Hi,

I would like to know if I am responsible for payment of Council tax if I am not the tennant? My husband has left me and the bill is in joint names but he was the sole tennant for the past 4 years and I was just living with him.

I have just been granted tennancy as he agreed to sign it over to me so obviously I know I am responsible for paying now but can I dispute any arrears for this year and past years before I became a tennant?

Any advice would be great, thanks.

Hello,

From looking over council sites dealing with a similar problem of being made liable for charges under someone else's name, I found the following information:

For any outstanding balances the Council can require and take recovery action against any person named on the bill for the whole balance which is outstanding.

I think this means if your name was on the council tax BILL during the period of your husband’s sole tenancy, then you may well be liable to pay any remaining balance.

Otherwise I think the sole tenant is deemed responsible for payment of the council tax irrespective of how many people occupy the premises.

I think it depends if your name is on the Council Tax Bill on the date it was put there. You might be seen as liable for payment of the tax from that date and may have to issue separate proceedings against your husband for his share of the bill. However I am just a lay-person and suggest you wait for someone with more appropriate legal knowledge to respond before doing anything.

Maybe you could look through your own council's website and see what kind of rules apply as they may be a little different county to county.

Here is a link to direct.gov with relevant information about council tax and who is responsible for payment.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/YourlocalcouncilandCouncilTax/CouncilTax/DG_10037383

As understanding said, if both of your names are on the council tax bill then unfortunately you are both liable, and this means that they can chase both of you seperately for the entire amount of the debt. I am pretty certain that this is irregardless of whether your name was on the tenancy agreement for the property or not.

You would both be jointly and severally liable for the Council Tax liability as you were the wife/partner of the tenant.

Ok thanks for the replies. I thought as much so looks like I'm left with a lot of debt. Thanks to all who got back to me.