Council tax in Feb and March - please help with boring housemate problem

[jacquettalux]

Hi! So I live with a good friend and from the start she has insisted on dealing with all bills. In Feb and March I transferred her the money for the council tax as normal. I was then told that people generally don't pay council tax in these months. I raised his with my housemate and she said she would check if it had left her bank or not. She never got back to me. Asked again, no response. Today I asked again and she replied to say that she had paid it in Feb but has transferred me the money for March.

Can anyone help? I've checked the council tax website and we pay 'x' amount for the year. If 'x' is divided by 10, this is the amount we pay each month. I also checked with the old tenant who confirmed that it was paid over 10 months not 12.

So why has it been taken from her account for Feb?

Please help. I don't want to seem like I'm accusing my friend of lying but I have no way of checking her account so just want to make sense of this. Many thanks in advance!

Don't pay it in April then, to make up for Feb. Nobody pays 12 months, you should get a letter detailing all the payments made.

You can choose how to pay here - some people choose 12 payments to budget better, or you're forced onto 12 if you miss payments here.

I think you'll have to try to talk to her again; unless your named on the council tax and can ask them.

But why would it have been taken from her bank in Feb?

Is it always Feb and March that are the two exclusionary months?

Thanks for your response!

Nobody pays 12 months

I pay over 12 months but that's because I'm on a low income. I would call and check with the council or ask to see the letters.

Bills are generally over 10 months but they can send them out over 12 months if you ask.

You can choose 12 months here now if paying by dd. But the bill is sill issued with 10 payments as default.

We definitely haven't asked for them to be over 10 months and the previous tenant didn't either.

Also, she's saying the money wasn't taken for March.

So could it be March and April that we don't pay, for example?

Thanks everyone.

When did you move in together? If it was later than last April, you may not get Feb off - we moved into a new property in September and they spread it Oct-Feb

As a liable occupier, you should be able to ask the council for the breakdown. Just ask for a duplicate bill for 18/19 as you need it for your records.

Was there any arrears ? We paid eleven months this years as there was some arrears due to a mistake on the council's part

I pay over 12 months & always have, Ive never asked to have it changed just set up direct debit to pay to their schedule

Definitely get a copy of the bill. Council tax bills list all the people liable for it, so if you're not on there, that's another issue which needs sorting.

I'm pretty sure if you pay over 10 months it's always Feb and March you have off. You can pay over 12 months as pp said but that wouldn't explain no March payment. I'm afraid I don't know about arrears but pp seem to.

In my area you have the option to pay over 12 months.

I'll definitely ask the council for a copy of the bill on Monday.

No arrears that I'm aware of!

@KnitterOfSocks We moved in together in July 2018. Does that mean we might not get 2 months off?

The letter should have arrived recently detailing the payment for the coming year. Check it and see what months aren't there. Then ask her why you've had to pay February this year when you're not being charged in February next year, then pick up the phone and say 'we'd better call them because this payment is obviously a mistake' or just ask for proof.

Well obviously if you only moved in during July you haven’t been there the whole 12 months have you, so how would you have paid over 10 months? The council may have split over the 9 months or 8 with no March payment.

Well now you have proof your housemate is telling the truth.

Yes that makes sense. Sorry if I'm being a bit dim.

Well yes, the truth about the Feb payment, but she'd also asked for March from me, which she has now returned in light of me raising it again.

I'm just glad it's sorted, and I've learnt to be more on the ball with this stuff!

It's easy enough to work out.
Check your council tax band - you can do that online (google it).
Find the annual council tax rate for that band on your council's website.
Work out the pro rata amount for July 2018-March 2019. (If you moved in on 1.7.18 it will be 9 months so 75% of the annual amount, and if you moved in later in July it will be a bit less.)
Your monthly amount will be 1/7 of that (if paid over 10 months ie not in Feb or March) or 1/9 (if paid through the year including Feb and March).

Tbh your flatmate should be showing you a copy of the bill and if she's not doing that and you don't trust her to manage the bills fairly, maybe you should consider moving out.

Oh cross posts sorry

Thanks everyone!

I'll definitely be asking to see copies of bills from now on, to help me understand more than anything else.

"So it looks like we did get charged for Feb. Why would this be the case?"
It looks like you're paying in arrears atm. You moved in July but first payment was on 1st August. So you didn't need to pay on 1st March and you will need to check your 2019-20 bill to see when the first payment is due; it could be 1st April (ie you start paying in advance) or 1st May (you continue paying in arrears).

@AnotherEmma Thanks Emma. That makes sense. I feel a bit of an idiot, I don't have anyone to explain these things to me 🙈