AIBU to be pissed off with the council who sent this

[StonedRoses]

Today my DW has received SIX letters in the post about an unpaid council tax bill for a property in a city we’ve never visited - let alone owned property in. It says there is a court order and some of these go back to 2013. The order is the bill for the tax plus court fees - and threatening bailiffs in 14 days. No first name but her initial and surname and sent to our address (where we do pay council tax!!) It looks genuine, links to that council website. Of course their phone lines aren’t open till Monday.

Is it a mistake, scam or identity theft? What should we do. My DW is very upset and shaken and worried about bailiffs taking our stuff. How do we prove we have no idea what this is on about? Any advice gratefully received. What do we do if bailiffs turn up. Should I just pay it on a card to remove this risk then try to claim it back.

Have you checked your wife’s credit report to make sure there is nothing on there from this court order debt? I assume the council have used a tracer who has come up with someone with same initials as the person they want.

Council tax letters never just put an initial. It always says full name.
It's a scam, please don't pay and don't worry.
You can easily prove where you lived at the time these bills state regardless, not just through your actual tax number but through land registry.
Call 101 I'm sure they'll confirm

Council tax letters from the council only have my first initial then my last name

Bibibirdie it doesn’t matter where you live at the time, you can be liable for more than one property for council tax. You could live in one property and own another property and you’d be liable for the council tax, unless it was rented out etc. Some people own many properties and thus can end up liable for the council tax on all the properties they own.

Call them Monday morning, it's probably a letter change on a postcode or possibly a scam

If you telephone on Monday morning and it’s not a scam, which on the face of what you’ve written it doesn’t sound like it. Get the name of the person you talk to and the email address, that way you can follow up with an email reiterating that your wife has never rented or owned the property - do put it in writing and keep a copy of the email

My ex husband had issues along these lines for many years. Basically, there was a man with the same name and same date of birth who was ru Ning up debt here, there and everywhere. He was obviously moving around a lot and people were chasing his debts. We regularly got these kinds of letters. It was always OK when my ex called and spoke to the organisations so try not to worry as it sounds like something similar.

It may put your mind at ease to consult a legal helpline if you have on with your house insurance or through an employee assistance programme with your jobs or union.

My step brother had exactly same thing. It was sorted with him so don't worry. Phone council first thing on Monday and they'll realise they've made a mistake and backtrack

Lots of councils have 24 hour contact centres. Why not try calling up today? Using the number on the council website rather than the letter as already mentioned obviously!

They might be able to help you today, in which case great. They might say to ring back tomorrow - which is what your current plan is so nothing lost. Or the might not be able to help you directly but might be able to say that you need to speak to someone tomorrow but that they’ve already had 43 people this week. If this is a scam then they won’t just be doing it to your dw, they will have got the letter looking right then sent to thousands of people. They just need a few percent of people to pay to make it profitable.

And I actually did get caught by a council tax problem - I added dh to an account at the same time as setting up a standing order and instead of just adding him to the details they closed the original account and and set up a new one with him and using the standing order details. Meant the old account had a couple of months unpaid on it and took a while to unpick as they could see the payment going into my account.

But Imrhe point of saying this is that I had been having letters (and phone calls) throughout - they didn’t jump straight to a final notice scary demand. The jump straight to the final demand because they want to scare people into paying - especially effective if letter arrives on a Friday or Saturday so people can’t always easily contact the council to check...

Hope it’s easily sorted very soon!

Can I suggest that if it is a scam that you don’t just ignore it and give it to a relevant body to investigate. Scammers should be caught and not just ignored by those smart enough to spot them. If there is a greater risk of being caught, maybe some would think twice and the vulnerable just a little less vulnerable. Just a thought, hope all goes well Monday

@ivykaty44 which is why she would be registered as the owner, wouldn't she?
At the very least there are utilities at this other property.
It's a scam it's a well known one at that. Look at OP and others saying to pay it then claim it back. Scammers work on fear.

I had something similar happen to a client. She had one of the most common surnames, and popular first name.

We rang the enforcement agency and explained that she had never lived in that city, indeed had never lived in any town other than the one she was now living in. They started off by asking her to get an Experian report to prove it, so I told them that the onus was on them to prove that they had the right "Mary Smith", and we gave them the client's DoB and previous addresses.

That sorted that one out, but for a couple of years she got letters from Lowell, Cabot etc all relating to debts that were nothing to do with her. She had enough debt problems of her own without getting chased for someone else's!

Bibibirdie you don’t have to be registered with land registry to be owner of the property to be liable for council tax, and being registered as owner and liable for council tax at the property she lives in won’t negate someone from being liable at another property.

Unfortunately it maybe the case of mistaken identity, seeing as the bills go back to 2013 it would suggest the council is trying to find this person to send the tax bill only they haven’t got the correct person jyst someone with the same or similar name

Well this afternoon after lots of hanging on someone, who sounded much more senior, got back to us. Said it was clearly a mistake and they had the wrong person and would remove her from their records. But he had absolutely no idea how they got her name. Apparently a third party had been used to trace the individual, who does owe then thousands.
To me it’s a bit worrying they could make such a mistake on something so important. It’s caused a lot of stress and anxiety and a day hanging by the phone. More importantly what if the letter went to someone more vulnerable?

I’ve asked for a letter confirming this, and a written apology. I’ve also taken Salford off my list of possible holiday destinations

Wow. I was sure it was going to be a scam, but it's an actual Council cock up.
Well done, OP.

I've heard of some amazing reasons why someone won't go somewhere on holiday. But over a council tax mistake 😂

It’s scary how easy it was for them to make such a mistake. We have an incredibly common surname. So the number of Ms S Smith (not the actual name!) in the UK must be huge

OP, nothing wrong with the City of Salford, if its good enough for the BBC, ITV etc then it should be good enough for you. Never read such rubbish - don't visit then.

Sorry, just realised this is from last year.

FYI
If you do get bailiffs at the door, speak through the door/letter box. Do not open the door and leave it ajar whilst you go back into the house for your phone, the letters or anything, an open door is invitation to them to enter