Council tax situation

powned

Hiya all,
I moved out of my previous address in October 07 (and to a different council area), i shared with 3 other people. When i moved i was owed deposit and money for bills to the amount of £250, i also happened to owe 250 for council tax.. i made a 'verbal' :rolleyes: agreement that the remaining tenants would pay off my council tax and i would not take my deposit and i would clear the bills. I have since learned that they never paid off the council tax but instead moved someone else in and changed the names on the bill, they did wait a couple of months after i had moved to do this. So basicly they told the council that i had moved and ran away from my council tax bill and saved themselves a fortune and making me fully responsible for the debt + 2 months that i didn't even live there.. now i apparently have many letters for me some with court summons at my previous address, i tried to obtain these letters but they are avoiding any contact with me.. (the only reason i have any of this information is because a mutual friend has tipped me off) i am reluctant to even contact the council now because im living with my parents for a while and i don't want to bring any trouble to there door
any advice would be great! hope ive not missed anything, hope my post makes sense!! i don't often post on forums cuz im dyslexic :mad: :rolleyes:
ive probably been very naive to trust people, but that was my first experience of moving out and a good lesson :mad:

thanks! :beer:

Emma

CIS

made a 'verbal' :rolleyes: agreement that the remaining tenants would pay off my council tax and i would not take my deposit and i would clear the bills

Not applicable as far as Council Tax is involved - all three residents are jointly liable for the debt.

So basicly they told the council that i had moved and ran away from my council tax bill and saved themselves a fortune and making me fully responsible for the debt + 2 months that i didn't even live there..

Unfortunately its not that easy. Regardless of any comments about you running away and avoiding the debt ,all 3 of you are liable for the full amount - any court summons and liability order would be issued to all 3 parties. At the end of the day when we try and recover money will try and chase the party who hasn't paid but if you cant find them the next option is to go after the remaining occupants as they are also liable and easier to deal with as you know where they are living.

Can the L/L not verify when you left ? or can you provide proof you had left the property ?.

powned

thanks for your reply :eek: well it puts my mind to rest somewhat knowing that i can not be made fully responisble, i beleive there was only 2 of us declared as living there. One of the people i lived with was very controling and secrartive with the bills etc and he was a bully and i was sure he was cheating us out of money (which is why i moved out!)
i think i cna provide proof of when i moved out as i paid the tv licence and virgin media and i wrote to them to end my contracts... other than that i have no proof

CIS

well it puts my mind to rest somewhat knowing that i can not be made fully responisble,

You can be held solely responsible if the Council wishes to do so - any of the liable parties can be held liable for 100% of the debt - however the cost and trouble of recovery means that its usually easier to go after the ones who you have an address for , easier if they issue it to a bailiff.

chappers

As you seem to have away of contacting through a mutual friend I would go round and confornt the theiving !!!!!!!, and if that fails at least dob them in to the council so they can chase them for their share.