Council tax bailiff - notice of attendance

Lachkterin

Hi all, a bit of a tricky one I think.

My new partner has had a notice of attendance from bailiffs regarding council tax non payment. I should point out that she is classed as a vulnerable individual for the purposes of dealing with bailiffs.

She split with her husband 2 years ago and continued to live in her property with her son, who is in full time education and under 18. She is a full time student so had no liability for council tax. She believes she notified the council with regard to this but cannot prove she did. She has had contact from the bailiff and explained she was a student and had no liability for council tax and they state that's none of their business, they're coming to take items to cover the debt.

The college/university have provided a letter stating that she has been a full time student for the time she is being charged council tax for, which I will be forwarding to the council. I have now moved in with her, but as I am also a full time student there will still be no liability. I will be claiming the exemption and recording proof of this.

My question basically is, is it likely the council will accept she had no liability retrospectively and remove the account from the bailiffs or is a further enforcement likely? As stated, she is classed as vulnerable for dealing with this and the stress is causing real upset.

Also does anybody have any advice or letter templates for contacting the council to deal with this quickly?

Thanks in advance for any answers, if I haven't provided enough information please let me know what else I should add.

sourcrates

You are asking us to speculate on what the council may or may not do, which is only ever going to be a best guess.

Your best bet is to get the council on the phone, and quickly, and try to sort this out, as they are the decision makers here, the bailiffs take the lead from them.

And, more importantly, when/if the Baillifs turn up, keep the doors locked, they cannot force entry to private property for CT arrears, keeping doors locked, keeps them out, it`s that simple.

fatbelly

As above but I would add that if the person you speak to at the council is unhelpful then you may need to enlist the help of your local councillor.

You can find out who that is and email them on 

https://www.writetothem.com/

CIS

Lachkterin said:

Hi all, a bit of a tricky one I think.

My new partner has had a notice of attendance from bailiffs regarding council tax non payment. I should point out that she is classed as a vulnerable individual for the purposes of dealing with bailiffs.

She split with her husband 2 years ago and continued to live in her property with her son, who is in full time education and under 18. She is a full time student so had no liability for council tax. She believes she notified the council with regard to this but cannot prove she did. She has had contact from the bailiff and explained she was a student and had no liability for council tax and they state that's none of their business, they're coming to take items to cover the debt.

The college/university have provided a letter stating that she has been a full time student for the time she is being charged council tax for, which I will be forwarding to the council. I have now moved in with her, but as I am also a full time student there will still be no liability. I will be claiming the exemption and recording proof of this.

My question basically is, is it likely the council will accept she had no liability retrospectively and remove the account from the bailiffs or is a further enforcement likely? As stated, she is classed as vulnerable for dealing with this and the stress is causing real upset.

Also does anybody have any advice or letter templates for contacting the council to deal with this quickly?

Thanks in advance for any answers, if I haven't provided enough information please let me know what else I should add.

You believe she is vulnerable, there is no statutory definition of vulnerable, but if being a student & sole parent is what you're regarding as vulnerable then that'll not get far as an argument in this situation.

That being said, she needs to speak to the council regarding the current action and see what's happening - to get this far, there was at least one reminder and a court summons that was not dealt with.

The council can, even if a Class N exemption is retrospectively awarded, continue action in respect of the court costs which have been incurred so far.

I have now moved in with her, but as I am also a full time student there will still be no liability.

Don't get liability and having a charge to pay confused - she will be the liable party (and you jointly from when you move in) but, based on what you have said, with a zero charge to pay.