A man whose house burned down three years ago could be jailed for not paying council tax while he rebuilt it.
Herefordshire Council has issued a summons against Nic Taylor, of Bedrock, Wye Street, Ross-on-Wye, for non-payment of rates. He is to appear before Hereford magistrates on Friday (November 21).
He said: “My lawyer has advised me that there is a real chance of my being imprisoned for non-payment of rates for the two-year period while I rebuilt the house. I paid for the rebuilding mostly from my own pocket.
“The Government changed the rules on council tax last April. Until then, if a house was empty and uninhabitable you definitely didn’t have to pay any council tax.
“The council at first allowed me six months rates-free to rebuild the house. They then extended that to a year. But I had to rebuild the house almost entirely from my own pocket, and it took me two years.
“Insurance problems that arose have still not been resolved, despite a ruling from the Ombudsman a year or so ago which was in my favour.
“The insurance people say the house was not built correctly. I say it was built completely in accordance with the architect’s drawings, which had received council planning permission.
“The wrangle has bankrupted my company, led to my divorce and the breaking up of my family, and caused me immense distress. It has cost me more than half a million pounds.
“The council is now taking me to criminal court for non-payment of rates. My lawyer advises me that there is a real chance of my being imprisoned for non-payment of the rates for the two-year period it took me to rebuild the house.
“I think that is very unfair and I shall contest the issue.”
It is almost exactly three years since the house was destroyed by fire on November 23, 2005. “The fire was caused by an electrical appliance,” said Mr Taylor.
“For four hours or so I watched as five fire engines poured water on to the blaze and the ash and debris of what was left of the house swirled away and flowed off down the hill toward the river.
“It was not a pleasant day, and I didn’t think it could get much worse. But it did, because I ended up in a wrangle with the insurance company, their loss adjusters and surveyors.
“I had an extremely distraught wife and two small confused children. But there was not one person in the neighbourhood who did not try to help in one way or another, either with offers of somewhere to stay or clothes for the children, because literally it was all gone.
“I had what I was standing up in, and my two boys had the school uniform they were wearing.”
Mr Taylor moved back into the house in September, 2007.
It cost about £160,000 to rebuild, £100,000 of which has come from Mr Taylor’s own pocket and about £60,000 from the insurance company.
“I would be happy to pay council tax from September last year, when I moved back into the house,” said Mr Taylor.
“But I consider it unreasonable to be asked to pay rates for a house that was not habitable, and because of the dispute I haven’t paid any council tax.”
A Herefordshire Council spokesman said: “We can allow up to 12 months’ exemption from council tax. By law, that is the maximum we can allow, and that is what we have done. Non-payment of council tax is a serious issue, and the council does its best on behalf of other council tax-payers to recover any outstanding amounts. We cannot comment further with the court case pending.”
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