You Did Not Get A Final Notice Or A Reminder
Before the council applies for a liability order to enforce unpaid council tax, the law says the council must either give the liable person a Final Notice or a Reminder, but not both. Otherwise, you can ask the council to stop the enforcement.
A common reason for not receiving a notice or reminder from the council is that they need the correct address for you.
The bailiff may have traced your new address and attended without prior notification, breaching Paragraph 7.1 of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts, and Enforcement Act 2007. As a result, you may apply to the court to stop the enforcement and recover damages, including legal expenses, under Civil Procedure Rule 84.13.
Initially, you should engage with the council and insist they comply with the relevant laws and enforcement regulations.
Paragraph 12 of the Taking Control of Goods: National Standards 2014 states the council must not issue a liability order knowing a debtor is not at the address as a means of tracing the debtor.
Regulation 23 of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 states the authority must serve the debtor (liable person) a demand notice called a "reminder notice".
Regulation 33 of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 states that before applying for a liability order, the authority must serve the liable person with a "final notice" unless a "reminder notice" has been given.
Councils may challenge your change of address by asserting their right to use your "last known" address for the service of documents.
However, the authority must revise this defence because the law determines whether a document has been effectively served through the ordinary course of post. Section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 states a document given by post is deemed served unless evidence to the contrary is provided.
Therefore, you just need to include evidence of the address to which the bailiff turned up.
Request to inspect the liability order. If it displays your previous or an incorrect address, it constitutes a 'defective instrument'. Any enforcement action taken by the bailiff under such a defective instrument is in breach of Paragraph 66(1)(b) of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts, and Enforcement Act 2007.
Therefore, under Civil Procedure Rule 84.13, you may apply to the court for remedy, which may include damages and reimbursement of your legal expenses.
Template Email and Text Message: Notice of the council's breach of Final Notice or Reminder notice regulations and request to stop enforcement action.
Capture a screenshot of both the email and text message sent to the bailiff, making certain that the timestamps are clearly visible. These screenshots may prove invaluable as evidence should you need to take further action.