Hi all,
My brother is currently being chased for council tax that a council claims he owes from back between 2003 and 2005. The council has always held a forwarding address for him, but before May this year they've not written to this forwarding address. I know this because I have lived in the address in question for 10 years now and he has had very few letters, all of which were junk mail and forwarded to him anyway.
The council wrote in May to inform him that they held a liability order against him for just under £1,500, but gave no evidence of this. He wrote back asking for proof he ever lived at the address in question (to say he's had an interesting life would be an understatement, and none of us are sure where he was living back in the period in question), and for proof that a liability order was held. His last letter also stated that since he has been given no evidence that a debt exists, that the debt in question is over six years old and no acknowledgement has been made of the claimed debt and that he wasn't made aware of the existence of a liability order until May this year that he would treat any further communication as harassment, and asked for full details of the complaint procedure to be sent in any further communication.
He has today received a letter from the council stating that they obtained the liability order in 2008, and asking for him to send them details of his income and outgoings. They have refused to provide a copy of the liability order itself, or any evidence that it was served correctly (since he was first informed of the order over four years after it was issued), nor have they suspended the threat of involving bailiffs while the debt is being disputed or provided any details of the complaints procedure.
Any suggestions on how best to proceed. He honestly doesn't remember where he was living at the time, and I doubt that he was in the house the council claims he was. They've not bothered writing to him before May 2012 despite holding an address he's always had access to on their records.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions!