Council tax warrant

[Hidingfromhim]

Moved out of a property last March completed relevant forms for moving within the area and left council tax DD set up as I knew there would be another payment due, however I wasn't sure how much it would be - full month or part. First few days of March were taken in April, which would have been for the last few days we lived in the property.

Fast forward to January this year and old flatmate received a letter from bailiffs for the days after we moved until the end of that month. Scared, obviously paid it.

Why would the council come chasing council tax nearly a year after we moved, after adjusting my last DD payment? They definitely hadn't sent any correspondence prior to this so the warrant also seems a little OTT.

Would I be unreasonable to submit a complaint?

It goes through loads of stages before bailiffs (reminder, final notice, summons, liability order, penalty letter). A letter is generated each time.
Did you give a forwarding address?

Both of us moved within the area and they had our new addresses from the forms we filled in - I made sure I filled in all of the forms correctly, plus they chose to take 5 days worth, rather than the full payment for the last payment.

I feel like it was the council who made the mistake by not taking the full amount and we are the ones who are paying for it now!

I just think they will say they sent letters out. I used to work for an LA.
But you can try.

What happened to the property after you moved out? Was it empty? It doesn't sound like you were liable for any further payments.

Why on earth would you pay money you don’t owe? For goodness sake. You could have just rung them

The property was indeed empty while the landlord did some tidying up.

It was my old flatmate who paid, as by this point it had been passed on to a messenger at arms/sheriff officer. Sorry, maybe that isn't as bad as a warrant? Not great regardless, but the agency who had sent the letter apparently couldn't provide any further information than the time period from which the money was due.

RayRayBidet I thought as much, but surely they must be able to prove when/where they sent these letters?!

Yes they retain proof of postage. That's why I think they won't be particularly helpful. Also, for 1 or 2 letters not to make it is reasonable but to say 7 or 8 didn't make it is a bit of a stretch. Unless there is a major problem with their system. But then they would have other people saying the same stuff.
Have you had problems receiving any other mail at your current address? Could the flatmate have done anything dodge? Not to cast aspersions but could your partner have put them somewhere or hidden them?
I've lost count of the number of times the partner has been spending the money on something else and hiding the letters about it.

Nope, no issues getting mail to this address and definitely nothing being hidden.

I've found out my name was actually only put on the most recent letter, as the council did admit that they made a mistake and put someone else's name on it before. That is probably why nothing made it to me!!

I will need to call them today and ensure that I have no "black marks" against my name now. Hopefully they will also remove the "warrant charges" on the bill that still hasn't made it to my address. What a shambles...

Well if they've admitted that then you should be OK.
There are no "black marks" for non payment of council tax. It's dealt with by the magistrates not the county court so no ccj's.,