Please Help Me

[Ilovemymam]

I arrived to The UK on August 2008 Untill now I am not yet to Pay for my council Tax . Honestly I didn't know about that befor untill on October last year when I needed to read a book and get ready for my Life In the UK test and I found out that I need to pay council tax. I asked my husband to do it for me but he didnt do anything Just tells me '' dont worry about it'' !!! Yes he knews that I need to pay at the first time since I am in The UK but hes just never tell me or mention about it ..what can I do I just want to do the right thing but I dont know I am really worries ..Seem18 months it would be a big money as well ( I am working but my husband Full time study) . What am I suppost to say to home office ..I just really worry that maybe they send me back to Thailand or put me to the jail

[7by7]

Council tax is levied on the property, not the individual. Your husband should already have been paying it before your arrival and continued to do so once you started to live with him.

The only complication is that he may have been claiming the single occupancy discount, which he would no longer have been entitled to once you moved in with him, and not told you local council that he is no longer entitled to it.

If unsure, contact the council tax department of your local council.

See Council Tax.

[473geo]

Could just go to the council office and explain, maybe with your husband in full time study you will not pay the full amount.

[Ilovemymam]

Thank you so much for Both of you ..I will go to do it tomorrow . I dont know whats gonna be happend .but just go on coz I dont want to have any concerns . Thanks for help again!!!

[473geo]

Thank you so much for Both of you ..I will go to do it tomorrow . I dont know whats gonna be happend .but just go on coz I dont want to have any concerns . Thanks for help again!!!

Don't be worried tell them you think you maybe should be paying, let them check, then if they ask how long you have lived in the house just tell them. They may not even backdate any charges......if they do, make sure you tell them you cannot pay and ask them to spread it over a period of time, I'm sure they will also do this if necessary.

[true blue]

Thank you so much for Both of you ..I will go to do it tomorrow . I dont know whats gonna be happend .but just go on coz I dont want to have any concerns . Thanks for help again!!!

Don't be worried tell them you think you maybe should be paying, let them check, then if they ask how long you have lived in the house just tell them. They may not even backdate any charges......if they do, make sure you tell them you cannot pay and ask them to spread it over a period of time, I'm sure they will also do this if necessary.

according to general information on council tax demand no charges are made if occupied solely by students?????

[enquirer]

I remember a lot of argument about student houses in which most were students but one or two were working. The problem was then that one working person disqualified all the students, so Council Tax became payable (shared among them at the full rate). So as the OP is working, the two of them may may be liable to pay the full rate of Council Tax.

[brian272727]

Your husband should be teling you this, not an internet forum.

Like the poster above said, Council tax is paid per house, not per person.

Don't worry, will be fine

[Boo]

depend on how many are living in the house though. If single person/student etc then there are discounts but if he hasn't registered his wife a living there then it will result in extra money being owed, not to mention her not having a council tax bill in her name for 18 months which is one of the accepted documents when applying for ILR & citizenship.

Is the lease/mortgage in your husbands name? If yes then I believe he is the one who is cheating the council out of their tax but for your own benefit I would tell him to call them asap get you added, they are quite reasonable & any monies owed can be paid back on an agreed payment plan.

OP do you have any household bills in your name, bank account registered to that address etc? These are all essential when you come to apply for ILR.

[CharlieB]

I'm with Brian on this one. Surely the OP should be discussing this with her husband, not some people on an internet forum. He's either informed the council already and they are fine, or he's deliberately keeping it from them to save money. If it's the latter, then he's committing benefit fraud and could get into trouble if he carries it on. I doubt his wife, the OP, would be in too much trouble, I think the onus is on the person who was resident in the house originally to inform the council of any changes in circumstances. The OP should ask to look at the latest bill from the council to see if any discount has been removed. If the OP feels so strongly about this then she should talk to her husband and tell him her feelings, not go behind his back and possibly land him in trouble. I know I wouldn't be happy if my wife took the advice of some strangers, didn't talk to me and went behind my back, which then landed me in a legal fight with the local council for benefit fraud.

[neverdie]

^sounds like the husband has already talked to the OP and put the fear of god in her, poor thing.

[CharlieB]

^sounds like the husband has already talked to the OP and put the fear of god in her, poor thing.

Even better reason for her to approach him again, not going behind his back and land him in a pile of poo with the local council and benefits fraud people.

[Ilovemymam]

depend on how many are living in the house though. If single person/student etc then there are discounts but if he hasn't registered his wife a living there then it will result in extra money being owed, not to mention her not having a council tax bill in her name for 18 months which is one of the accepted documents when applying for ILR & citizenship.

Is the lease/mortgage in your husbands name? If yes then I believe he is the one who is cheating the council out of their tax but for your own benefit I would tell him to call them asap get you added, they are quite reasonable & any monies owed can be paid back on an agreed payment plan.

OP do you have any household bills in your name, bank account registered to that address etc? These are all essential when you come to apply for ILR.

Thank you guy

I am living with my husband and all bills and tenancy agreement are all in his name . I also get paid in to his bank account .

[Boo]

I would be having a very important discussion with your husband right about now then as he needs to get your name added to household bills, council tax & get you your own bank account (all of this should have been done when you arrived in 2008) how else are you going to prove to the home office that you have been living with his as his wife for the past 18 months when you are ready to get your ILR (Indefinite leave to remain) in approx 6 months? Have you passed or ready to take the life in the UK test or are you or have you attended an English language cause with citizenship content yet?

These things are all important if you wish to stay in UK after the 2 year residency visa runs out.

[Ilovemymam]

I'm with Brian on this one. Surely the OP should be discussing this with her husband, not some people on an internet forum. He's either informed the council already and they are fine, or he's deliberately keeping it from them to save money. If it's the latter, then he's committing benefit fraud and could get into trouble if he carries it on. I doubt his wife, the OP, would be in too much trouble, I think the onus is on the person who was resident in the house originally to inform the council of any changes in circumstances. The OP should ask to look at the latest bill from the council to see if any discount has been removed. If the OP feels so strongly about this then she should talk to her husband and tell him her feelings, not go behind his back and possibly land him in trouble. I know I wouldn't be happy if my wife took the advice of some strangers, didn't talk to me and went behind my back, which then landed me in a legal fight with the local council for benefit fraud.

Oh I never througt it would be landed him in trouble.I did talk to myhusband so many times but he just ignored me and said to me to forget about it . I knew the reason why he did not registed my name at the 1 st place coz we have finacial concern but now I have a job I just think he should tell me that and registed me. my husband he just did not relize what's gonna happend to me I dont care about how many Britsh or the other do not pay council tax but They are still fine never been caught . But for me just want to do the right thing and yes in the future I need to apply for Visa aswell and I am truely fear.

[Ilovemymam]

I would be having a very important discussion with your husband right about now then as he needs to get your name added to household bills, council tax & get you your own bank account (all of this should have been done when you arrived in 2008) how else are you going to prove to the home office that you have been living with his as his wife for the past 18 months when you are ready to get your ILR (Indefinite leave to remain) in approx 6 months? Have you passed or ready to take the life in the UK test or are you or have you attended an English language cause with citizenship content yet?

These things are all important if you wish to stay in UK after the 2 year residency visa runs out.

Yeah I need to apply ILR very soon . I passed the life in the UK test now. seem I have so many concerns now

[Boo]

all isn't lost. Do you have payslips listing your address, did you register at the doctors under this address, if so you should have medical card with the address on it, when you applied for an NI number the letter would have gone there or any letters in your name, sent to you at this address?

If you contact the council tax they should be able to back date the council tax bill & send you some sort of document confirming this. You can then use this for the ILR.

Well done on passing the LIUK test

[CharlieB]

depend on how many are living in the house though. If single person/student etc then there are discounts but if he hasn't registered his wife a living there then it will result in extra money being owed, not to mention her not having a council tax bill in her name for 18 months which is one of the accepted documents when applying for ILR & citizenship.

Is the lease/mortgage in your husbands name? If yes then I believe he is the one who is cheating the council out of their tax but for your own benefit I would tell him to call them asap get you added, they are quite reasonable & any monies owed can be paid back on an agreed payment plan.

OP do you have any household bills in your name, bank account registered to that address etc? These are all essential when you come to apply for ILR.

Thank you guy

I am living with my husband and all bills and tenancy agreement are all in his name . I also get paid in to his bank account .

I hope it's a joint account and you have free access to any money you need, otherwise, I'd say you need to have a good talk to your husband about things.

[bobrussell]

If you are registered with the local gp this is very good proof of residence. My wife is named on the council tax bill with me. Another useful one is to write to the council asking if you (as a Thai or other national) can register to vote. They will usually write back to your home address and nicely let you know that you are not yet eligible to vote. This is a wonderful way of getting evidence that you are living at your home address and are trying to become involved with everyday life in the UK!!!!

[Artabus]

^sounds like the husband has already talked to the OP and put the fear of god in her, poor thing.

Even better reason for her to approach him again, not going behind his back and land him in a pile of poo with the local council and benefits fraud people.

Sorry, I disagree. The lady has spoken to him many times, he has not responded. She has every right to ask others for advice.

He should have declared her as there for council tax - now it may be that if he was a student he did not pay any at all, in which case declaring her, and her income, would make him liable for the whole amount. No excuse. If their savings and / or her income are below a certain amount, there is an entitlement for help anyway. Although that will not be backdated, unlike the need to pay it.

Good luck OP.

[Ilovemymam]

Thank you everyone .I went to Council house and everything is ok !! I need to pay backdate since I was living in that house till now. The worker tried to make a joke that I should not tell them hehe . so now I am feelling good and so pround even I dont have money to pay back all of money that I owed them .But I will try to tell them to spread it over a period of time,I am really happy now I can get out of my fear

Edited March 9, 2010 by Ilovemymam

[473geo]

Pleased for you - I hope they can do the right thing now and allow you to pay without too much financial pain!!!

[patong]

the council worker was right, i am not sure i would have told them. you can have your name put on one or two of the utility bills as proof of address for a bank account.

Edited March 9, 2010 by patong

[caledonia]

Glad you got it all sorted and they will have hopefully given you lots of time to pay it back - and taken off single person cpouncil tax as when there is two residents but one is student then only 75% of council tax is paid - yeah 25% dicount for one person - who did those maths!!!

Bless the poster that thought the council might let you off - yeah right - I work for the council and no one gets off with council tax - they do eventually catch up with you. Better to play it safe - and you have did the right thing.

It's one of the few debta where you can have your wages arrested and end up in prison - but don't worry, thats only when you refuse to pay rather than forget - you have did the right thing.

Good luck with you settlement plans and congrats on passing your Life in UK test

[Ilovemymam]

Glad you got it all sorted and they will have hopefully given you lots of time to pay it back - and taken off single person cpouncil tax as when there is two residents but one is student then only 75% of council tax is paid - yeah 25% dicount for one person - who did those maths!!!

Bless the poster that thought the council might let you off - yeah right - I work for the council and no one gets off with council tax - they do eventually catch up with you. Better to play it safe - and you have did the right thing.

It's one of the few debta where you can have your wages arrested and end up in prison - but don't worry, thats only when you refuse to pay rather than forget - you have did the right thing.

Good luck with you settlement plans and congrats on passing your Life in UK test

Council house 's worker just phoned me ! asked me about my salary , How much i 've got in account just now and about loan ,Overdraft.

I have no money enough to pay .Is that possible that I need to loan money from any building society or Bank to pay for them ?

Edited March 12, 2010 by Ilovemymam

[7by7]

They are probably asking these questions to work out some kind of payment plan.

What is your husband doing about this? It's his debt more than yours.

[bifftastic]

Don't worry too much. When they ask you about how much money you have, they want to know how much you can afford to pay them every month.

They ask about loans because that would be money you pay out every month.

Tell them everything you pay every month and how much you have left.

It is very important that when they tell you how much to pay every month that you always pay it!

if you miss a payment they can ask for the whole amount in one payment!

They should not ask you to take a loan to pay them because it will put you in financial hardship.

Next time you speak to them ask them about Council Tax Benefit. If you have a small income, sometimes you don't have to pay all the Council Tax.

Your husband should be helping you with this, I hope it all goes ok

[Ilovemymam]

They are probably asking these questions to work out some kind of payment plan.

What is your husband doing about this? It's his debt more than yours.

I just hope that they only asked me for payment plan and he said I have no right to claim tax benefit . About my husband he only got a thousand pound per month from his scholarship. and we already pay everything half and half ! and now he is in debt as well so he cant not offort it . I just hope that we dont need to pay back all of amount. so we just help each other for tax aswell.

Edited March 13, 2010 by Ilovemymam

[caledonia]

You will need to pay all of it back but they will try and work out an affordable plan with you - which it is very importnat you stick to. As another poster rightly said, if you miss an agreed payment they can then deman the whole outstanding amount.

You won't be able to claim council tax benefit as you won't have recourse to public funds.

I am a wee bit your husband hasn't bothered his rear end about this!! Whilst yes he is a student and therefor not liable he should have realised that you were and it seems he isn't really helping you in paying this.

Try and not worry about it too much. Just let them know what you can realistically pay and explain it is all new to you. They will try and help as much as they can but will require you pay as much as you can - and maybe give hubby a kick up the backside to get a little bit more supportive!!