Dear Ruth

Following your email to Steve Peers, I have reviewed parts of "Council Tax Handbook" (7th edition, CPAG) (ISBN 978-1-906076-06-01).  I cannot advise you in the matter, but I can outline some general rules and demonstrate how they might apply in the few circumstances that I can elicit from your email.  You will need to decide whether they are appropriate for your full circumstances.

Assuming that you reside at the house which is the object of the charge, then the chances are that you are the subject of the charge.  There is a nicety in law that requires the council to get the bill addressed to the right person, but the council has the legal right to be lazy and address bills to "the occupants".  It might be rude, but it would still be a valid bill in law.

It's worth considering whether you are entitled to a discount or a benefit.

Do you know whether you are entitled to either single-occupant's discount and/or Council Tax Benefit?

A brief outline of each follows below.

I hope this helps to start to ground your position against the Council.

If you have any further general queries, please reply by return.

Kind regards




Single-occupant's discount
If you were the sole occupant of the house, then you can claim a discount of 25% for the period during which you were the sole occupant.

The government explains it on http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/YourlocalcouncilandCouncilTax/CouncilTax/DG_10037422 .

Reading your email, the book contains a few nuggets that probably don't appear on the government's website.

• Councils must grant discounts for a past period if the conditions are met;
• There is no "good cause" requirement as would be the case for backdating most social security benefits;
• The council must take reasonable steps to check whether a discount should be granted.  The duty falls on the council to get the bill right, including the discount if there is evidence for it; consequently, there is a duty on the council tax payer to correct the council's mistake (if appropriate) within 21 days of receiving the discounted bill.

To claim a discount, simply write a letter to the council requesting one, enclosing relevant evidence to support the claim.  In your case, perhaps a copy of the missing persons report from the police might be held as quite strong supporting evidence. 

There might be other forms of evidence that you can think of: all of it might help build a credible picture about your claim for a discount.  The evidence should ideally support both the fact that you are a sole occupant from a particular date.

Be sure, however, that the evidence says what it says, not what you want it to say.  Councils are encouraged to report deceitful claims to the police for criminal investigation.  My local branch of TPA has a few members who feel that councils are quite happy to play dirty if it maximises their income (even if it costs more in court fees than the tax they were trying to collect).  Take care!


Council Tax Benefits
You might be entitled to Council Tax Benefit (CTB), if your income is low enough.  This is complex.  The government explains it on http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018923 .  This site also takes you to your local council's website, on which there should be a CTB calculator, or application forms.

Beware: this is insanely complicated and actually quite invasive.

Unlike discounts, claims for CTBs are subject to strict time limits.  If you are aged 60 or over, then a backdated claim is allowed (you just need to show that you qualify for it).  Otherwise, you have only 52 weeks to claim, for which you have to show that you qualify for it, and also that you had "good cause" for delaying your claim.  This means that you need to justify your delay between the date from which you qualified for CTB and the date on which you have claimed CTB.

There are two CTBs (i. the main CTB; ii. the second adult rebate).  There is one additional benefit: Discretionary Housing Benefit.

-- Martin Thornhill
Local organiser of St Albans Taxpayers Alliance