Money Moral Dilemma: Should I tell the previous owner of my home he's due a council tax refund?

richt99

mimgable said:

You have to tell him as otherwise you are committing theft. You could be in court if he or anyone else found out you’d stolen money he is due.

the loss of money from broken promises is a separate issue and needs addressing separately. Which probably is more than it’s worth for the hassle. Both house moves I’ve done I’ve been out of pocket due to things like solicitors not paying stamp duty. Last min price hikes by sellers (having already paid money for solicitors work).

best to swallow hard tell him+move on in life. You could ask when you tell him if he’d help out with the out of pocket expenses but don’t expect a positive response! Not everyone is able to see things from other’s perspective 

What a nonsense reply ! How in any sense could not telling him be described as theft,  the owner was only paid the money they had overpaid & not any of the money the previous owner had overpaid, so what exactly have they stolen ? This persons comment makes absolutely zero sense. It is not in any way the current owners responsibility to inform the previous owner

Sbee25

No, it’s karma, if he’s been openly dishonest with you, you won’t be the first, so he doesn’t deserve your courtesy or kindness.

HotDog2020

Absolutely No - You were the one to make the call, you were the one to be put at risk of going on a higher band that means the money belongs to you.

Tigrou

OTH - say nothing and the Local Authority has 8k to spend on local services. 

garfield33

Lots of people have probably overpaid council tax and are potentially owed refunds - you wouldn't be expected to tell all of them, so why should he be any different? Therefore telling him would be doing him a favour, which his previous behaviour doesn't warrant. Let the council keep the money / find him.

kevinsmithies

When you bought the property, you bought all the debts and in this case refunds that come with it. Perhaps create an invoice for your debt and remedial work, credit the 8k and the invoice should come to zero

LollyTeacup

I didn't know that about the previous occupant being reimbursed too. Do councils really go looking for previous residents to repay?
Years ago, before I'd computer access, I found out that the people in the identical house next door were paying less council tax. So I applied for revaluation. Instead of getting mine reduced, they ended up having to pay the same as me. They were horrible neighbours, so no harm done. 

kathleenwarner160555

People shouldn’t go backward, so. Keep it , it is your house

kathleenwarner160555

You’ve done all the hard work by doing the council banding, I did mine thanks to Martin Lewis and also did it for my neighbour he was well pleased , 

maddogwoman

no way - what goes around comes around. If he kept his promises and had been a decent human being then yes fair enough, but as he cost you £2,000 then I would not tell him.