Council Tax & cashback?

TigerLily_3-2

Similarly I use my credit card to pay my mobile phone bill. Hopefully the following explanation will make sense! Easier to do than to describe...

I have a specific bank account which is solely used to pay off my credit card bill in full each month. So on the day I get paid I automatically transfer my estimate of what my mobile phone bill will be, plus a little bit more to be on the safe side (i.e. I know that I normally spend £80 a month as use my phone all the time so transfer £100 per month) Then a few weeks later my phone bill gets swiped from my credit card, and a few weeks after that the credit card bill is paid by direct debit from the specific bank account

The benefit of this is the interest accruing from having the cash sitting in the bank for a couple of extra weeks, and the points I get on my credit card (or cashback if you have a cashback card). I also find that by consciously over-estimating the amount of my bill I build up a little reserve too which can come in handy for extra large bills occasionally.

Unfortunately I do tend to undo this good work by spending too much time on the phone! But I'm working on that!

MisterT2

If you can't pay or have a surcharge then have a look at Morgan Stanley. You call their customer services and they will pay the bill via Bacs and add it to your credit card.

Two setbacks:
1) You need to call them everymonth
2) You need to have a black card (if you earn too much they give you a platinum card). They will change your card down or authorise you to do this on their card.

Anyway - no affiliation. I use this approach for 1% cashback. Limit is £2000 after which its 0.5% (I think) so this is what I keep this card for.

System

If you can't pay or have a surcharge then have a look at Morgan Stanley. You call their customer services and they will pay the bill via Bacs and add it to your credit card.

Two setbacks:
1) You need to call them everymonth
2) You need to have a black card (if you earn too much they give you a platinum card). They will change your card down or authorise you to do this on their card.

Anyway - no affiliation. I use this approach for 1% cashback. Limit is £2000 after which its 0.5% (I think) so this is what I keep this card for.

Will Morgan Stanley treat this transaction as a Cash Advance or a Purchase? If it is a Cash Advance, then you will be charged interest from the date of transaction with no interest-free period. Can you please check?

The_Bloodster

I got a Tesco card which gives you a clubcard 1point for every £2 spent which seems good to me as its then 0.5% cashback.

t_i_g_e_rr

We use a club card/credit card also. By using it we have built up enough points to buy things from their deals catalogue. When you buy things from here your points are worth 4 times as much. Therefore, credit card points could be said to be worth 2p in the pound. Anyway, my accommodation for my next holiday is free this year

mrtickle

it's a brilliant idea. I have just looked at my council tax bill and it says that you can pay by Switch/Delta and credit card. You don't even have to call into the council offices, mine even provide a 0845 automated payment number. Could be worse and they made it 0870 but Lo-call I think is reasonable on its charges.

Birmingham city council lets you pay using a credit card via the website - so as I have broadband there is no extra phonecall charges to pay.

Re the surcharge, I know in Ripoff Britain many companies are adding a percentage to purchases made by credit cards and is now legal. But local councils - can they do that?

Well if companies can then councils can too? But please can you say what you mean by "many companies"? The main one I know of is Ikea, who started doing it less than a month ago in a blaze of negative publicity. I'm crossing my fingers that no-one else will emulate them. Other than that, it's car dealerships and travel agents but that's all I think?

Thanks for your post Galstonian - the thought of the council introducing a charge hadn't even occurred to me. Also I'm one of the lucky ones with 1% cashback on capital one, but I get the feeling I'm on borrowed time. So I think I'll pre-pay the rest of my council tax for the year now (and it means I'll get more cashback in January!).

Milarky

Surely it is going to vary very much from area to area which Councils have the 'wit' to charge for this method of collection? At the moment I suppose they are just glad that the money is coming in. They aren't very cost conscious at the best of times so you may be able to 'borrow' more time than you think. Shops haven't [in the main] charged for the use of credit cards and it is obvious that cash customers are effectively subsidising card customers through slightly higher prices. I may be wrong, but I just don't see the councils that don't yet differentaite from doing so [Martin would blow his stack!] or, conversly, those that already 'surcharge' from desisting. They may even be able to justify these marginal costs of collection by same staff savings somewhere at the 'finance department'

oscarhugo

It's good if you can do it -- but unfortunately St. Albans District Council won't go for it. I didn't think they did & when I checked their website it said "Credit card payments are NOT acceptable". They're such skinflints that, a few years ago, they stopped giving the discount they'd given before for lump-sum prompt payment. Needless, to say I PDQ switched to paying by D/D [expressing my disgust to them at the same time...]

Angela

Chelmsford borough council accept credit cards.
There is a £2 charge per payment,so ok if you pay it in one go.
Unfortunately they done take amex though.