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Hello, my first time posting.
I had bit of a strange home set up so will quickly explain. I have lived at the same address for 10+ unbroken years, and aside from some brief relocations have lived there for 25+ years. I lived with the home owner as a private tenant, paying a private lodge/rent. Separate lives, separate bedrooms, but lifelong friends and a convenient arrangement for us both.
My friend recently passed away which has devastated me and I’m not thinking as clearly as I used to. Being her closest friend, tenant, and with no partner and an elderly surviving parent, I went through all papers to sort out the estate.
To cut a long story short, I discovered that the home owner never declared me as living at the property to the local council, neither am I on the electoral roll so it . I tied myself up in knots and was admittedly very fearful about contacting the council to inform them of the passing and getting myself registered, believing they would ask where I have been living for over a decade. They didn’t ask and that matter has all been resolved.
So the only concern I have is the ramifications of not being on the electoral roll. As I recall the last time I voted was in 1997. I realise that it was always my responsibility to get that sorted and I took my eye off the ball about it, and want to do everything right now, but am worried that I’ll get the £1,000 fine and get a criminal record.
Friends and family keep saying that as I never had sight of the annual request to update household details then it isn’t my responsibility, and a friend in a similar situation (not registered for 3+ years) recently just applied to have their name registered on the gov.uk website and hasn’t suffered any repercussions.
So am I worrying over nothing, should I just register online or wait until the annual request to update details, and if I am in any trouble, is there anything I can do to help myself?
Any advice or guidance would be gratefully appreciated.
I had bit of a strange home set up so will quickly explain. I have lived at the same address for 10+ unbroken years, and aside from some brief relocations have lived there for 25+ years. I lived with the home owner as a private tenant, paying a private lodge/rent. Separate lives, separate bedrooms, but lifelong friends and a convenient arrangement for us both.
My friend recently passed away which has devastated me and I’m not thinking as clearly as I used to. Being her closest friend, tenant, and with no partner and an elderly surviving parent, I went through all papers to sort out the estate.
To cut a long story short, I discovered that the home owner never declared me as living at the property to the local council, neither am I on the electoral roll so it . I tied myself up in knots and was admittedly very fearful about contacting the council to inform them of the passing and getting myself registered, believing they would ask where I have been living for over a decade. They didn’t ask and that matter has all been resolved.
So the only concern I have is the ramifications of not being on the electoral roll. As I recall the last time I voted was in 1997. I realise that it was always my responsibility to get that sorted and I took my eye off the ball about it, and want to do everything right now, but am worried that I’ll get the £1,000 fine and get a criminal record.
Friends and family keep saying that as I never had sight of the annual request to update household details then it isn’t my responsibility, and a friend in a similar situation (not registered for 3+ years) recently just applied to have their name registered on the gov.uk website and hasn’t suffered any repercussions.
So am I worrying over nothing, should I just register online or wait until the annual request to update details, and if I am in any trouble, is there anything I can do to help myself?
Any advice or guidance would be gratefully appreciated.
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