Council tax issue and Naturalisation

[red.flower]

Hello,

I am planning to apply for BC however I am worried that my application may be refused due to a problematic situation with council tax which I had brought on myself.
Last year my husband and I lost our business in which we had invested all our money and 2 loans. Cut a long story short, we ended up with a huge debt, no source of income and I started suffering from severe depression and suicidal thoughts stopping me from seeking employment. My husband found a job and decided to go back to full-time education. We then moved to a new flat and only provided the council with my husband's detail getting a full exemption. I realise that what we did was wrong and I feel bad and embarrassed about it but our financial situation was so desperate that we were barely surviving. We claimed the exemption for about a year. Few months ago I finally managed to pick myself up, found a job and we added my name on the council tax bill and started paying it.
Could anyone advise if I have any chances of obtaining BC or should I forget about it?

[Amber]

Really, you should just ring the council and tell them when you moved in and you'll have to pay 25% of last years bill as you weren't entitled to it. Doing such, you should have no issue with naturalisation.

[red.flower]

Thank you very much for the reply! I have been considering doing exactly that but I'm afraid of some serious consequences like prosecution or enormous fines. Do you think that the council would just accept the payment without any further action?

[Amber]

Yes.

[Derivaz]

Yes.

Amber

Do you think I could get in trouble if any of my previous landlords had done the same? for instance: My agreement with them (verbal) was that I would pay rent and that included bills and CT; they said they paid everything, but I didn't check; what would happen if one my landlords had the CT only in their name, without reporting me and got that 25% discount, because they didn't report I was there?

the HO would check with the council and I guess the council would say that there is nothing in my name; would the HO think I was doing something wrong because I'm not on the bill?

I had to report those addresses already when I applied for my Permanent Resident card a few months ago and I got it without any problem; does that mean that everything is in order? or they don't check that, as long as there is no court order against me or some outstanding debt in my name?

Regards

D

[Amber]

I wouldn't worry about it so long as you have not intentionally avoided paid Council Tax.

[Derivaz]

I wouldn't worry about it so long as you have not intentionally avoided paid Council Tax.

I wasn't liable for the CT, according to my agreement with him; my agreement was to pay £500 a month and that would cover everything. I don't have anything in writing, but I have bank statement showing that I was paying £500 a month, which is too much for just the rent; so it's easy to figure out that £500 a month covers more than just the rent.

I guess it's all in order, since they didn't tell me anything when I applied for my PR card, but I was wondering if the HO just checks if there are debts and court orders in your name or if they investigate further, because some times you can't control what other people do.

Cheers

D

[Amber]

You should anyway, check your credit profile once every 12 months. You're over worrying.

[Derivaz]

You should anyway, check your credit profile once every 12 months. You're over worrying.

My credit is fine; I had a credit check done 15 months ago for a mobile phone contract and it was fine and my bank ran another one recently for a mortgage promise and I have a top score; so that's not a problem.

But I was thinking that if my landlord had cheated that way; that wouldn't affect my credit anyway, because nothing was in my name; my concern was if the HO checks and the council says there is nothing in my name for that period of time, for that flat, but it's in someone else's name; so the HO might think that we cheated (even though I wasn't aware of it); so I was wondering if the HO would actually go that deep or would just run a credit check on me and if it's fine, they wouldn't check anymore: If it's case 1) i could be in trouble if my landlord cheated, I guess; if it's case 2) I wouldn't have any problem, because my credit is fine.

You are right, I tend to overworry I guess I just can't help it; I like to think of all the possibilities

Thanks for your advice as always

D