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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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

OP posts:

GogoGobo · 05/10/2013 09:58

Just get a grip and call them. Part of being an adult is that you have to sort out crap like this. It doesn't matter if you have been easy to find, the onus is on you to tell them when you move/change circumstances and not for them to hunt you!

TallulahBetty · 05/10/2013 09:58

Yes, it could be that the original bill was a small amount, but costs and interest might have been added from a CCJ? You say you let them know about moving into your new property, but you also need to let them know about the one you're vacating..

It might be that they've been trying to trace you for a while, and have now found you, hence it taking a long time to send the demand.

gordyslovesheep · 05/10/2013 10:00

no one wants to shout at you I see some very reasonable advice and information

sorry you don't feel it's relevant but it's difficult to give advice based on your case without knowing all the details - including the councils position

good luck - please don't be short with people who are trying to be useful to you x

Original poster

counciltaxdebt · 05/10/2013 10:02

I am not delaying calling the bailiffs because I am a child or because I lack a grip. I am delaying calling them because I do not wish to exacerbate the situation.

I am sorry that, when I moved into a house I had bought in July 2005, I neglected to tell the council. I believed that the fact I was paying council tax at my new address, and the fact my rental contract was terminated at my old one, was suffice.

If they've been trying to trace me for a while then frankly they are crap at it, I was in the same place for over seven years with my name attached to the deeds of the property, paying a mortgage, bills and yes, council tax too.

Right, name changing back. Thanks for the helpful suggestions.

OP posts:

Lj8893 · 05/10/2013 10:46

I agree that they have been crap at tracing you, and this should have all been sorted years ago!!

But if you didn't tell them you left in the July and then say the next tenant didn't start thier council tax account untill say September (I'm pulling a random date) then they may well have assumed you were still in the property untill then, and therefore liable for payment.

In my experience emailing the council isn't the quickest way of dealing with it, so I would suggest following it through with a phone call on Monday. Try not too get too angry with them, be firm by all means, but anger will just get their backs up and they may be less willing to help you.

Good luck, hope it gets easily sorted for you!

Dawndonnaagain · 05/10/2013 10:51

just one example
There have been quite a few council tax scams going on recently OP. I would wait until Monday and then contact the council concerned. It does sound like a scam though, most councils do not chase debts this old, debt discharge is six years.

gallicgirl · 05/10/2013 10:54

Are you the only person with your name in the entire country?
If not then I'm betting the council didn't know which of the 800 Jane Smith's on electoral rolls nationally to contact about your unpaid council tax.

CreatureRetorts · 05/10/2013 10:56

The thing is you did balls up. Ring them, tell them when you moved on. It can't get any worse surely.

gallicgirl · 05/10/2013 10:56

Oh and council tax is not statute barred, collected in 6 years etc.
It has to be billed within 6 years but once a liability order is granted, councils have as long as they need to collect it.

DarkTherapy · 05/10/2013 11:11

As earlier posters mentioned you should definitely have told them when you moved out. Last year had a bailiff visit for unpaid council tax from a few years back. When I looked into it I had notified the council that my house was unoccupied and received a 6 month exemption. I sold the house with 3 months on the exemption still to go. Foolishly I didn't think about letting the council know as I didn't live there, the exemption was still valid and I thought the new owners would notify them. However, the new owners hadn't taken over payment - they didn't move in either as they were doing it up to let. I was sent the bill from exemption end until new tenants took up occupation.

Once I proved when I sold up then the debt was removed. Hope you get it sorted.

gamerchick · 05/10/2013 11:19

I would hang fire for the minute in case it's a scam. Have you Google the name of the debt collectors?

I got a debt letter which was quite threatening from a catalogue from years earlier which I was still running. But my name wasn't quite right. I rang them and yelled.

sweetestcup · 05/10/2013 11:26

I don't see how you are going to get this sorted without telephoning them tbh!

KirjavaTheCorpse · 05/10/2013 11:31

I agree - you'll get things sorted much faster if you phone instead of email.

gamerchick · 05/10/2013 11:32

The fact that they hand delivered it on a Saturday when the council is closed would be enough to piss me off.

Ring the council on Monday.. don't do anything over the weekend.

diaimchlo · 05/10/2013 11:43

Do not phone the bailiffs write to them and instruct them that you will only communicate in writing, that way you will have a paper trail to fall back on if needed. Tell them in that letter that you dispute the debt and are contacting the relevant Council for a statement of reasons. Keep all copies of any communications and send them recorded delivery then they can not dispute receipt.

Contact the council and request a statement of reasons, they have to send you one but may charge you £10 for it. Also explain that you have not received any communication from themselves or the Magistrates Court, who would have had to have granted a Liability Order, regarding this alleged debt. Also request that they take the situation away from the Bailiffs whilst this is sorted out. Again write a letter detailing the conversation and keep copies and send registered post.

Never open the door to the Bailiffs if they turn up, if you do they can start putting a Levy on your goods and that will incur charges. The above advice about the car is good advice, they have been known to put a levy on someone else's car because it was parked outside the address they were visiting.

I hope you get everything sorted.

GobbySadcase · 05/10/2013 12:20

I'm not saying for one moment you do owe it. But having been on the receiving end of bailiffs for council tax I know it's so very different to other kinds of debt and that impotent anger and sniping at people trying to point that out won't get you anywhere.

garlicvampire · 05/10/2013 13:45

Having seen the two posts above about scams, I'm wondering whether this is one! Good thing you're not going to contact the bailiffs, OP, they might not be legit!

I know everybody likes to be self-righteous on AIBU, but somebody saying you owe them money doesn't make it true. I've been hounded by a telecoms provider from 7 years ago - was quite worried, as I was very ill with depression at the time and can't remember much of what happened. After a bit of websearching, I found this particular company's notorious for setting up accounts that the customer didn't approve and has had its knuckles rapped in court for it.

If I'd posted on AIBU, I'd probably have ended up paying them!

Pigsmummy · 05/10/2013 13:45

If you think that you paid it directly to the council then just pick up the phone to the council who will be able to tell you straight away? If you paid it to the landlord or letting agency find some evidence.

However I had a similar situation, from Hounslow, I lived in rented accom for six months, paid everything but the landlord didn't pay my Council tax, the bailiff company (Newlyns plc) where horribly aggressive saying I couldn't pay it across payments for more than six months and other such nonsense however I spoke to the council and they gave me enough information to go back to the bailiffs and set up a payment plan that suited me. Mine was from 2006/7, sadly I couldn't even get my 25% single person discount as I didn't have a copy of the tenancy agreement and I think that the landlord has left the country (he was foreign).

If there is an amount oustanding in your name check the dates are right, the best way of proving dates is the council tax bill that you paid in your next property, your local authority will provide that on email and then picking the phone up to the council before calling bailiffs, sadly council tax can quickly escalate, my one bed flat was £1100 ish per year.

Don't let the bailiffs in and speak to the council on Monday morning. Doing nothing is not an option, council tax is enforceable by bailiffs/prison.

Pigsmummy · 05/10/2013 13:48

What is the name of bailiff company? Google them? Newlyns as I mentioned were horrible.

ILikeBirds · 05/10/2013 13:59

It took the council 3 years to pass a debt to bailiffs and send a letter to my parents.

Mine was an admin cock up. I'd rang and reported that we had moved out a property on x date so flat was empty and the end of our tenancy agreement was y date. They processed the first bit and moved us onto empty homes discount from x date but neglected to note that the tenancy agreement terminated 2 weeks later. So we were charged unknowingly until the next tenants moved in.

Luckily I still had copies of tenancy agreement showing the end date and proof of a new tenancy agreement elsewhere, final payment of water/electricity bills etc. and I ended up getting a small refund. I'd never pursued the small amount we were owed as it was a small amount and it had taken me weeks to get through to the council.

phantomnamechanger · 05/10/2013 14:03

when you moved out, did someone else move in straight away? if not there is a chance that it is the landlords liability for the period in which the property was not occupied, but the the LL has either deliberately or accidentally lied about there being no gap between tenants

I also agree that you SHOULD have informed them when you moved out- I am sure telling them about "any changes" is in the small print on the bills!

Bobbyh1984 · 30/10/2013 19:46

Hi, I got exactly the same letter this morning from bailiffs for council tax from 2005, on a property that i didnt even live at.....i have spoke to the council and they seem to think that i must prove i didnt live there at the time......iv got ank statements, certified accounts, tax statements, invoices and receipts and also a letter from the land registry office stating that the house was sold while i was supposed to had been living there......there reply to this info was .......that is insufficant evidence.....how else can i prove it....cos i was living with parents. There are chasing e for £2337. RIDICULAS.

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