Hi all,

I have had a Notice of Enforcement from Bristow and Sutor claiming that I owe them something in the region of £65 + £75 compliance fee for a Council Tax Debt that I apparently have from an old property that I rented. I always paid by DD and only cancelled the DD after seeing that no payments had gone out for a while, therefore I believed that I was discharged of any responsibilities.

Fast-forward a year and I receive a Notice of Enforcement dated 23/8/17 claiming the above figures and that this has been through the courts.

How would you suggest that I proceed? If there is a genuine debt, I have no problem with paying it, however, as I had no court papers and no knowledge of this debt then I would really find it difficult to justify any fees.

Many thanks.

The council would have issued a Magistrates summons to the previous address asking you to attend court for an admin process. This is run by the council staff at the court looking to make payment arrangements. If you did not attend a liability order would be noted.

On Monday morning you need to phone the council to find out full details of the liability order. Find out what period it relates to. If the tax relates to a period after you moved out, then the council upon receipt of proof you were no longer a tenant at the property, may cancel the liability order and call off B&S.

DO NOT leave this any longer. More than 7 days has passed since the notice of enforcement and you may now receive a visit at any time. You do not need to open a door to speak to anyone. It is suggested that you don't open a door and definitely never let them into your property. Make sure there is nothing outside you own such as a car or bike that can be taken under control and sold if necessary.

If the council are open today to deal with these enquiries, phone them today to find out the liability order details.

How would you suggest that I proceed? If there is a genuine debt, I have no problem with paying it, however, as I had no court papers and no knowledge of this debt then I would really find it difficult to justify any fees.

As above - all you can do at this stage to get the background is to speak with your local authority . There's a myriad of situations which could have occurred so it's a case of finding out what did actually happen.

The local authority are required only to send the paperwork to the last known address, if that was the actual property then all mail will have (correctly) been sent there.

Hi all,

 

I have had a Notice of Enforcement from Bristow and Sutor claiming that I owe them something in the region of £65 + £75 compliance fee for a Council Tax Debt that I apparently have from an old property that I rented. I always paid by DD and only cancelled the DD after seeing that no payments had gone out for a while, therefore I believed that I was discharged of any responsibilities.

There will be a date and time on the Notice of Enforcement by when you need to pay the amount of £140. What date is given? If you fail to make payment by that date (called the 'compliance period', then your account will be passed to an individual enforcement agent and the debt will increase by £235.

Hi all - the Council had my forwarding address, I have confirmed that with them, yet no post was sent there. They are claiming that the debt exists. As they haven't followed procedure I have put the complaint in formally and they have suspended any enforcement until the 6th of October at least as that is when I should have heard back from the complaint by. There has been nothing taken to court about this in case that makes any difference.

If you provided the council with a forwarding address when you moved, then it is only right and proper that that address should be the one that correspondence should have been sent to.

Please do keep the forum up to date with progress.