Recieved a summons for non payment of council tax

LightFlare

Pay it and then figure out what’s happened afterwards — it will save a whole load of trouble and expense In the long run.

Ask the council for a breakdown of the annual charge and how much they received in the meantime

Newcad

It does depend on just who was liable for the CT after the tenants left, which as already touched on may depend on the circumstances of their leaving

But it does look likely that you were liable as the owner of the empty property.

Whether the previous tenants had paid too much CT or not is irrelevant to that liability.

If you are liable for the CT then you have to pay it.

What your ex-tenants may, or may not, have overpaid has no bearing on your liability.

penners324

Yes. The previous tenant would get a refund of the 2 months and you would be chased for those 2 months.

Pay it before it goes to court

gbhxu

My local Council even refunded 3 months of CT to me after the death of my Father, when I took over paying CT.
They wouldn't just leave it as paid up until the end of the year. 

A little warning for OP.
Some Councils start charging you double CT after a period of being empty

Timasher

Update. The old Tenants have not received a rebate and they now live in a different part of the country. They have given me a copy of their last payment that proves council have been paid one full years Rates ... ie the 10no full payments

 

So the question remains are the council within their rights to issue a summons on us given they have been paid the full years rates and If I go to court and prove via the receipts that they have been paid what chance do I have of winning?

swingaloo

Look at it this way.

Council tax is paid by whoever lives at the property or owns it.

The former tenants have paid for 12 months but no longer live at the property.

Till they moved out they were liable for paying.

Once they move out whoever now lives at or owns the property is liable. 

From the date they leave someone else is liable. Can you imagine the chaos if every time someone bought a house or moved rentals the council had to check exactly what day the previous owners/tenants had paid up to and start doing amendments for every new owner.

The previous tenants have overpaid but thats up to them to try to claim it back if they wish. Thats nothing to do with your liability for paying from the date they leave.

saajan_12

There's no change / update:
If you are liable for the council tax from x date, then the council can issue you a bill and then a summons for that.
Separately, if the ex-tenants overpaid then they *could* ask for a refund, and the council would have to pay that. The timing of that refund (past or future) or how it gets paid (credit to another property, cash refund etc) is irrelevant, its between the council and the ex-tenant. 

Sounds like there's more going on if the ex-tenants know they overpaid since they're happy to provide you with information about this but aren't seeking to recover this amount. However they could ask the council for this refund. 

Robbie64

Timasher said:

Update. The old Tenants have not received a rebate and they now live in a different part of the country. They have given me a copy of their last payment that proves council have been paid one full years Rates ... ie the 10no full payments

 

So the question remains are the council within their rights to issue a summons on us given they have been paid the full years rates and If I go to court and prove via the receipts that they have been paid what chance do I have of winning?

The council are within their rights to issue a summons as the only thing that matters is that 1. you have a liability to pay council tax and 2. you haven't paid it.

The previous tenants need to request a refund of what they have paid. Possibly they may not know that it can be refunded or (as mad as it might seem) they do not want it refunded.

It would be cheaper and easier for you to pay what is owed as if it does progress to court action then this will increase what you owe. If the tenants want, they could obtain a refund and send the money to you. But you can't swap amounts from one council tax account to another even if the accounts are both for the same property.

HillStreetBlues

How was tenancy ended? as that would decide who is liable for CT.