Challenging un-notified court judgement on council tax?

flufffy

Hello everyone,

I live in Germany (but am British) and recently found out that I have been taken to court in the UK for unpaid council tax for a flat I inherited from my mum in 2019 but sold in January 2022.

The reason it took so long to sell was because for the first eight months the flat was inhabited by a violent squatter (with previous convictions and arrests for violence and sexual violence against me and my mum, including one arrest when I was a minor), and then Covid hit not long after he moved out which put everything on hold. I also had a  minor stroke in May 2020 so everything got very chaotic.

I thought the council tax was paid for the whole period I was the legal owner - the solicitor in London who handed my mum's estate was supposed to be dealing with all the bills  - but I guess something must have gone astray as I've just received an email from a debt collection agency telling me Hillingdon council won a court judgement against me for unpaid council tax.

Do I have any grounds to challenge this, as I was not informed at any point that I was being taken to court and had no idea there were any outstanding bills till this week? I'm happy to pay the council tax, but I don't think I should have to pay the court costs as I wasn't told I was being taken to court, and wasn't told I even had an unpaid bill as all the bills were sent to the flat, and the current owner did not pass them on to me. Is it even possible to challenge a council tax bill after it's been to court?

Also, my understanding is that when someone dies, there's an automatic period of council tax exemption which was applied to the property. In my case that exemption was applied to the period the squatter was in the flat. So I didn't benefit from it, the squatter basically stole my exemption. I believe the squatter should have to pay council tax for the period of time he was squatting.

I'm happy to pay anything I owe, but with the court costs it's a lot (I'm disabled and live on a fixed income). Do you think there's any room to write and make clear that I'm happy to pay the actual bill, but pointing out that I wasn't sent any bills or court summons, and that the property was inhabited by a squatter?

macman

Why did you not receive the court summons? Did the council have a forwarding address, for you? if not, what address did they use to serve?
If you didn't update them, then the papers were served correctly and you have no grounds for a set-aside.
Paying the overdue CT now will not remove the CCJ, if it was issued more than a month ago.

flufffy

I would assume they either sent all the bills to the flat and the new owner threw them away without notifying me, or they sent them to my solicitor's office address. I have absolutely no idea what address they used to serve. The English solicitor was supposed to be handling everything to do with the estate and all the bills. I've never come across "council tax" before until this week since I've lived in Germany since I was a 14 and only property owners pay council tax here.


So I have to pay the squatter's council tax for him? He gets away with not paying council tax?

HampshireH

Squatters can be held liable for council tax on the days there are there.

However, this would revert back to non resident owner when they aren't.

Assuming this violent squatter was not previously your tenant and was in fact squatting in the legal defition, then you would need to be clear on what dates they were there for. Presumably you notified the Council about it as soon as you found out and then updated them upon getting the property back in your possession?

I can see why you wouldn't have given the Council a forwarding address believing the solicitor was dealing with all bills but it also seems odd a. Solicitor for someone's estate would then continue to manage your UK finances for 2 years after.

Some councils do not offer exemption. Does yours? I can't imagine it would be deferred and you would be liable for the last two years anyway.

Have you dealt with your solicitor on this and found out why it wasn't paid? What else may they not have done?