Sudden Council Tax

pinkshoes

The exact same thing happened to my little brother, who somehow managed to overlook the fact he'd got away with not paying CT for a year, then got a £900 bill.

He also struggled getting through by phone, so wrote them a letter stating that he'd tried 4 times to phone them, and couldn't get through, so could he have a new CT bill with the 25% discount. He sent it recorded delivery.

He then got a new bill through, with a different (later) date he had to pay by. He sent them half the money (by cheque, recorded delivery, once again citing he'd given up trying to phone them...). He then had to sell a few bits and pieces to cover the other half of the bill, but found he had quite a bit of time until he actually got the final letter through.

Try not to worry about it. If they have an inadequate phone system, write to them, and they can phone you!

Esqulax

Got through to them today.. first time
The guy was very helpful!
Basically, he's arranged that i pay in 3 installments by direct debit. he hasnt taken off the 25% until i send in the signed declaration, which is fair enough.
The first payment (Jan) wont be Direct debited but will be voluntarily be paid in before the 10th.. i asked for that, so i can make sure and get it payed before the other bills start to driain the wages.
The 1st installment will be bigger, but the excess, when the 25% SP discount is taken off, will be offset from the other 2 payments. im ok with this though, as this month its my 'slap on the wrist' for not getting this sorted!
He's gonna post all the details to me.
I mentioned to him about councils being ruthless, and that they'll chase me into the afterlife.. he just told me that if they did that to everybody who couldnt pay straight up, they'd be very busy indeed!
He also did say that he can help more when its only the first letter!
Thanks for all the advice guys!

1984ReturnsForReal_2

If only Stratford Council were like that...

Fire_Fox

poppysarah wrote: »

Council tax bills are one of life's little quirks. You might get three before they send you the right one..

Sooooo true. A couple of years ago the ex-Mr. Fire Fox moved in, and around the same time my 25% single person discount vanished, so all present and correct. Then in the September I submitted my student exemption certificate, and the 25% discount made a miraculous reappearance on the new bill. Attempted to remove the 25% discount and add Mr. Fire Fox's name and all hell broke loose. It was February before we received a correct bill, they managed to get both halves of his name wrong (a really 'normal' name AND I'd spelled it out twice).

Esqulax

i felt the need to post that fairly positive result, as i can see a lot of negativity on these boards when it comes to dealing with 'people who take money off you'.
even though i owe a lot of money and i messed up, the guy was helpful an polite

I guess a lot of people initially came to this site because of being treated or thought they were being treated unfairly etc.
I'l be honest, i tend to have minimal bad experiences, as i try to stay positive, like with this guy, i diddnt phone up and demand that he do something now etc.. i just asked nicely what the options were, and even had a bit of a laugh with him about the lack of snow (of all things), and the SP discount, and that i'd ring him when i diddn't need it anymore
All in all, im happy, as this got sorted today
Thanks again people!

property.advert

Good result.