Single Occupancy Council Tax Advice Needed.

Talen84

Hi All, I hope I'm posting this in the right place.

I moved into my current house nearly five years ago, and have owned it for just over two years; throughout that time I have lived alone and had the single person discount applied to my council tax.

However I have recieved a letter in the post this morning from the council telling me that Miss X Y has given the council my address as hers when she's contacted the council. As a result they are asking me to confirm if I am still entitled to the single person discount or not, and, if I am, I have to supply them with the exact date Miss X Y left and a forwarding address.

The only problem I have is that I've never heard of Miss X Y and have no idea who she is or where she might live.
The previous tennants did a runner (two different ones indiviually) leaving money owed to the landlord and no forwarding address, and for a while I was recieving post for them, however it all went back in the mail box marked "Not known at this address, return to sender" unfortunately that was long enough ago that I don't recall if Miss X Y was one of the names on said letters.

I would ring the council, but being a weekend they, of course, don't work.
So how do I go about proving to my local council that I live alone when I can't supply them with the requested details?

Cheers in advance.

tealady

Just tell them you don't know the answers to their questions.
I would tell them the date you bought the house (and from whom).
Then leave it up to the Council to sort.

cattie

Wait until you can phone on Monday & then tell them you have absolutely no knowledge of a Miss X Y & that you continue to live alone as you have since first buying the property & thus continue to be eligible for the single occupier rate. Perhaps follow this with a letter stating this.

It's possible that somebody in your location has been moving & was asked by the council for their forwarding address(which they do tend to do) & they have just plucked your address out of the air rather than give their proper address.

CIS

It's a surprisingly common problem - it's most likely either a false address given, someone has written the number down wrongly or a person had for some reason given the wrong house number (plenty of new occupiers get the number wrong !).

I wouldn't worry about proving anything at the moment. In the first instance you should just contact the council to discuss and in 99% of cases the situation can be resolved without issue.

Talen84

Cheers all. I shall ring the council on Monday and try to convince them they're wrong.

Given my location I suspect someone has given a false address, it'd be quite hard to mix my address up with anywhere else, as there are only 4 properties with it and no one new has moved in recently, only one has moved out recently, and she wasn't Miss X Y, also her giving the wrong address probably won't go down well with her probabtion officer who took her to her new abode.

The other option next door's landlord suggested when I mentioned it to him was the local CC being on a fishing trip to try and catch people or garner more revenue.

Nick_C

Email the Council. Keep a record of what is said.

But you are entitled to the SP discount, and should have nothing to worry about.

CIS

The other option next door's landlord suggested when I mentioned it to him was the local CC being on a fishing trip to try and catch people or garner more revenue

No council will do that as that for a start it would be outside of their legal powers and they simply wouldn't have the time anyway.

Talen84

CIS wrote: »

No council will do that as that for a start it would be outside of their legal powers and they simply wouldn't have the time anyway.

You have more faith in the council not to overstep it's legal bounds than I do (my local CC is well known for being corrupt and burying investigations into said corruption,) but the lack of time does make sense

Nick_C wrote: »

Email the Council. Keep a record of what is said.

But you are entitled to the SP discount, and should have nothing to worry about.

My only concern with email is the ease with which it can be claimed not to have arrived, even with Read Receipts and Delivery Tracking on, I find it is harder to ignore someone on the end of a phone. I'd record the call if I could, but I'm not allowed any sort of personal electronics at work outside the canteen and the mobile signal is patchy at best in said canteen. I can always follow up the phone call with an email or letter (with proof of postage, maybe.) Yeah I should have nothing to worry about, but I'm always wary with the local CC.

Determined89

I was in a similar situation when I started paying council tax in the property I am in after finishing my university course. I started renting the property as a student (and exempt from council tax) and I called on my last day of uni to notify the local council. I was told that a man lived at the address, I explained that I had never heard of this person and that I lived in the property on my own and the council just asked me to confirm it in an email. They then dealt with it their end, and I received a letter the following week with my council tax fee's and as a single occupant.