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

Mark_In_Hampshire

jeffdjeff wrote: »

Ok thanks, I was under the impression that a direct debit would simplfy things, it seems though to be certain you still need to check every month to ensure the payment has been taken? That's useful to know as it could have big implications, for example if a car insurance or life assurance premium was not taken I'm assuming you would not be covered and it would be your fault?

You do need to check, yes. The responsibility for paying remains with you.

A payee can fail to collect any direct debits, even though they have your correct information and the mandate was correctly set up on your account, and it's you - not them - who is then in breach of contract.

Of course, a payee should let you know in the event that a payment fails, for instance.

In the case of car insurance, you're correct - you could take out a policy, the madate is set up, you have a crash, and then find you have no insurance because you have not paid any premiums. Even if they failed to collect them - does not matter. You failed to pay them.

Direct debit is essentially a money making scheme for banks, with people having been persuaded that it is sensible to allow payees to take money from you directly, rather than you pay them. Direct debit offers little or no protection for the customer and is entirely for the convenience of the payee. All the risks involved remain with you at all times.

charlieboycat

Something similar happened to us when we bought our first house in 1978 - each year a CT bill saying "For info - you're paying by direct debit". I monitor my accounts and knew they weren't collecting, so the funds built up as additional savings.

In 1982 I got a bill for the accumulated balance. Upon (tongue-in-cheek) enquiry, it transpired that they had indeed been collecting all along - from the people who had sold the house to us! It had taken those people four years to notice that they were paying CT on a house they no longer owned!

wok_boy

I'm sorry reading some of the replies in here, I would jump to the defensive if I were accused of shirking my responsibilities to pay. It seems to be the same old pattern here, with any debt, those not in the situation quick to lay blame and make the OP feel like a piece of dirt off the bottom of their shoe. You've got to love human nature.

Geoffo_M

wok_boy wrote: »

I'm sorry reading some of the replies in here, I would jump to the defensive if I were accused of shirking my responsibilities to pay. It seems to be the same old pattern here, with any debt, those not in the situation quick to lay blame and make the OP feel like a piece of dirt off the bottom of their shoe. You've got to love human nature.

Agree 100%. Everyone makes mistakes. So many newbies must come on here thinking they will get a sympathetic response and some constructive replies. But the pompous, faultless vultures circle, and give replies that must make new posters feel they had never discovered this website.

medic1978

So....

What happened OP? What did the council say...

jeffdjeff

Firstly, thanks to all those who responded with constructive comments and advice, it was much appreciated.

The payment within 7 days turned out not to be an issue. The council had the correct direct debit details on their system (a/c number and sort code were correct) but although not confirmed the suspicion is that they didn't actually request the payment. As to why no reminder letters came out I'm still not sure. To be fair to the council they were very understanding and offered a long time period to pay it back (>1 year), we probably won't take advantage of that though and would prefer to clear it sooner, as the 'payment within 7 days' is not an issue we have some breathing space to decide. I can't remember if I stated on the original thread that I doubted we were the only ones to receive such a letter - we aren't. Apparently this has come to light after running some sort of audit/check and 100+ 'discrepancies' have surfaced (they are a variety of discrepancies, not specifically the same problem as ours - I should have asked if ours was the record.

Anyway, thank you again to all those who responded with constructive comments. To the person with 12k+ posts who was convinced I knew all along and have been trying to get out of paying 4 years council tax, I'm not sure what to say. You confirmed you'd read the whole thread, read where I said my wife set this up, read where I'd assumed it was coming out of my wife's account, read where I'd said I hadn't checked this and still seem convinced I should have spotted payments not coming out of an a/c I admitted not looking at. Your train of thought still genuinely interests me, if you can enlighten me how to spot something amiss in something I haven't looked at it would be much appreciated. While you're doing that can you also pick me out some lottery numbers, I'd like to take full advantage of your supernatural powers while the opportunity presents itself

Thanks and bye, jeffdjeff