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Original poster

Please help - bailiff has visited regarding unpaid council tax from 2005

72 replies

counciltaxdebt · 05/10/2013 00:16

Hi. I'm very worried about this.

From August 2004 to July 2005 I rented a one bedroom flat. As far as I was concerned I had met all bills. I moved out in July of 2005 as I had bought my own home.

I have had a hand delivered letter today with "first name - please call me" handwritten on it and it is regarding a debt I apparently owe from 2005 so over eight years ago now - it is dated 20/06/2005.

The amount due is £292.00 - there is absolutely no way I owe this much. According to the letter they have attended with the intention of seizing my goods and chattels as are necessary to discharge the above debt.

The point is I have hardly been in hiding over eight years - I have been in this country, on the electoral roll, have not changed my name. Why now?

I have no intention of paying this - I completely dispute I owe this - but I also know they won't just go away. I have no proof I do not owe it as eight years have gone by. I don't want to ring the council as I know from a past experience when I was in hospital and missed council tax they just say to ring the bailiffs and I don't want to do that.

Please help. I am very worried Sad

OP posts:
500internalerror · 05/10/2013 09:06

Could it be that you didn't notify them of change of address? Or not soon enough? Could they be assuming you were still there for a period after you'd moved out?

CreatureRetorts · 05/10/2013 09:08

Yes you're fuming but ring them on Monday and sort it. Anger gets you nowhere until you do something about it.

Also being on the electoral role has nothing to do with council tax BTW.

ArtisanLentilWeaver · 05/10/2013 09:09

I empathise OP. Council hounding me for one month payment of council tax on a property that I had vacated three months prior (was up to date with all CT payments).A new tenant was in the property during the dates I am being hounded for.

This was ten years ago but baliffs came two weeks ago serving a notice for £60 plus their costs. Council being 'unhelpful'.
Sorry I can't advise you but feel very angry for your situation.

Original poster
counciltaxdebt · 05/10/2013 09:12

500, I didn't need to notify them of my change of address - I moved to a home I bought, and lived there for seven years, I was on the electoral role, I worked for the public sector, I was really easy to find! Grin

Then in 2012 I moved to another home I bought!

Creature, my point is I was very to find! I wasn't living in the back room of some shack, I was registered at a fixed address for over eight years!

Artisan thanks. I suspect something similar happened to me, I'm going to fight it though - completely ridiculous that they can do this.

OP posts:
KirjavaTheCorpse · 05/10/2013 09:15

I wouldn't be shocked, I've had worse behaviour from bailiffs. They lie, a lot.

You need to be an arsehole and don't back down, "I want to talk to your manager" - repeat until you're blue in the face. You'll be dealing with one particular bailiff that wants to be paid, you need to speak to someone else, in charge of him. They'll say "Make a payment today or this and this will happen" until they're blue in the face. You need to shout louder.

Ring the council, get records, proof that you owe it.

Visit this forum Legal Beagles, and write the same thing you've written here. They have untold amounts of experience with council tax and bailiffs. They helped me when I truly thought I was going to have everything taken away from me, when it was all lies and illegal dealings on the part of the bailiffs.

KirjavaTheCorpse · 05/10/2013 09:17

Specifically this section of the forum: Bailiff issues

Portofino · 05/10/2013 09:22

Cant you just ring the council and ask? People are giving you good advice but you don/t seem to want to listen. I would be fuming too, but frothing about it wont make it go away.

CreatureRetorts · 05/10/2013 09:23

Yes you're fuming but ring them on Monday and sort it. Anger gets you nowhere until you do something about it.

Also being on the electoral role has nothing to do with council tax BTW.

Portofino · 05/10/2013 09:26

I am pretty sure you should have told them you were moving though. i did when we moved abroad and we had to balance up. Any how - if you moved in July, and you'd paid a year's worth up front, wouldn't they have owed YOU money? Doesn't council tax go from April? I could have misremembered that.....Are you SURE you paid for April, May and June?

HungryHorace · 05/10/2013 09:26

When you moved out did you advise them of this? You should have told them if the date you were leaving and given your new address, even if under a different council.

If you'd paid monthly you'd have been due a refund (due to paying for a year's council tax over 10 months).

If you didn't tell them then you would have remained liable until somebody else moved in and started paying it.

Ultimately you need to contact them now, regardless of how indignant you are about it.

HungryHorace · 05/10/2013 09:28

When you moved out did you advise them of this? You should have told them if the date you were leaving and given your new address, even if under a different council.

If you'd paid monthly you'd have been due a refund (due to paying for a year's council tax over 10 months).

If you didn't tell them then you would have remained liable until somebody else moved in and started paying it.

Ultimately you need to contact them now, regardless of how indignant you are about it.

HungryHorace · 05/10/2013 09:28

Oops!

ArtisanLentilWeaver · 05/10/2013 09:32

Completely spooked now. Debt collectors just off the phone demanding the payment. Coincidence I know but Shock

Viviennemary · 05/10/2013 09:34

I think it will depend upon whether or not your rent included council tax bills. I don't expect you will have kept your rent contract if you did have one. I don't think you should just ignore it as this will cause more hassle and stress in the long run. Phone the Council. In view of the amount I think I would be inclined to make an arrangement to pay it monthly but if I was totally sure I had paid the tax in full then I wouldn't be keen to do this. Ask them to send you the paperworking showing why they think there is a shortfall. You could also try the Citizens Advice Bureau to see what they think.

DesperatelySeekingSedatives · 05/10/2013 09:34

I would be shocked if this happened to me simply because as far as I'm concerned I've always paid my CT. However it doesn't shock me they're sending out letters for CT owed from years ago. Same thing happened to my sister earlier this year (she hadn't paid it so hadn't a leg to stand on).

Also my local council are apparently clawing back as much owed council tax from people as they can. It's massive figure they reckon and they're going back years, possibly before 2005.

Call council Monday and try to sort it. Would think though that they have to prove you owe it to them rather than the other way round. Maybe it's a blip? Maybe someone else living that address has sworn blind it's you that owes it and pointed them in your direction?

Original poster
counciltaxdebt · 05/10/2013 09:38

Portofino, it's not that I don't want to listen to advice, it's just that some of the advice isn't relevant or deals more generally with unpaid council tax - there is a difference in missing a payment say, last April, and one which claims to be from 2005.

Vivienne, no, my rent didn't include CT, I paid it myself, I paid a sum of just under £800.

I have NEVER said I'm going to ignore it, I have said I'm not going to contact the bailiffs as I know from bitter experience they just harass you more then.

And I emailed the council last night (or early this morning depending on how you look at it) - considering this was dropped on me Friday evening there's not much more I can do.

OP posts:
NeedaWee · 05/10/2013 09:42

Ive had a rebate from 20 yrs ago so they are obviously slow workers

HungryHorace · 05/10/2013 09:43

If you paid £800 for the bill from April that year then they should owe you money, so there's been an error somewhere.

Labro · 05/10/2013 09:44

There is a website called legal beagle which has full information on what to do in situations like this. The most important thing is if the bailiffs call again, do not open the door. There is a list on the website which tells you what to ask the council. There is also a fairly new law that you have to be allowed to seek independent assistance (CAB etc) and they can speak to creditors on your behalf. Do not allow the bailiffs in as they will claim they have made a walking possession agreement. They are not allowed to force entry but you should ensure all doors and windows are locked. If you are a lone parent or certain other categories, then you can inform the council that you are a vunerable person.
Keep talking to the council by email, request proof of this debt and make sure it is written down that they have not contacted you as there are rules about what has to be sent to you.

Portofino · 05/10/2013 09:44

But why would you not have contacted the council at the time for a refund which would have been owing to you? You say you paid £800 - presumably in April, for a year upfront. If you were buying presumably you knew in April 2005 that you were moving house. It doesn't make any sense to me. It would make sense if you paid the year before and the amount outstanding is for April May June 2005. IFYSWIM.

Portofino · 05/10/2013 09:49

There isn't a difference though - you either owe the money or you don't whether it was this April or April 2005.

eurochick · 05/10/2013 09:51

From the info on the thread I reckon this is because you didn't tell them you were moving out, so the council has issued a bill for some months when you weren't there but they didn't know. It's probably far less than the bailiff is claiming - a lot of that sum will be the bailiff's own fees.

notapizzaeater · 05/10/2013 09:53

The £265 might be a tiny debt and the rest interest , court and bailiff fees. Perhaps you paid till a Monday and they charged u till Friday ? And this is the inference with all the costs.

Until you hear from the council you won't know ..

Auntidote · 05/10/2013 09:56

This you should have posted in legal, OP.

AIBU is where people want to shout at you.

ThatsYouThatIs · 05/10/2013 09:57

I don't think you can be charged for two lots of council tax so if you were paying for it at your new address for July onwards there shouldn't be a problem. You need to phone the council on Monday and give them the address you moved to. Once they can see you were paying council tax at the new address they should stop the debt collection proceedings.

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