Why is the council so horrible???

Honeybee_2

I really loathe paying this. £116 per month, goes up every year whilst services decline.

:mad: :mad: :mad:

iwanttosave_2

According to a website that someone on DFW put up, a LA has to send you a letter 7 days before a bailiff comes round, I never got any letters since the one saying it was going to court. I found out about the bailiff when he tuned up on the door, and refused to come to a payment plan unless I let him in. :mad:

ziggy2004

When we moved house a couple of years ago this coincided with them finally giving us the 25% discount we should have had from the start as dh was a student they send us 2 letters 1 to say we owed them £10 asking to pay and another saying we were due a refund of £150 so I took the letters into the counciltax office opposite my work and asked whether they could refund me £140 instead or did they want me to pay the £10 first and then refund the £150 they said not a problem we'll do it now and you'll have a cheque for £140 in the post...... NOT I will never trust them without getting something in writing again the cheque never arrived but what did arrive was a letter threatening court action if the £10 was not paid the next day i went in with a £10 note and they refunded the £150 but still had the cheeck to suggest it was my fault. Idiots!
X Anne

cattie1

moneymare obv works for the council then or someone collecting c/tax??!!!
I can't stand the council i have no objection paying for fire service etc etc BUT don't think the council deserve a penny they never empty our bins until around 2pm (everywhere else is a.m!) the also sent bailliffs to me AFTER sending a letter to me stating i was nearly £300 in credit with them, neither bailliffs or council had a clue what was going on and sent me backward and forwards, was suffering from post-natal depression and this certainly didn't help! when it eventually got sorted (after contacting mp) i never as much as received an apology, they are absolutely useless.
and on another matter i don't think the police deserve much either as when i needed them they basically couldn't be bothered! but had the audicity to pull my brother over as his liscence plate was in italics?????????????????????

Optimist

moneymare wrote:

Actually, you don't pay £30 per week to have your bin emptied. You pay £30 per week to help finance the Police, Fire Service, and things like Schools, Roads, etc etc etc.

This b*llsh*t perception that Council Tax is simply to pay to have your bins emptied really p*sses me off.........Get your facts straight before posting b*ll*cks. You will actually find it works out at somewhere between £1.75 and £3.50 of your council tax goes to clearing your bin (per week).

You forgot to mention that 30% goes to pay for the wonderful pensions that public sector workers enjoy.

msmicawber

I don't have a problem with paying Council Tax for all the various local services, including those I don't use, but I object to the endless mistakes and the tone of the communications. Most of us are honest, law-abiding citizens who want to do the right thing, and to pay our various bills, and I resent the approach that we're all fraudsters or irresponsible until proven otherwise.

moneymare

cattie1 wrote:

moneymare obv works for the council then or someone collecting c/tax??!!!
I can't stand the council i have no objection paying for fire service etc etc BUT don't think the council deserve a penny they never empty our bins until around 2pm (everywhere else is a.m!) the also sent bailliffs to me AFTER sending a letter to me stating i was nearly £300 in credit with them, neither bailliffs or council had a clue what was going on and sent me backward and forwards, was suffering from post-natal depression and this certainly didn't help! when it eventually got sorted (after contacting mp) i never as much as received an apology, they are absolutely useless.
and on another matter i don't think the police deserve much either as when i needed them they basically couldn't be bothered! but had the audicity to pull my brother over as his liscence plate was in italics?????????????????????

Correct - I work for a local authority and deal with collection of Council Tax.

I have to pay my Council Tax like everyone else..........I may not like it, but its a tax, so I have to lump it - People may not think that services equates the tax they pay - but hey, that's life.

My main gripe is that before accounts get anywhere near to Bailiff action, the customer will have been sent...1) A bill 2) A reminder 3) A Summons 4) A Liability Order Questionnaire.

Thats at least 4 documents before an account will be passed to bailiffs (last resort). My personal opinion is that people who let Council Tax accounts get to Bailiff stage deserve all they get -- they have ample opportunity to sort their account out before it gets that far.

iwanttosave_2

moneymare wrote:

Correct - I work for a local authority and deal with collection of Council Tax.

I have to pay my Council Tax like everyone else..........I may not like it, but its a tax, so I have to lump it - People may not think that services equates the tax they pay - but hey, that's life.

My main gripe is that before accounts get anywhere near to Bailiff action, the customer will have been sent...1) A bill 2) A reminder 3) A Summons 4) A Liability Order Questionnaire.

Thats at least 4 documents before an account will be passed to bailiffs (last resort). My personal opinion is that people who let Council Tax accounts get to Bailiff stage deserve all they get -- they have ample opportunity to sort their account out before it gets that far.

Well my partner has just had to have a tumour removed from next to his brain, meaning our house is £350 a week down. We must just be getting what we deserve.

Oh and I never recived the LOQ.

msmicawber

That may be the case where people are bad debtors, moneymare, but what Dan's talking about is being sent these things, checking to see that he's paid and when he has, not being able to stop the ball rolling. I have had the same problem and have got as far as the day before the Court hearing before the confirmation that it was a mistake making it from one desk in the Council to the Recoveries Dept.

Dolly_Smith

Optimist wrote:

You forgot to mention that 30% goes to pay for the wonderful pensions that public sector workers enjoy.

yes, those wonderful public sector workers who will be cleaning up yr dribble and worse when you're stuck in a nursing home or hospital in your old age. Public sector pay at most levels is low compared to private sector, and public sector workers pay quite a bit out of their own salaries for those pensions too!