Council tax and electoral role dilmena

FreeRadical

Hi there, 

I've been in essence living under the radar since my marriage broke down about 3 years ago. I currently live in a shared house which is in one person's name and I've lived here since early 2023. Before that I subletted a flat from someone for a year but kept all my details registered to my old marital address. The problem I have is that I've not been registered on the electoral role or named on the council tax at my current address. This has not been a deliberate avoidant tactic but rather an oversight that has dragged on too long. The problem is that one of my credit cards is registered to my current address and is flagged up on my credit file. I want to sort out my electoral role status but am aware of the fact if I add my name to my current address they will want to know when I moved in which was over a year ago. They will then obviously want to know why I didn't register when I moved in and the guy I rent from (whose name is registered with the council as a sole occupant) will no doubt get into trouble for not being transparent about when I moved in. The other option I was thinking  of was to register my details at my sister's address who lives in a different county. I think the main issue is the fact that when you register at a new address they want to know you're previous address as well, and my last registered previous address was my marital address 3 years ago. How do I explain away the last 3 years in light of the fact I'm not officially registered anywhere? 

Emmia

Why are you trying to be "under the radar"?

FreeRadical

Emmia said:

Why are you trying to be "under the radar"?

I'm not deliberately, it's just the first place I lived after leaving the marital was an HA sublet and I wasn't able to register on the electoral roll. My current predicament was more of an oversight that has snowballed.  I'm not wanting or wishing to live like this at all, it's just circumstances have conspired to have created a messy situation that I'm keen to resolve but just want to know the implications of registering now considering my particular set of circumstances

Voyager2002

On what date did you cease to be registered at the address of the former marital home?

If you are still on the electoral roll and recorded as being there for Council Tax purposes then there is no problem, just say that you are moving as of today. Otherwise, say that since you officially left that address you have been sofa-surfing and of no fixed abode, and it is only now that you have a home again.

(Technically your housemate could get into trouble for continuing to claim the single occupier discount on council tax once you have moved in, so think of it as an informal "visit" that eventually became permanent.)

FreeRadical

Voyager2002 said:

On what date did you cease to be registered at the address of the former marital home?

If you are still on the electoral roll and recorded as being there for Council Tax purposes then there is no problem, just say that you are moving as of today. Otherwise, say that since you officially left that address you have been sofa-surfing and of no fixed abode, and it is only now that you have a home again.

(Technically your housemate could get into trouble for continuing to claim the single occupier discount on council tax once you have moved in, so think of it as an informal "visit" that eventually became permanent.)

When I left the marital home my ex took me off the register so since then, I've not been registered anywhere (really not ideal but just the way it's panned out). My main concern is the fact that I foolishly registered a card to my current address early last year even though I'm not on the electoral roll here... So, I just wanted to know to what extent searches will be done by the council to check with credit file history to see what it flags up... I obviously wish I'd sorted this out earlier because I hate living like this... If I did register at my sister's address and then they ask where I was living before - as they do to check I hadn't moved in earlier than I said - if they did look at my credit file they'd see this address linked to one of my credit cards, and then I wonder if they'd contact the council where my previous address was and then possibly my mate who has the lease to the place would potentially get into trouble,which obviously I don't want because I live there still! The other option is to just register at my current address, but if I say I moved in last month say(not true) they may well see the date that my credit card was linked to my current address and then my mate would likely be accused of claiming single persons discount fraudulently..which hasn't been done knowingly but would look like that to the council... My inkling is to register at my sister's address and then do the no fixed abode response and hope that's OK... Like I said at the beginning, there has genuinely been no deliberate attempt to avoid doing the right thing, and indeed I want to fix it, but I just want to avoid as much fallout as possible, especially in relation to my flatmate 

Bookworm105

FreeRadical said:

 Like I said at the beginning, there has genuinely been no deliberate attempt to avoid doing the right thing, and indeed I want to fix it, but I just want to avoid as much fallout as possible, especially in relation to my flatmate 

well then you need to continue supporting his tax evasion 

Bue21

I think it very unlikely that the electoral registration or council tax departments will look into your credit history. Unless they have very good reason to think you have been avoiding paying council tax they will just amend the current invoice. In your situation, you haven’t been avoiding paying - that would be the responsibility of the home owner. As suggested above, if asked where you have been living since leaving the marital home then sofa surfing is a valid response. In my experience most council departments are too busy to look into the finer details of cases unless they really have to!

lincroft1710

Only if you are a tenant at this house, would you be registered for CT. If you are a lodger, you have no responsibility for CT. So when you say you live in a "shared house" are you sharing it with a tenant or owner, or do you have your own tenancy? 


Every year a form is sent to each household asking for details of all those people resident at that address who are eligible to vote in UK elections. So the person who is the tenant/owner of the house you share should have included your name in the last annual canvass which would have been about 12 months ago