Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

[Cda2212]

Hi

I was wondering, Can Council Tax arrears be Statute Barred?

I am in the process of trying to repair my credit file, although my council tax arrears are not listed on my credit file, I would like to reduce my outgoings somewhat so that I can pay off other debts that are affecting my credit rating.

I have around £4,500 of council tax arrears dating back to 2007. (as below)

Year - Council Tax Liability
2016 - 1254.24
2015 - 0
2014- 0
2013 - 307.15
2012 - 0
2011 - 941.22
2010 - 248.21
2009 - 841.15
2008 - 559.61
2007 - 55.66

How far back can I be held liable for these arrears. I have an agreement in place and currently pay the council £40pw, it will take me a substantial amount of time to clear this.

Please do not get me wrong, I am happy to plod along with this if I have to, but I would just like to know if the council are within their rights to chase back as far as 2007 for outstanding bills.

Thanks in Advance

[Kati]

Re: Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

[MENTION=30402]Milo[/MENTION] [MENTION=48934]Debt Camel[/MENTION]

[Amethyst]

Re: Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

Just in meantime, as you are paying then they won't go to statute barred normally, however, A council should not go to the magistrates’ court and ask for a liability order for council tax, more than six years after the council tax became due. This is under Regulation 34(3) Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992. ( national debtline)

How long have you been paying off the arrears ? and do you get statements updating you as to progress - and if so are they applying the payments to oldest debt first ?

[Kati]

Re: Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

How long have you been paying off the arrears ? and do you get statements updating you as to progress - and if so are they applying the payments to oldest debt first ?

I think they will put any payments towards this years bill first (and use any excess towards the rest)

[Kati]

Re: Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

I'll tag [MENTION=15129]Crazy council[/MENTION] and [MENTION=62334]Snoopy1948[/MENTION] too xx

[Cda2212]

Re: Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

Thank you all for your responses:

The agreement has been in place since April 2014.

I am assuming they are paying off the oldest debts first, but I have not been advised of that. I have never received a statement either but I do have access to my account online. All I received (via email) is the 'Council Tax Special Arrangement' letter which at the bottom states:

This arrangement has been agreed following the issue of a summons and it is essential that payment is strictly maintained as shown above.
If payment defaults the Council will take the necessary action without further notice and this will involve Committal proceedings

So I do not wish to make waves with this if it means they may proceed with court/ committal proceedings, but, as you say if they are chasing for money further back than they are legally permitted then I need to address this, as you know this is not something they will openly advise of.

Thanks In Advance

[Kati]

Re: Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

I do not wish to make waves with this if it means they may proceed with court/ committal proceedings

they won't go the court route if you're paying ... that's only for those who refuse to pay :nod: xx

[outlawlgo]

Re: Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

I think they will put any payments towards this years bill first (and use any excess towards the rest)

The year to which payment is allocated is the debtors choice (if he/she elects). However, other conditions will typically dictate which year a payment is allocated, for example if it matches a set instalment amount.

Lambeth's response is typical of how payments are allocated though not all councils do as the final point states:

"in the absence of clear instructions the council will allocate payments to the current year or youngest debt first and arrears after that is clear."

[Snoopy1948]

Re: Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

Trying to recall the exact situation here but I do remember the six year rule where a liability order cannot be applied for council tax, more than six years after the council tax became due. I do not recall statute barring being applied to council tax debts.

What I do recall however, was that debtors always had a hard time accepting that council tax debts were very much priority debts as they related to public money and of course under the right circumstances still held the penalty of committal to prison. There was some talk of changing legislation so that council tax debts were to be recorded on credit history but that never came about, principally because they were a magistrates court matter and not that of the county court. The response was always well if it doesn't affect my credit file, that's okay. My response to the debtors was that if you pay it without comment, we'll keep it that way!

Frankly if I had a debtor with £4500 in council tax arrears and they paid it consistently at £40 a week, I would have been delighted as it's just over a two year repayment period. It was always getting a balance between the customers hatred of council tax and agreeing repayment terms that didn't cause distress.

Just to add a bit to this, in my last year in council tax enforcement ( 2104 ) we had a case where we had not billed a customer for some four years, purely because we had not known he was there. The case went to a ruling ( possibly from case law ) where we were told that we could not bill that customer back more that the current tax year i.e. from the 1st April, as the council would be expected by its own investigations and data control to not have let such a case slip through the net. If that's correct then it's easy to simply not register for council tax if the opportunity arises. That put a complete kibosh on my constant argument that tax payers have a statutory right to advise the local authority of their presence. I would be interested to see if that argument has been proven or tested elsewhere.

[Debt Camel]

Re: Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

I am in the process of trying to repair my credit file, although my council tax arrears are not listed on my credit file, I would like to reduce my outgoings somewhat so that I can pay off other debts that are affecting my credit rating.

As a matter of practicality, you should be thinking of doing this the other way round - reducing the payments to your non priority debts to repay the CT arrears. At £40/week you are barely covering this years CT. If the council goes to court for liability orders and then bailiffs, these debts will escalate alarmingly.

[Diana M]

Re: Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

the 'Council Tax Special Arrangement' letter which at the bottom states:

This arrangement has been agreed following theissue of a summons and it is essential that payment is strictly maintained as shown above.
If payment defaults the Council will take the necessary action without further notice and this will involve Committal proceedings

Can you clarify if the "summons" issued by the council (referred to in that letter) ever resulted in a liability order?

I only ask the question because they seem to be hinting at their possible enforcement options (committal to prison).

Depending on your answer this could beg the question did they issue a summons in time.

Di

[Snoopy1948]

Re: Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

As a matter of practicality, you should be thinking of doing this the other way round - reducing the payments to your non priority debts to repay the CT arrears. At £40/week you are barely covering this years CT. If the council goes to court for liability orders and then bailiffs, these debts will escalate alarmingly.

Good point! I was assuming this was just an arrangement for arrears but I see the 2016/17 charge is listed as well. That is a completely different picture and depends on how that council funds the current year out of his weekly payments and more importantly if it maintains them on an up to date basis. However, what level of payment is considered desirable would depend on a full income and expenditure statement and what other debts exist.

[Milo]

Re: Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

Hi

I was wondering, Can Council Tax arrears be Statute Barred?

I have around £4,500 of council tax arrears dating back to 2007. (as below)

Year - Council Tax Liability
2016 - 1254.24
2015 - 0
2014- 0
2013 - 307.15
2012 - 0
2011 - 941.22
2010 - 248.21
2009 - 841.15
2008 - 559.61
2007 - 55.66

How far back can I be held liable for these arrears. I have an agreement in place and currently pay the council £40pw, it will take me a substantial amount of time to clear this.

Please do not get me wrong, I am happy to plod along with this if I have to, but I would just like to know if the council are within their rights to chase back as far as 2007 for outstanding bills.

Thanks in Advance

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news.....but Liability Orders do not become statute barred. This was apparently decided following a Court of Appeal case in 2005.

In fact, this was the subject of a Local Government Ombudsman's decision around 6 months. The complaint to the LGO concerned the enforcement of a Liability Order from 1993. Worst still, the LO was in relation to the old 'poll tax' !!!

Another stunning point with this decision was that the local authority (Liverpool) were unable to provide a copy of the 'Liability Order'. At that time, a paper record of an LO would have been available. In 2003, the requirement for a 'paper' record to be provided was revoked from the regulations.


http://www.lgo.org.uk/decisions/bene...her/14-019-796

[Debt Camel]

Re: Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news.....but Liability Orders do not become statute barred.

Correct - but it's not clear to me if there have been any LOs so far....

[Diana M]

Re: Can Council Tax Arrears be Statute Barred?

post # 14

but it's not clear to me if there have been any LOs so far....

post # 11

Can you clarify if the "summons" issued by the council (referred to in that letter) ever resulted in a liability order?

I only ask the question because they seem to be hinting at their possible enforcement options (committal to prison).

Depending on your answer this could beg the question did they issue a summons in time.

That's where my thoughts were heading.

Di