Council Tax Help

[Good_Credit]

Hi Guys,

 

 

My mother received a statutory demand about 3 years ago demanding close to £5000 in council tax which they claim my mother had not paid over the years. We agreed payment to avoid the case going to court and paid all but £600.00

 

 

My mother is now receving letters from bailiffs for council tax owed and the amount is over £4000.00. My mother is understandably upset. I wrote to the council and they claim these are more arrears from other years.

 

 

I will be sending a second letter and taking the complaint to stage two as I am not happy with the way the council has dealt with all of this before I do so I wanted to get some advice/help.

 

 

I would like some advice on how I should proceed. I would like to know why the council did not attach this amount to the statutory demand? Can I send a letter requesting all information and liability orders against my mother? The council has sent 2 - 3 different account numbers claiming they are all in my mothers name.

 

 

Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

[ploddertom]

As Bailiffs are involved I will move to the Enforcement Agents (Bailiffs) Forum

[Coughdrop]

You need to speak to someone at the Council and ask the following questions:

1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you

2 - the dates they were obtained

3 - the addresses they were for

4 - the period of time each covers

5 - how much each one was for

6 - how much is still outstanding

7 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement

8 - the dates & amounts of any payments

Please note they need to prove you owe the debt not just say it is outstanding.

 

You should be able to be shown the LO - they may find this difficult. It is for the council to prove the debt.

[lookinforinfo]

You are saying therefore that your Mother owed £9000 in Council taxes three years ago. Does that even seem likely that she hadn't paid CT for 7 years and not been taken to Court,

or not been hounded by bailiffs?

 

I'm sorry that sounded harsh when what I was actually saying was I find it hard to believe that the Council would have let it build up that high

thus the amount they are chasing cannot be right.

[Good_Credit]

Shall I send a SAR request to the council?

[wonkeydonkey]

No need for SAR at this point in time, simply email them with the questions first, then ring and ask the same (record the call if you can). I have to agree with lfi, it seems incredible they sat back back and allowed 7 years of unpaid Council Tax....has your Mum moved house during the 7 yrs in question?

[seanamarts]

Im just wondering if this could be another council cock up, Have a word with your local MP and councillor they maybe able to intervene and get to the bottom of it a lot quicker. I have to agree with the others on here it dosnt sound right to me.

[tomtubby]

If a debt of this size is now with bailiffs then as long as your mother does not let the bailiff into the house she should be able to set up a sensible payment proposal. Given the size of the debt and theamount of exempt items under the new regulations there would little use of entering into a Controlled Goods Agreement and I would therefore suggest that a letter be sent to the enforcement company outlining her circumstances and proposing a sensible payment proposal.

 

Without knowing more details about your mothers circumstances it is difficult to advise any further.

[Good_Credit]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

 

My mum did move out for a year and they have charged her council tax for both properties in that financial year.

 

 

I will send the complaint letter to stage 2 with a request to answer all the questions mentioned on the previous post. I will let you know what happens.

[seanamarts]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

 

My mum did move out for a year and they have charged her council tax for both properties in that financial year.

 

 

I will send the complaint letter to stage 2 with a request to answer all the questions mentioned on the previous post. I will let you know what happens.

 

Was anyone else living there when your mum had moved out?

[Good_Credit]

Yes, A tenant moved in for about 2 years.

[seanamarts]

Do you know if they paid the council tax?

[Good_Credit]

They did pay, as far as I know

[seanamarts]

It might be worth checking, just incase they didnt pay it and the bill has fallen to your mother.