you and you'd get a backdated bill - the backdated part may be requested in full, within 14 days, depending on the circumstances.

saajan_12

While you should be liable for the council tax, I think it's unreasonable to expect you to keep chasing them or visit in person taking time off work if you have indeed tried registering as you're supposed to via multiple of their suggested methods of contact. I would

a. Keep proof of trying to register / contact e.g. printout of sent email, time & date of a call.. (in case they come back to claim late fees)
b. Check your council tax banding and keep the expected council tax payments aside each month (in another account if you have to) so if / when you get a back dated bill, you have the money ready to pay.
c. Wait

Burokas

bertiewhite wrote: »

Can you go to the council offices in person?

Yes, and I have done that before, not with regards to council tax thou, so I am hoping this is no different.

Burokas

To the best of my knowledge the person passed away 2 years ago and the estate was shared between 2 brothers, but I might be wrong about the time frame. In any case your answer would make sense, and I better get this sorted asap.

Oh, and I am also registered at a property that I am renting within the same borough, and I would like to be liable for both of the properties. So still really strange that they never got back to me even thou I have them all the addresses and details etc....

CIS

Burokas wrote: »

To the best of my knowledge the person passed away 2 years ago and the estate was shared between 2 brothers, but I might be wrong about the time frame. In any case your answer would make sense, and I better get this sorted asap.

Oh, and I am also registered at a property that I am renting within the same borough, and I would like to be liable for both of the properties. So still really strange that they never got back to me even thou I have them all the addresses and details etc....

Some councils are completely useless - even trying to deal with some between councils can be a horrendously trying time.

Craig

trailingspouse

In the meantime, stick the expected council tax amounts into an interest-bearing savings account. When they come to you for the money, at least you'll get to keep the interest.