Council tax

[nannon]

I live in a shared house, there are 3 of us.
We have a council tax "account" and each month we all pay �60 each to cover the monthly bill. Or so we thought! one girl has failed to pay it for the last FOUR MONTHS! The two of us who have paid havent seen any warning letters (Apart from one where we had all forgotten to pay and we paid it straight away, apart from her although she told us we had!)
Anyway we have had a court summons ordering us to pay the full �1300! We are furious! The girl has said she wil take sole responsibility as it is her fault. However, it is proving very difficult for them to acknowelge this!! They say it is all of our responsibility, and even though i am moving out, after i leave it will STILL be my responsibility and than potentially bailiffs will come round to my forwarding address if i refuse to pay. Girl whose fault it is said she is going to go to citizens advice/lawyer to get our names removed but should it really be this hard? They say they have no way of knowing who has paid what from what account but this girl has ADMITTED it is her who hasnt paid the 4 payment!

Any advice please??

[funnygirl]

I did not know you were allowed to split the council tax bill like this and pay separately.

Sorry, I have no advice except go to the CAB yourselves and see what they've got to say.

[nannon]

Yes, when we first moved in i called and expained and they said that was fine so all our names on the account....
which is why i didnt think it would be a problem to take names off etc!
grr..........

[Postdog]

All your names are on the account so all of you are responsible. What arrangement you all had about collecting the money was between you, and though it's easy to say in hindsight, someone should have been responsible for colecting/ensuring payments.

I think the only way out is for this person to settle up what they owe, otherwise it will be down to all of you.

[R1Geezer]

multiple names just means you are all liable for all of it. They will pursue all or any of you. The monthly payment is a concession, once abused they demand full payment. You have a leech I suggest you frog march her down the council and watch while she pays up. What other bills are being neglected?

[nannon]

oh damn.I really dont know what to do. We always ask has everyone paid such and such and she ALWAYS said yes!
I want to frog march her out the house! We gave her money to pay the electric bill about 4 weeks ago yesterday i asked her at like 12pm have you paid it as "apparently there was some problem" and she looked me in the eye and said yes. So i phoned up later that evening to check and she paid it at like 4.30pm! And she still owes the other girl �500 for deposit!
And she already has CCJ's against her name and is in a lot of debt (Bad debt) - we dont! and we dont blinking want one!!
I also think we must inform the landlords as it is against the house isnt it?

[R1Geezer]

The landords, like the council do not give a to55 about who else she owes, they will pursue any or all of you. Like I said you have a leech. People with bad debts/ccj's have them for a reason, it is usually because they are without Honour, they think nothing of taking advantage of "friends". You are not her friends you are the people she is currently conning for as much as she can. My adice is to get out of her what you can and then boot her ar5se down the road a piece.

[luxury]

So you and your friend have been paying �120 a month to who?

The bill is �1300. so if you 2 are paying 120 between you a month.... then you've covered it.

How does it equate to �60 each a month? when it should be �40? btw

You also say you've paid four months??? or was that 4 months to this girl? �480 in total.

If you have given this girl your money? how are you doing that? DD? SO? then you have proof that you have given her your part.

Since you have given her this money though, she is a thief if she has kept it isn't she?

[nannon]

Our council tax is �182.70 a month, �60.92 each. We pay it to the council, all three of us are supposed to pay that amount to the council every month. We pay on line and have bank statements and emails to prove we have paid but the point is we dont want to go to court, We want no involvement as it is HER responsibiblity.
And she is not a friend, we did not know wach other when we moved in - apparently we all had credit checks done but i'm guessing not. None of my FRIENDS would do this to another person and had i had know what she was like i would never have moved in with her!

i dont really understand what your point is luxury? Why is it supposed to be �40 a month??? I never said we gave her any money....?

[themas]

1. Forget luxury's comment - he got it wrong.

2. The legal position is that all 3 of you (even if some of your names were not on the bill) are jointly and severally liable for the whole of the bill. That means that any one of you can be pursued for all the money owed.

3. A Court summons has been issued. Unless you (as a group) pay up in full before the hearing, a Liability Order will be made. The Council will then have a number of options about how to pursue you to get the money. They can include getting an attachment of earnings order (to make your employer take the money from your pay packet before you get your pay), bailiffs etc.

4. If it is not possible for the 3 of you to pay the full amount now you need to try and agree a payment plan with the Council. Most Councils are reasonable about this, and should agree a plan which sees the full amount paid by the end of the financial year. But it is absolutely vital that you do not break whatever agreement you come to. The Council will almost certainly still go to Court & get the Liability Order so that - if you do break the agreement - they can go ahead with other means of recovery without delay.

5. Don't give this girl any more money to make any other payments!!! Find out what her pay day is & get the money you need from her on that day - in cash.

[nannon]

Thank you very much for your reply! I feared this was the case. She said if there is a payment plan she will pay it by herself (Obviously the other girl will give her �60 a month for her share, as will the new person who moves in)
We just have to trust she will pay it each month otherwise as you say, they will come after us all!

Thank you again!

[luxury]

nannon,

Because you said you had a court summons ordering you to pay the FULL �1300.

So I read that as the whole bill was that amount and not the total left to pay. That is why I didn't understand the sum of �60 each.

Good Luck in proving your case.

[nannon]

Ah i see sorry - that is what is left plus some court costs and things!