Overpaid council tax

vanessa_rowena666

My daughter is single with 2 children for the past 20 years she has been paying full council tax, she works 16 hours . She was told by a friend that she should not be paying council tax, she contacted the council 2 years ago, and they said she must have ticked the box on the form, whatever box they are talking about we haven't got a clue. She contacted the ombudsman and the council have admittedl liability, but they have said they have lost all of her paperwork. So she gave them 20 years of bank statements clearly stating the amount of council tax taken out of her account every month. It's been over 2 years it's gone from ombudsman to omdudsman. She,s emailed them so many times she's lost count. Çan anyone help please she really needs to speak to a solicitor but she doesn't have any spare cash to pay for one.  Thank you Vanessa

Barny1979

Why would she be exempt? Maybe escalate to Council's Chief Executive, local Councillor or MP?

vanessa_rowena666

She is a single parent with 2 children working 16 hrs she doesn't earn enough to pay full council tax, she's on working tax credits

p00hsticks

Are you saying that she didn't claim her single person discount ?

Or apply for a council tax reduction ? The benefits board might be a better place to ask, but I have a feeling that she's unlikely to get any reduction backdated for more than a few months unless she can show it's a council error.

vanessa_rowena666

The council have admitted in writing that they  are at fault. The ombudsman have been trying for over 2 years, but the council said they have lost all her account details.... Everyone she emails or rings the council they fob her off with, that they are doing there best to rectify the problem, but nothing gets done they have 20 years of bank statements, it's all there in black and white, but they keep dragging there heals.

CIS

vanessa_rowena666 said:

My daughter is single with 2 children for the past 20 years she has been paying full council tax, she works 16 hours . She was told by a friend that she should not be paying council tax, she contacted the council 2 years ago, and they said she must have ticked the box on the form, whatever box they are talking about we haven't got a clue. She contacted the ombudsman and the council have admittedl liability, but they have said they have lost all of her paperwork. So she gave them 20 years of bank statements clearly stating the amount of council tax taken out of her account every month. It's been over 2 years it's gone from ombudsman to omdudsman. She,s emailed them so many times she's lost count. Çan anyone help please she really needs to speak to a solicitor but she doesn't have any spare cash to pay for one.  Thank you Vanessa

It depends on exactly what the council have admitted. What has not been recorded on the account ? It's not insurmountable to sort the issue,

It's rare these days for any council to pay full council tax reduction, they typically 80-90% at most.

Where council tax reduction cannot be backdated there are other ways around it, if the council will play ball.

lincroft1710

As all CT records have been on computer for many years, it is hard to see how the council have "lost" her account details, unless they have deleted all records over a certain age. I would suggest you contact your MP and give them all relevant details and ask that they try to get some action from the council.

MalMonroe

Barny1979 said:

Why would she be exempt? Maybe escalate to Council's Chief Executive, local Councillor or MP?

She can get a discount of 25% if her children are under the age of 17. But not exemption. It appears that she has been overpaying for a number of years.

t0rt0ise

She should contact her local councillor. They are very good at sorting things out usually.

lincroft1710

MalMonroe said:

Barny1979 said:

Why would she be exempt? Maybe escalate to Council's Chief Executive, local Councillor or MP?

She can get a discount of 25% if her children are under the age of 17. But not exemption. It appears that she has been overpaying for a number of years.

18 not 17, but no upper age limit if they are full time students