Three year Council Tax bill?

Reply to the comment left by Puzzler at 15/02/2019 - 15:41
Odd(?)....because if the council were not aware of the tenants moving in (as suggested by the council, stating that copies of the AST should have been sent to them), they would have continued to bill the previous occupier/landlord? Also, I disagree that AST's need to be sent.

...all is not lost, your friend needs to send in a claim for the incorrectly charged and paid £8K. I suggest a solicitor letter (circa £200) would get things moving quicker. Check out the reference provided by David Price in his earlier comment..

I find it hard to believe the Council waited for 3 years before chasing.
Where I am, they send the invoice. If 1st payment not received, a reminder will be sent. If this is not actioned, then either another reminder or a demand of full amount is made.
They usually send something every month in an escalating matter either to the owner occupier at the concerned address or to the landlord at his home address.
Has your friend registered the house with a council as BTL and gave them his landlord home address?
The only way this might arise if your friend lived in the house before letting it. Then friend moved to a different council area. Then the council was sending letters and reminders to the original address which got ignored by tenants. Council believed your friend to be responsible because their name is on the dead without a different address. Mind you, it would have got to the County Court by then.
So what did happen?

Reply to the comment left by Rob Crawford at 15/02/2019 - 16:04
It is not possible to copy an AST or send an AST as ASTs are intangible.

Reply to the comment left by Michael Barnes at 15/02/2019 - 23:32
They would be asking for the tenancy agreement -'normally written on paper!

Reply to Ian Simpson. Releasing information to councils re forwarding addresses is not a GDPR breach as its exempt. Councils collecting taxes.
The problem generally is that councils are reluctant to impose liability retrospectively as they know its easier to bill the LL than the tenant
I would always advise landlords to update them on occupancy details.
If the author in this case can prove that the property was indeed occupied, utility bills etc plus if the council or NHS wrote to the tenants, then the landlord should begin a claim to recover the monies. As David points out liability is determined in accordance with the 1992 CT regs.

Appreciate all the replies, I am not sure there is a AST in place and the council must have assumed there were no tenants and made the landlord responsible for the council tax. The council would have sent letters and then finally started court proceeding but my friend was unaware what was happening as the old tenants did not pass on the post. My friend is paying £500 a month to the council as they were threatening bailiffs but I have told him not to pay them

Situation will depend on who was liable up to point landlord let tenants into his property. Did he tell LA at the time? At end of day if they disagree with decision write to council saying they are making an Appeal under S.16 of LGFA 1992 as they dispute being held liable. Then provide details on the tenants etc. An area i deal with almost daily.

Reply to the comment left by Sash D at 16/02/2019 - 12:51Lots of useful advice on here for your friend, it may be a good idea for them to become a Property118 member/subscriber so that they can add the details themselves and receive the answers directly, as I suspect there may be some details of this case that are not included, e.g. all the unanswered questions as to what actions the Council, and the landlord, had taken during the 3 year period. Knowing these details may enable the advice to be more specific (and therefore accurate) to this particular scenario.

Your friend should sue the council for the return of his money using the argument quoted by David Price. Landlords should never if in the slightest doubt make any payment to local authorities or utility providers. What makes you think that they know the law?