Council Tax Final Notice

Muckyfingers

I have received one of these this morning saying that I have lost the right to pay by DD but I know that I filled out an online mandate.... I have no proof but I know I did it.
Can they do this and demand the full amount? Has anyone else had this joyous experience?
I do love how they do this so that you get the letter on a Sat morning when you can do nothing at all about it.
Fuming of Norwich....

CIS

To receive a final notice then two previous instalments must have been late and a First and Second Reminder Issued - effectively the Final Notice is a third warning asking for full payment or a Court Summons will be issued.

When did you send in the Direct Debit mandate and when was the first payment due on the Direct Debit ?

Pollycat

Muckyfingers wrote: »

I have received one of these this morning saying that I have lost the right to pay by DD but I know that I filled out an online mandate.... I have no proof but I know I did it.
Can they do this and demand the full amount? Has anyone else had this joyous experience?
I do love how they do this so that you get the letter on a Sat morning when you can do nothing at all about it.
Fuming of Norwich....

I think it probably states in their documentation that if you don't pay by a certain date they can demand the full amount - but just because it says that, I don't know if they can legally do it.

This happened to my Mum & Dad a couple of years ago, the Council sent an appalling letter threatening court action etc.
It frightened them both to death (Mum's now 77 & Dad's 80 so you can imagine how worried they were).
Luckily, they'd kept a copy of the letter from the Council thanking them for agreeing to pay by DD, proving that it was an administrative error.
I sent some pretty harsh letters to the Council though.

Back to you....it's now July and the first council tax payment is due in April so didn't you check your bank statements and notice that you hadn't paid?
Is this the first year you've opted to pay by DD?
If it is, are you sure you haven't got a confirmation letter from the Council?
If you've paid by DD in previous years, surely that continues from year to year until you change the arrangements?

Muckyfingers

I've paid 2 installments manually, then I set up the DD online. I don't remember what date tho and had nothing back. I assumed it had gone thu.
Thanks loads for your help. As a friend ha=s just told me, they say I have lost the right to pay by DD, I could send them a cheque once a month from now on; she believes that as long as I am paying them, they can't take legal action.
The thing that grinds my gears (to quote one of my hero's) is that I receive the letter on a Sat morning when I can't do a thing about it..

CIS

Many authorities will post on a Friday as it allows them to run large prints of paperwork at the end of the week and allow any payments.adjustments made earlier in the week to have been processed. When Royal Mail deliver the post is outside of the council's control, in may areas the chance of mail being delivered the next day is quite low.

I think it probably states in their documentation that if you don't pay by a certain date they can demand the full amount - but just because it says that, I don't know if they can legally do it.

They can , see below.

Thanks loads for your help. As a friend ha=s just told me, they say I have lost the right to pay by DD, I could send them a cheque once a month from now on; she believes that as long as I am paying them, they can't take legal action.

Unfortunately that's wrong (I work in council tax recovery). Under the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement Regualations) 1992 the issuing of a Final Notice remove the right to pay by instalments (not the right to pay by a particular method).

Regardless of any payments you now make, if full payment is not made as per the Final Notice, the council are legally able to issue a Court Summons.

Pollycat

I think I'd certainly get in touch with the Council first thing on Monday and explain that you'd set up the DD online and ask if they have any record of it.

You've only missed one payment (June) and I'd see if the council are prepared to allow you to continue paying monthly.
It doesn't cost anything to ask and the worst they can do is say 'no'.

CIS

You've only missed one payment (June) and I'd see if the council are prepared to allow you to continue paying monthly.

The problem is that although one payment may have been missed on this occasion the OP must have already been late with 2 previous payments for the recovery to be at Final Notice stage.

Muckyfingers

I don't know what OP is but I will be appealing to their better nature. We all have one and if they dig deep enough (I work in IT and know how easy it is to run reports) they will find my DD app, if it failed, they'll have a record of that too. The fact that I applied and then received nothing from them lead me to believe it had all been set up. If I manually chased every bill I paid, I wouldn't have time to sleep

Pollycat

Muckyfingers wrote: »

I don't know what OP is but I will be appealing to their better nature. We all have one and if they dig deep enough (I work in IT and know how easy it is to run reports) they will find my DD app, if it failed, they'll have a record of that too. The fact that I applied and then received nothing from them lead me to believe it had all been set up. If I manually chased every bill I paid, I wouldn't have time to sleep

OP is 'Original Poster' i.e. you.

Definitely worth a try, let us know how you get on.

hayley11

But if you set up the DD (or you thought you did) didn't you notice if the money had not gone out? I'm not having a go at you but might be a good idea to try and keep track of your finances in future and then this might not happen again

They are usually very strict at the council tax, or they are in my area anyway. Hope you get it sorted.

Muckyfingers

I wouldn't cosider it as having a go at all Hayley, but no, I don't watch my account that closely. As I said before if I studied my incomings and outgoings that closely I wouldn't have time to sleep