Council Tax rules - sorry OT

[gopher]

Can any one shed any light on this - is this right?

Some years ago my brother was living in a flat in Plymouth. His flat mate moved back home and the landlady found another person (lazy sh1te who did nothing all day) to take his room. My brother later moved out as he had bought a house. Some time later (about 6-8 months I think) Plymouth Council write to him and say you owe x amount for unpaid council tax and when he queries it the unpaid tax was this other renters who was a lousy good for nothing who they could not trace. He argued his case and they finally agree that he is not liable. Today Bailiffs turn up get into his house and leave him with no option but to pay £300. They reckon he’s been notified that they had changed their mind and he was after all liable (no letters recieved).

Surely this can be right? Why should he have to pay for some useless scrote who had no intention of paying, and they can’t be bothered to trace when he paid all his taxes etc.

Does anyone here know what the law ules on council tax are? What they are saying is that if two people share accommodation each is equally liable for the others council tax, regardless that he had no choice in who he shared the flat with, and they will take it from the easiest source.

Cheers

Paul

[Basil Brush]

Who's name was on the council tax bill?

[S2N]

I cannot advise on the council tax laws im afraid but I would suggest that your brother first looks into the origonal tenancy agreement from the landlady and check what agreed.

[fish]

Not sure but I understand coucil tax is due by the owner, ie the Landlord. When you sign your contract with the landlord you normaly have a clause that you are responsible foe the tax. And if a person moves out it is the remaining persons responsibility.

It will depend on the contract signed.

[bugmeister]

As long as he can prove when he moved out of the house and where he moved to he should be OK. Did he keep the electoral register up to date. If he has the proof then I think the landlady has to share the responsibility.

If he does not have records as to where he was at the time he may be in difficulty. i had a similar roblem several years ago with the poll tax. i had registered for it in Sheffield, but moved south before it actually came into effect. After a few years I moved back after being made redundant and signed on. I received a final demand for nearly £1000 in unpaid poll tax within 2 days. I had to get a letter from ex employer and my new landlord to prove that I wasn't in Sheffield for any of the charged period. It took a little while but I was let off all charges.

[pdv6]

bugmeister said:It took a little while but I was let off all charges.

That says it all: "let off", my arse! Its like they're doing you a big favour by allowing you not to pay what you don't owe!

Don't know if it works the same elsewhere, but the last time I rented, I was liable for Council Tax rather than the landlord. Only rented the house for 6 months, and seeing as they charge 10% of the year's total for the first 10 months and then nothing for the last 2, I reduced my final payment accordingly.

A long stream of sh1tty letters from the council later, I gave up and paid the extra. Strangely enough about 2 years later they refunded me the exact amount they had fought tooth & nail to get out of me, because I didn't owe it in the first place.

[gnomesmith]

It is possible to appeal against the council's decision regarding liability, have a look at this site www.valuation-tribunals.gov.uk.

The Liability depends upon the type of property. Roughly speaking if it is a self contained flat then those signing the tenancy agreement are jointly and severally liable to pay CT. If they cannot be traced the billing authority may seek to recover from the owner.

A building wholley occupied by students is exempt from CT.

If the flat is in a 'building in multiple occupancy', basically a room or rooms with shared facilities then the building owner or head leaseholder is responsible.

If a signed agreement assigns the responsibility to pay to a person other than the person responsible in law the billing authority may recover from the legal payer, it will then be for that person to attempt to recover from the assigned person in a civil action.

Hope this helps but do not expect the Local Authority to understand what they are supposed to be doing.

[egomeister]

The council tax enforcers are a bunch of sh*tes. My ex-girlfriend has had problems with this where other people haven't paid and left the country - so they chase her because she was still local. We provided them with as much info possible to trace the other people but they just chased her because she was easiest to catch. Having said that the people in the office/advice centre were helpful at all times - its just a pity they didn't have the power to do anything.....

Apologies for the rant.....

Edit: Sorry to anyone who may have been offended by the tone of this post, but seeing "the system" offer no support to someone faced with a council tax bill through no fault of their own (barring a structured payment plan...) has lefy me with a bit of a sour taste about this particular subject.

>> Edited by egomeister on Tuesday 21st January 20:16

[gnomesmith]

Probably not sh*tes, probably underpaid and disinterested.

Would you pay more Council Tax to employ a better quality enforcer?

[gopher]

gnomesmith said: It is possible to appeal against the council's decision regarding liability, have a look at this site www.valuation-tribunals.gov.uk.

The Liability depends upon the type of property. Roughly speaking if it is a self contained flat then those signing the tenancy agreement are jointly and severally liable to pay CT. If they cannot be traced the billing authority may seek to recover from the owner.

A building wholley occupied by students is exempt from CT.

If the flat is in a 'building in multiple occupancy', basically a room or rooms with shared facilities then the building owner or head leaseholder is responsible.

If a signed agreement assigns the responsibility to pay to a person other than the person responsible in law the billing authority may recover from the legal payer, it will then be for that person to attempt to recover from the assigned person in a civil action.

Hope this helps but do not expect the Local Authority to understand what they are supposed to be doing.

edited to say: I should actually reply when quoting

Thanks that looks interesting, I'll send him the link, although it does appear to be not up yet.

Cheers

Paul


>> Edited by gopher on Tuesday 21st January 18:15

>> Edited by gopher on Tuesday 21st January 18:16