Lewisham Student Council Tax SCAM
BE CAREFUL!! students living in Lewisham
We were contacted on Soc media by someone currently living in the apartment that my daughter lived in 9 months ago, because they had a visit from a bailiff asking for £650 for unpaid Council Tax. The year before we took a Tenancy agreement for a year from 3rd Sept on a 4 bed apartment for my daughter + 3 friends who were students at a local Uni. As they are students they don't need to pay council tax and that was acknowledged by Lewisham Council when they moved in. Their Uni course finished on the 3rd wk of July and they all moved out back home at the end of the 3rd wk of July. As the tenancy agreement ran until beginning of Sept and they were not students anymore, they were liable for around 5 wks of Council Tax which we overlooked. 2 or 3 of us did go to the apartment a couple of times to check on it and check for post until we all finally cleared/cleaned out and handed the keys back on the 3rd Sept.
Lewisham Council said they sent letters out between 31st July until end Sept, but we never had letters through the door at all. We received letters from other people including energy/water bills etc.
When we contacted Lew Council they told us they had 2 of the residents emails and phone numbers but are only allowed to make contact via post.
The reason this is a scam in my view, is they never posted anything to us otherwise we would have received at least one of the letters. Then they forward the case to the courts which added to the bill, and then the case was passed to the Lewisham Enforcement services. So in the end the Tax bill was doubled. All in all it helps to pay for Lew Enf Services which are part of the council. Not sure if this happens with any other councils.
I have seen this scam before with products that you part pay for and have to pay the rest by a certain date, but you don't get details of how to pay or any correspondents until you are contacted by bailiffs.
If you have to stay in Lewisham just make sure you tell them when you are moving out, or ask for the Tax bill . Most importantly get some proof that they acknowledge what you have told them i.e a letter or something on paper.
Hope this helps. Students and their families have enough to pay for without this going on.
We were contacted on Soc media by someone currently living in the apartment that my daughter lived in 9 months ago, because they had a visit from a bailiff asking for £650 for unpaid Council Tax. The year before we took a Tenancy agreement for a year from 3rd Sept on a 4 bed apartment for my daughter + 3 friends who were students at a local Uni. As they are students they don't need to pay council tax and that was acknowledged by Lewisham Council when they moved in. Their Uni course finished on the 3rd wk of July and they all moved out back home at the end of the 3rd wk of July. As the tenancy agreement ran until beginning of Sept and they were not students anymore, they were liable for around 5 wks of Council Tax which we overlooked. 2 or 3 of us did go to the apartment a couple of times to check on it and check for post until we all finally cleared/cleaned out and handed the keys back on the 3rd Sept.
Lewisham Council said they sent letters out between 31st July until end Sept, but we never had letters through the door at all. We received letters from other people including energy/water bills etc.
When we contacted Lew Council they told us they had 2 of the residents emails and phone numbers but are only allowed to make contact via post.
The reason this is a scam in my view, is they never posted anything to us otherwise we would have received at least one of the letters. Then they forward the case to the courts which added to the bill, and then the case was passed to the Lewisham Enforcement services. So in the end the Tax bill was doubled. All in all it helps to pay for Lew Enf Services which are part of the council. Not sure if this happens with any other councils.
I have seen this scam before with products that you part pay for and have to pay the rest by a certain date, but you don't get details of how to pay or any correspondents until you are contacted by bailiffs.
If you have to stay in Lewisham just make sure you tell them when you are moving out, or ask for the Tax bill . Most importantly get some proof that they acknowledge what you have told them i.e a letter or something on paper.
Hope this helps. Students and their families have enough to pay for without this going on.
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