Council tax charges as FT student - Being ignored by the council.
So I am a PhD student living alone in Birmingham but i’m receiving threatening letters from the council over unpaid council tax (CT).
The idiot I am, I wasn’t aware that I was exempt from paying council tax and paid it for 1.5 years. Upon discovering i was exempt, i applied online for an exemption and a refund- no avail. I also emailed them with proof of my student status - nothing.
I was then charged council tax for 2025, and bredguingly i paid it due to the threatening letters they sent despite being exempt.
However, considering that they clearly don’t want to refund me my money, I decided this year to just cancel my direct debit. I figured it would be easier to get in touch with them and then explain why i have done so rather request a refund they don’t want to give me.
Having received threatening letters, I phoned the council. I sat 30 minutes in the queue and then finally got in touch. Having explained the situation to the operator, he hung up the phone in an instant. I’m fuming.
What on earth do i do?? They say if i don’t pay in 7 days i owe them £1600!! They owe me about 2/3k!!!!