The Community Charges (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1989

Joint and several liability

48.—(1) This regulation has effect with respect to the application of regulations 28 to 47 to a sum for which persons are jointly and severally liable under Part III.

(2) A reminder notice shall be served in accordance with regulation 28(1) and (2) on every person against whom the application for a liability order is to be made except a chargeable person who has been served under regulation 20(1) or 21(4) with a notice in respect of the amount concerned; and in determining whether a person has been served for this purpose, regulation 22(6) shall not have the effect of deeming him to have been served in a case where he has not in fact been so.

(3) A liability order may be made against the chargeable person alone, or against that person and the spouse or manager (as the case may be), but may not be made against the spouse or manager alone.

(4) Where a liability order has been made against both the chargeable person and the spouse or manager, subject to paragraph (9)–

(a) an attachment of earnings order may be made against one of them, or different such orders may be made against each;

(b) distress may be made against one of them or against each; and

(c) a charging order may be made against one of them or different such orders may be made against each.

(5) Where distress has been made against both the chargeable person and the spouse or manager, a warrant of commitment may be applied for against one of them or different warrants may be applied for against each.

(6) Where distress has been made against the chargeable person only, a warrant of commitment may be applied for against that person.

(7) Where a liability order has been made against a chargeable person and a spouse or manager, a warrant of commitment may not be applied for against the spouse or manager unless distress has been made against the chargeable person (as well as against the spouse or manager) and it appears to the authority concerned that no (or insufficient) goods of those persons can be found.

(8) Where a liability order has been made against a chargeable person and a spouse or manager, and a warrant for commitment is issued against (or a term of imprisonment is fixed in the case of) one of them under regulation 41(3), no steps, or further steps, may be taken under this Part against that one by way of attachment of earnings, distress or charging of a designated dwelling in relation to the amount mentioned in regulation 41(4).

(9) Where a liability order has been made against a chargeable person and a spouse or manager–

(a) steps by way of attachment of earnings, distress, commitment, bankruptcy, winding up or charging of a designated dwelling may not be taken against a person while steps by way of another of those methods are being taken against him, and

(b) subject to paragraph (10), steps by way of attachment of earnings, distress, or charging of a designated dwelling may not be taken against a person while steps by way of the same method or another of those methods are being taken against the other.

(10) Where a liability order has been made in respect of an amount against a chargeable person and a spouse of his and in making distress against one of them goods jointly owned by both are found, paragraph (9)(b) does not preclude distress being levied against those goods with respect to that amount; but in any subsequent proceedings under regulation 41 (commitment), charges arising under Schedule 5 from such distress shall be treated as charges relating to the person against whose goods the levy was intended to be made when the jointly owned goods were found, and not as charges relating to the other.

(11) Where a liability order has been made against a chargeable person and a spouse or manager in respect of an amount, paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 5 shall have effect so that if a charge has arisen against one of them under head B of the Table to paragraph 1 of the Schedule as regards a levy in respect of it, no further charge may be aggregated for the purposes of regulation 39(2) under heads A or B in consequence of any subsequent levy or attempted levy against either in respect of the amount; and if a charge has arisen under head A against one of them, it shall be treated as a charge under that head with respect to the other as well as that one for the purposes of the calculation of any subsequent charge under heads A or B against either.

(12) Where a liability order is made against a chargeable person in respect of an amount, and also against a spouse or manager of his (whether at the same time as the order against the chargeable person or subsequently and whether in respect of all or part of that amount), the order made as respects the spouse or manager shall not include under regulation 29(6)(b) any additional sum in respect of the costs of obtaining the order against the spouse or manager, but the spouse or manager shall be treated as jointly and severally liable for the amount included in the order against the chargeable person in respect of costs, and the order against the spouse or manager shall (as regards regulation 29(6)(b)) be made in respect of the sum outstanding in relation to it.

(13) In this regulation “chargeable person”, “spouse” and “manager” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 22.