A family mourning their late mum said a council has continued to send bills to her - more than a year after she died. At one point they claim they were sent six letters in one day.
Richard Sefton-Durrant said his mum, Jane Durrant, received letters before her death saying she was behind on her council tax bill. This was despite her moving out of her house after she was diagnosed with cancer.
Jane died at the age of 63 in February 2022, almost a year after she was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2021. Before she passed away, she moved out of her house in Moreton, Wirral into supported living in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. Richard said Wirral Council still sent her letters warning about council tax despite an exemption on empty homes for people receiving care,
After the mum of three and grandmother of five's death, her family sold the house in December 2022. However they have say they have continued to receive letters - including six in one day in April. Richard said he has also received several emails from the council in the wake of Jane's death.
He said: “It’s just we were really close. It sounds pathetic but even receiving a letter and seeing my Mum’s name, you think 'oh it’s for mum' and it takes you back into your grief. I've said to them, 'Please stop sending them because it’s just reminding me that my mum is dead.”
“Everything was for other people. Mum was just such a lovely caring person. She was such a loving woman, she was just amazing.”
Richard said he has contacted the council both over the phone and email but the letters still keep coming. Some simply say that no council tax is owed.
A Wirral Council spokesperson said: “We are extremely sorry if the family feel upset by our attempts to get in touch. The council has a legal responsibility to establish who owns and lives in a property and in this case, we would encourage the family to contact us so we can confirm the correct council tax exemptions were applied, and check if any refunds are due."
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One email sent from the council in March said Jane was still listed as an owner of the house, alongside Richard’s stepfather. It added that family members could be charged council tax from December 2021 unless the names of new owners were provided.
Richard said he had checked with his solicitors and everything had been completed. He said he was advised that it should be the new occupants who are contacted by Wirral Council as this falls under their solicitor’s remit to update the land registry about who owns the house.
He also said his mum would have updated the council on her living arrangements when she moved out of the house in Moreton and that she always made sure to stay on top of her bills. Jane, who worked as a counsellor, would have turned 65 on May 8.
Richard added: “She still had to pay full council tax even though my step dad hadn’t been living there for the last three years. There were times she would break down sobbing because no one was listening.
“She never caught a break my mum, bless her. It just felt like they weren’t listening.”
