Can Council Tax Debt Be Statute Barred?

Question

Dukes baliffs attended my parents private house today trying to enforce some council tax debt which is from over 11 years ago they left a sheet of paper stating /threatening that they will attend again they asked for my name i never confirmed this they also told lies stating that my father stated i used to live at their claimed previous addresses.

Is this debt statute barred since i have had zero contact with the claimants in more than 6 years? what would be my next course of action ? they threatened to start clamping vehicles either owned or not on private property which is a criminal offence please help a.s.a.p as i dont know what to do next.

Answer

Paul,

Who are they stating owes the Council Tax? You or your parents?

How much is the debt?

Why is there is a Council Tax debt? Why was the tax not paid?

There are concessions and tax relief programmes that may have covered this.

You are correct that most debts are or can be Statue Barred if there has been no contact from a creditor for six (6) years.

However, the issue of contact comes into play. If a creditor sends notices or attempts contact to a previous address, or they have no new details, it can be deemed attempting contact.

Bailiffs while they have certain powers, cannot take property that is not owned by the debtor. So that may have been just a threat they made.

You may need to seek legal advice depending on if this gets escalated to a higher level.

Regards,

Jon