Council Tax Direct Debit not taken - a big bill this morning

jeffdjeff

Sandrock wrote: »

I honestly cannot believe that you didn't realise the money was not coming out each month.

Did you not once check your statement(s) in 4 years?
Did you not think your balance was a bit higher than it should otherwise be at least once in that 48 month period?

I pay my Council Tax by cheque, but it comes to £145 a month (lowish banding), so over 4 years that'd come to nearly £7,000. That is an awful lot to have surplus after four years and I can only come to the conclusion that either -

1/ You knew it wasn't being paid, but thought you'd keep quiet until you were asked to pay. Perfectly understandable, but if this was the case you'd obviously keep money aside to pay for this in the case you were asked at a future date (now). Someone I know had a similar thing with the water company not charging them, they've put aside £50 a month for the last 17 years in case of a request to pay - tidy little sum by now with the interest added.

2/ You have a large amount of cash in the account which means that a £145 non payment barely makes a dent - again, understandable. I've run current account balances at £4-5k before which would make a small payment harder to detect. However, in this case, you'd almost certainly have the money to pay the debt off in full now.

You do owe the money, and you will have to pay it. The council is slightly at fault for not picking this up earlier and should be able to help to come to an arrangement to pay the amount. I would suspect if you are both working they would want the balance cleared within 12 months, on top of this years council tax owed.

Does your council take credit cards? You could perhaps finance this on a 0% deal if you can get it.

Thanks, you're not the first person to be surprised by this but I can assure you it was a genuine oversight. I'm not sure if you've read the whole thread, but in summary my wife phoned to organise this and the annual bills seemed to indicate that all was in order ('this is for information only' etc). I look after the joint account which has the majority of direct debits, but my wife does have an account which some dd's come out of (e.g. child trust fund), and I'd assumed it was coming out of this. The original post was for advice regarding the 7 day limit, having received a letter dated 27/5 on a Bank Holiday weekend it doesn't give a lot of time, and I'm assuming it means the money must have cleared by the 7th day (I don't know, hence the reason for posting for some advice). Having never posted on here before it's been a bit of an eye-opener I suspect a few posters have formed this mental image of a couple of chavs living in a bedsit who have blown the council tax money on a plasma tv or something, rather than a busy working couple with young children who unfortunately didn't pay close enough attention to their bank statements!

dzug1

Yes - you need to check your bank statement every month at a minimum if you want to be sure your account is running correctly. Having a direct debit means that you don't have to remember to pay, not that you don't need to check if it's been paid correctly.

Sounds like elementary financial management to me

jeffdjeff

dzug1 wrote: »

Yes - you need to check your bank statement every month at a minimum if you want to be sure your account is running correctly. Having a direct debit means that you don't have to remember to pay, not that you don't need to check if it's been paid correctly.

Sounds like elementary financial management to me

Thanks, I wasn't aware that a company is under no obligation to actually take the money, and furthermore doesn't have to tell you either? If this is correct, it sounds quite serious - I mentioned on another reply the life assurance example. Does this mean if my Life Assurer stops taking my monthly premium and I fail to notice that I no longer have life cover?

dzug1

Ther is usually something in the policy that allows it to run for a while, with the unpaid premiums comimg off any claim. After a while though - yes.

getmore4less

I think you are getting a hard time.

1. I am suprised that the only thing the council has been sending is bills with no reminders for 4 years, something to look into

Will be interested in what the council say, our council make their extra bills and reminders clear that you have not been paying probably like the one you have just got(1 or 2 missing payments), something went wrong in previous years.

If you can I would go into the council offices or phone first thing tues.

2. Lesson, Budget and track so it does not happen again.

jeffdjeff

getmore4less wrote: »

I think you are getting a hard time.

1. I am suprised that the only thing the council has been sending is bills with no reminders for 4 years, something to look into

Will be interested in what the council say, our council make their extra bills and reminders clear that you have not been paying probably like the one you have just got(1 or 2 missing payments), something went wrong in previous years.

If you can I would go into the council offices or phone first thing tues.

2. Lesson, Budget and track so it does not happen again.

Thanks, this board has been an eye-opener! Yes, we will be sorting out this on Tuesday, I was hoping to be clear on where we stood before talking to the council hence the request for advice on here, as I said an eye-opener!

anamenottaken

jeffdjeff wrote: »

The original post was for advice regarding the 7 day limit, having received a letter dated 27/5 on a Bank Holiday weekend it doesn't give a lot of time, and I'm assuming it means the money must have cleared by the 7th day (I don't know, hence the reason for posting for some advice).

A cheque in the Council's offices on 2 June would easily meet the 7 days (from the date of the letter, which is what the normal wording is likely to have said). How long it takes to clear depends on their procedures and bank).

jeffdjeff

dzug1 wrote: »

Ther is usually something in the policy that allows it to run for a while, with the unpaid premiums comimg off any claim. After a while though - yes.

Can anyone else confirm this as correct? Can a company/public body etc send you a bill with a schedule of future payments but be under no obligation to actually take these payments, nor tell you? Is the onus solely on you to check that the payments are being taken?

theoretica

Your council do seem to have a singularly incompetent computer system. Hopefully you will speak to someone sympathetic and with the power to make a sensible arrangement. Before you do I suggest you work out the absolute fastest you can afford to pay this off as well as a realistic payment schedule to try to get agreement to so you don't make an agreement you can't stick to.

I am suffering from idiot council tax too at the moment -if I don't pay the rest of this year's bill off in one lump within 14 days I will loose the right to pay in instalments. Garr!

I can all too easily see myself not noticing a payment that failed to go out - I check my statements to see that I recognise all outgoing payments and assume my budgeting is fine if I spend less than I earn.

zppp

jeffdjeff wrote: »

Can anyone else confirm this as correct? Can a company/public body etc send you a bill with a schedule of future payments but be under no obligation to actually take these payments, nor tell you? Is the onus solely on you to check that the payments are being taken?

Jeff, I'm going to be honest with you so please don't take offence. We have been discussing this and it seems like you are almost beating yourself up over the situation.

It has already been stated that the onus is on us to make sure our tax is paid. I am sure that if you ask the council, they will be able to tell you why notifications have not been recieved or sent.

As aforementioned, contact them Tuesday, and ask them to set up a repayment plan over a certain period and thats that. I am completely with you that it is an oversight, but I think you need to take the bull by the horns and speak with them. It is not easy to identify who is at fault, and I think people on here (possibly myself included) come to quick conclusions to point the blame. This is just an unfortunate situation, and whilst we can speculate, we don't and won't know the in's and out's of your situation.

Please, contact them Tuesday, and let us know what they say.