Council buffoons

willarikk

Hello All,

My first post so i hope its in the right forum. The story; I have been moved from my previous address for over 3 yrs now and I am being chased for non payment of Building Inspection fees by Chester-le-street District Council for the extension on my last house. I know I paid it...cash, did get a carbonated receipt (vaguley recollect) which I have subsequently lost (as you do). The Council are saying they have no record of this transaction and have instructed bailiffs to collect the summ of £255. Their records show I paid the planning fees and Building Control fees but not the inspection fees, someone has cocked up and they won't admit to it!! To date they have put on hold the bailiffs while they investigate further.
What are my rights, the works were completed 4 years ago and as I say I moved from that address over 3 yrs ago. Who keeps receipts for an old house?? Your kind advise please.

brightonman123

can you do a data protection act info request (SAR?)- if they have records of o/s bill, they should also have records of inspection payments..

clutton_2

if they are holding off the bailiffs this means that they have already gone to court and won as only the court can appoint bailiffs - did you get notification of a court hearing - or are they bluffing ?

willarikk

Thnks for the replies. To date I have no correspondance despite the fact that they claim to have sent 2 letters to my current address. I have received nothing!!

Regarding the bailiffs it is jacobsbailiffs from Liverpool they are requesting payment in full in fourteen days....this is where I have the stay of execution subject to this council employee investigating further. I have suggested that if it is not recorded on his screen, it was cash and not cheque then how is he going to investigate further we have a dead end. Am i responsible to prove I have paid this or is for them to prove I have not. For arguments sake they find no audit trail, will we go to court for a judge to arbitrate on who he believes? we may aswell toss a coin?? I paid it, who keeps receipts when they have moved home. The solicitor who completed the transaction as far as I am aware sold my house and carried out all the appropriate searches.

Any advice welcome thanks.

clutton_2

contact the council immediately and ask them if they have issued court proceedings against you

lonestar1

TBH For things like tax and earning I keep receipts/P60s and interest statements etc for at least 7 years - I think thats how far back the taxman can audit you IIRC (Im not to sure could be 6 or even 5 but I prefer to be safe than sorry) Surely if you paid and the council havent note dit in their accounts there should be a discrepency in their accounts that the accountants wouldnt be happy with. How sure are you that what you paid was ACTUALLY for the work the council did ?

PasturesNew

It might help your case if you can remember the details of how you paid.

At what stage, what was the weather like, who to, what was going on at the time, anything in particular that stands out as having been said/done during the transaction time, did you draw the cash out of the bank especially.... etc.

Just to say you paid in cash is one thing, but if you can find any supporting anecdotes or evidence then you're on a winner. Especially if you have a carbonated receipt - that will have come from a receipt book. If you paid at their cashier desk, or to somebody at your house, they will have specific receipt books issued to them. If you can pin down the exact date, all they have to do is check their receipt books for that one day.

hethmar

The memory can play tricks though - why did you pay cash? Did they not receipt your invoice? Surely their accounts would show a surplus of the amount you paid for that quarter?

minimoocow

lonestar1 wrote: »

TBH For things like tax and earning I keep receipts/P60s and interest statements etc for at least 7 years - I think thats how far back the taxman can audit you IIRC (Im not to sure could be 6 or even 5 but I prefer to be safe than sorry) Surely if you paid and the council havent note dit in their accounts there should be a discrepency in their accounts that the accountants wouldnt be happy with. How sure are you that what you paid was ACTUALLY for the work the council did ?

The accountants won't have picked this up or be bothered as it is only a small amount - they will only be looking at things material to the accounts which will be rounded to the nearest £1000!

Could you contact the solicitor who dealt with the sale and ask for a copy of info relating to the building? With it only being a year before the sale maybe you forwarded receipts onto them to check?

Also I'm with the poster who said check the council have issued proceedings - it sounds a bit doggy to me!

Oblivion

brightonman123 wrote: »

can you do a data protection act info request (SAR?)- if they have records of o/s bill, they should also have records of inspection payments..

What often happens is that a payment is received without quoting a relevant invoice number, or the cashier mis-keys the invoice number. This will end up as an 'unidentified payment', some of which may continue to be unresolved and therefore unallocated to the correct invoice indefinitely.

This is particularly true of a council service that generates many invoices for the same service and for the same amount ... in those circumstances it is very difficult to establish which outstanding invoice an unidentified payment relates to.

Any council with proper financial systems in place, should keep a register of unallocated payments going back at least 6 years. If the OP can remember roughly when he made the payment, since the amount is known, the council may be able to locate it in the unallocated register.

Dave.

Oblivion

clutton wrote: »

if they are holding off the bailiffs this means that they have already gone to court and won as only the court can appoint bailiffs - did you get notification of a court hearing - or are they bluffing ?

Fair point, but there may be some scope for confusion here that the council are playing on.

It is very common for large organisations including councils to employ debt collection agencies, many of whom work on a 'no collection, no fee' basis and who are also often accredited bailiffs as well.

So it's all too easy to make reference to 'the bailiffs' when in fact it's only the debt collection service they are using, and the debt hasn't been anywhere near a court yet.

Dave.