Council tax doesn't just pay for your bins. In fact, your local authority doesn't even get all the money; some goes to the local police force, and some goes to the other local councils.

Why would I do that? I don't know anything about other courts. They go to court every month, regardless of how many cases they have. At least that's how it works in my area.

Some councils do deal with their own council tax - my local one does, in fact. lawandorder: have you provided them with proof of your name change?

They do need to have a liability order before they can make an official arrangement but there is nothing stopping you from starting to pay it now before the LO is issued. If it's not paid off by the date they've asked then a LO will still be issued but the amount you owe will be less.

The council are correct. Your relative and his flatmate might have a joint tenancy but the flatmate is exempt because he is a student therefore he doesn't have a liability at that property whilst he is a student, so your relative is liable for the whole council tax bill. From http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/LifeAtUniversityOrCollege/DG_071488: "Who is responsible for paying the bill? While households can decide among themselves who contributes what, the law sets out who is actually responsible for paying the bill. Members of a household are divided into categories - owner-occupier, tenant and so on - and for most households the person responsible is the one who appears nearest the top of the list which you can find in ‘Council Tax - who pays and how much’. If there are two or more household members who fall into the same category, they’re usually jointly responsible for paying the whole bill. But the rules are different if you’re considered a full-time student or not ‘counted’ because you’re in education or training. In these circumstances, you can only be held responsible if you - and only you - are in a category that’s higher up the list than all other members of your household (for example, you’re an owner-occupier and everyone else is a tenant)."

Because the CT is due for each financial year, they could have only offered you two instalments anyway because there was only Feb and Mar left of this current financial year when you got the letter. But, I don't really understand why they couldn't have at least given you those two instalments - better than nothing, KWIM? They may not have given you instalments but there is nothing to stop you from starting to pay it now, even if it isn't the whole amount - a bit here and there will help reduce that balance. Have you had any reminders from them yet? If not then you'll get one, maybe two, reminders, and a final notice before a summons is issued - at most that gives you about 3 months before the summons so you do have some time before it gets to the liability order stage. Depending on your income this might be enough time to get it all paid off. Most importantly, make sure you keep up with next year's payments when they become due because you don't want to get behind with 10/11's payments AND 11/12's payments because that will result in more liability orders and more costs. Also, if you're on a low income have you considered applying for Housing and Council Tax Benefit? Might be worth a shot, despite the situation being more complicated because you're both self-employed.

Have they told you why they want this information? It could be that they are asking because of the possibility that she was registered for council tax prior to moving in with you and they want to make sure any accounts are closed down, or that they want to link her to previous accounts. It might be the case that you have to tell them the truth, but firstly find out why. You might be able to get away with telling them that she lived outside of their area, or that she lived at an address where she wasn't liable.

When you were issued with the summons you presumably had court costs added to your account as is standard, but from your post it doesn't appear as though you paid those; you just paid the two late instalments. If this is the case then that would be why your account still went to court - because the costs were still owing. I'm going off of the assumption that the summons was correctly issued, which it sounds as though it was because they obviously hadn't received payment when they issued it. You may have paid it the day before but it's likely that they wouldn't actually get that money for 2-3 working days and they would go off of the date they received the payment, not the date you sent it.

I don't know if it's the estate or you who needs to pay. You asked if money needs to be paid - the answer to that is 'yes'. By whom I don't know.

I presume you had a Class C exemption put on from the date it became unoccupied and unfurnished which has now expired? AFAIK yes they can insist you pay because that exemption has now ended and unless you fulfill requirements for any other exemptions the full charge applies.

I don't know the rules on this so this might not be applicable, but if you were all renting your rooms seperately rather than the whole property jointly then the property is classed a HMO - house of multiple occupation - and as such the landlord is 100% responsible for the council tax, not the tenants. It may be worth enquiring about this because if this is the case then there might be a chance that you wouldn't be liable for this bill.

No harm in asking them if you can directly pay it. It probably helps that you asked for the AoE. IIRC it's confidential that you have an AoE, if that's what you're worried about?

Yes they should have picked this up. I'm not how it works in other councils, but at mine when an exemption is put on an end date is entered and a new bill issued on that date with the exemption removed. They will probably ask for the balance all at once but they should accept a payment plan and as long as it that is kept to she -shouldn't- have any big problems, however she needs to be aware that this will be a large amount of money to pay. The council cannot turn payments away as that doesn't help their case in the slightest. I'm not sure how quickly a liability order would be issued because I don't know whether this debt would just be added to the account and a LO issued when it hasn't been paid in a couple of months, or if it will go straight to LO because your friend should have contacted them about it. I strongly doubt she will go to prison. Prison is a last resort for people who refuse to pay; I don't think that's the situation here.

1 April might be the due date but the amount is applicable for the duration of the financial year and is worked out daily - it's not a one-off fee due in April. So, for example, if you live in a property for 3 months you are only actually liable for the charge for those 3 months and not the whole 12. I don't know how bankruptcy works with regards to writing off amounts so can't advise on that but the CT definitely covers the whole year.

So, you moved out in February 2010 and the house was reposessed in September 2010. Do the council want the council tax for Feb-Sept 2010, or for Feb 2010-March 2011? I take it that when the house was reposessed it then officially becomes the bank's property and you are not the owner of it anymore?