Hi, Some time has passed with this, and in the meantime, I had made a couple of payments to the account but what with one thing or another, was not able to do any more - I have just received a letter, from the local district council, sent to my USA Address, informing me that they were issues Liability Order against myself by the Magistrates Court. This, apparently, gives them extra powers of recovery against me. Now, I guess the most important question I have here, is what can they ACTUALLY do, as I have no assets in the UK, and does this Liability Order carry ANY weight outside the UK?

OK, so my email got a response. Key points to note are that they apologised for telling me that non-UK cards were not accepted when this was not true and they also apologised for indicating that they could commence bankruptcy proceedings (claiming that the the recent change in legislation was 'misinterpreted'). I still however, take issue with some parts of their response. 1. I had raised the fact that they had rejected all offers by myself to pay via instalments. Their response to this was the offers were rejected as the amount outstanding related to a historic period where assurances were given that the debt would be settled in full when the property sold. I take issue with this because when I originally offered to pay via instalments, the revenues officer merely said that because the debt related to a retrospective period he was unable to offer an instalment plan. Prior to that my intention WAS to pay off the debt in full when the property sold but then I had to replace a gas boiler over here in the US (my priority is a warm house over a council tax debt!) and I had told them that circumstances change and it would now be an issue. hence requesting payment to be made via instalments. Their stance now is that the initial agreement should have been honoured (nothing was signed though, so not sure how that would hold up!). 2. On the subject of whether or not Greenhalgh Kerr had been instructed to proceed with insolvency proceedings prior to October 2015, their response was that the revenues officer had discussed recovery with Greenhalgh Kerr who advised that action CAN be taken internationally but that this would not be bankruptcy due to the recent change to the threshold limit. So, if I read this correctly, the revenues officer continued to spout the insolvency line, despite having been told by the solicitors that their could not be an insolvency action - so an admission of outright lying? Further, the claim that action CAN be taken internationally seems like more bluff and threat to me, as in reality, WHAT could they actually do? In closing, the Head of Revenues apologised again and said they have instructed Greenhalgh Kerr to put the case on hold provided I repay the balance on a monthly basis at a minimum rate of £100 per month, and if this is not maintained they will instruct the solicitor to proceed - can I counter this amount, if I think its too much, and tell them I will make payments according to what I can afford (in other words, if they are still receiving payments, whatever the level, are they able to do anything about it?). Thanks again!

Actually I have it on good authority that Capita only process the payments and that the revenues people are still all in house. Its still bad though.

Ok, thanks... I have composed and sent a suitable email.

Damn, he bailed.... "I will leave that to you to challenge at the appropriate time". I am hoping that he realised he was on very dodgy ground.

Ok, so I could not help myself - the revenues officer wrote to me today stating that as the full amount had not been paid the matter was being passed to Greenhalgh Kerr to commence insolvency proceedings. I replied stating that this course of action was disappointing, considering that I had now made 2 payments to the account. I also asked how insolvency proceedings could be brought, as the threshold was raised in October 2015 to £5000. He responded that (and I am paraphrasing here), I cannot decide to start making token payments, expecting this to mean further action would not be taken. He then went on to say that as the bulk of the outstanding debt was accrued prior to October 2015, "legal action may still be taken". I consider this utter nonsense, so I replied stating that assertion was inaccurate, and asked if insolvency proceedings were commenced PRIOR to October 2015 (I know they were not). I do feel like he is now making inaccurate statement after inaccurate statement, which I have a record of so while I could ignore him, I am rather intrigued as to what he will claim next.

It seems I was wrong and they ARE Capita - the receipt for the payment I made was from a Capita email address! lol

From my delving deeper, I doubt they are Capita (fairly small district council) but I'll heed your advice and not engage with them any further - thanks for all your help!

Ok, thanks - I just made a 10gbp payment online, which makes me mad considering he told me that I could not use a foreign card! Trying to stop myself calling him out on that lol

Thank you both for your comments - I have it in email form from the revenues officer at the council, refusing my request to pay by instalments. I had enquired also about paying via a foreign debit card and was told, today, that they only accept UK cards, which also seems pretty stupid to me. I feel like writing back asking him to clarify AGAIN that making instalment payments is not an option! The bankruptcy limit is interesting - just so I fully understand, the debt would have to be OVER 5k before they could pursue this course of action? Is it worth me repeating any of these facts back to the revenues officer, just so he knows I am not, in fact, a plonker? (no offence taken by the way!) Thanks again!

It seems like the council rep is playing hardball and is intent on instructing Greenhalgh Kerr - I did ask about paying instalments and this was rejected as not being possible due to it being for a 'retrospective period' (which doesn't sound right to me). The amount is approx 1200gbp so I am hoping this will be low enough for them to not deem it worthwhile.

Ok so the council replied: "I am aware of your residency circumstances. As such advice was sought from our solicitors prior to the e-mail being sent to you. The impact of insolvency action being taken for a debt owed in the UK against a US citizen is that the legal costs incurred are substantially more. Subsequently, these costs are added to the debt you already owe and are payable by you." Thoughts?

Cheers Unc!

Update - house sold ok in the end so mortgage issue was ok. However. I have now received an email from the local authority with the following excerpt: "I refer to my e-mail below advising you of the outstanding balance owing on the Council Tax account in relation to xx xxxxxxxx, xxxxx and note we have not received payment despite receiving confirmation from your solicitor that this would be settled upon sale completion. Please be advised that if payment is not forthcoming within the next 7 days, you will leave me no alternative but to instruct our external litigation solicitors Greenhalgh Kerr to commence with bankruptcy action which has significant credit consequences both in the UK and internationally." Is this anything more than hot air, as I live in the USA and do not intend returning to the UK for anything other than holidays? TIA

Cost is indeed part of the issue - I have been told by my agent that that my buyer has found some quotes that were very high, but hey, they at least quoted. If however, that means my buyer ultimately either chooses not to insure, or cannot get insurance, and the sale falls through (looking exceedingly like at the moment) I wanted to know what the ramifications might be if I DID walk away from it. I suppose the question is, how enforceable is any shortfall to the mortgage debt when I do not live in the UK? Believe me, this is not a path I want to go down - I would much rather sell the house and get at least some money back. If however, the risk is relatively small then its an option I might consider.