Why is the council so horrible???

cattie1

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.

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So WHY was i sent a letter stating i was nearly £300 in credit and then threatened with baillifs -(who i might add contacted me straight away)-the reason i didn't have to pay was because i had written evidence i was in credit.
so obviously there are time when this(4 documents) doesn't actually happen and the council are not doing there job properly.

Dolly_Smith

it's all very well to have and be able to reel off processes and procedures but as anyone working in councils or hospitals, etc. knows, they aren't always followed

cattie1

sorry dolly my post above is quoted from money mare NOT my opinion!

Dolly_Smith

I was referring to him too!

Optimist

Dolly_Smith wrote:

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!

Not sure where you live but the people who work in nursing homes around here are generally private sector on poor pay and even worse pension schemes, made even worse by Mr Browns thieving of £5 billion a year from private pension funds !

Sorry don't have current figures and somewhat in too much of a hurry to find them but in 2002 the average pay in the public sector (remember average) was £447.50 a week whereas private sector average was £472, The difference I have no doubt will have lessened somewhat in the mean time

A lot of the lower paid jobs like hospital cleaners are now contracted out and are within the private sector

rog2

Yet again a serious thread that has been hijacked by someone who thinks we are all just trying it on and 'getting what we deserve':mad:
As I read it the OP, and other posters, have been the victims of errors by their local councils.
This type of 'error' is, in my opinion, all too common, and regardless of set procedures (which obviously hasn't happened in the cases mentioned) the councils appear to be very quick in wielding their big legal stick.
Whilst we have seen someone jump, very quickly, to the defence of the councils, we see, yet again, no evidence of any apology when they get it wrong.
Very few of us beleive we get good value from our council taxes - we are told that we can change this through local elections - although in practice it tends to make little overall difference who is in control of the local, or district council. We do have every right to express our views - this whole site is, after all about consumer revenge.
I have just paid my council tax - I am up to date, this year. The payment date is the 5th of the month and we usually pay, in person, at the council office, on or around the 1st or 2nd of the month. This has not stopped us from receiving one reminder so far this year.

cattie1

well said rog_2!

Dolly_Smith

where as I usually pay a few days late and haven't had a reminder at all!

lynzpower

My 2ps worth.

I work for a local authority.

I'll never be able to stand up and say things are run like clockwork, quite frankly they are not. Accidents and errors will exist, in ANY LARGE ORGANISATION. In fact, can we remember that a lot of council tax arms of processing are in fact ran by private companies too, in my experience, those run by private companies perform worse than in-house collections. Aside from that, errors and accidents will happen.

I do take offence to the argument that council tax is a rip off, i pay 100 quid a week, I get nothing out of it.
Your local authority will do the following
*deal with refuse & recycling
*run social services departments
*assess adopters & foster carers
*house many elderly and support disabled people at home
*undertake all environmental health
* undertake licensing provision, pubs, tattoo parlours, sex shops etc
*provide housing for those less able to pay for it, including emergency shelter
*provide social care for those experiencing mental ill-health
*tend to local parks & gardens
*keep running libraries, youth clubs, child care provision
*train and manage childminders
*work with anti-social behaviour
*ensure trading stanrds are adhered to in the borough
*nursery school provision, breakfast clubs, extended school provision such as sports
*swimming pools, basketball courts, gyms etc.

AND SO ON.

Some perpective for gods sake please!!!!

rog2

Absolutely right Lynz - we need to see a balanced perspective and your post was far more balanced than the one that were commenting on.
Just one point I'd like to pick you up on though:
If the council are responsible for the licencing of sex shops - our local council is falling down badly on this - we haven't got any sex-shops:rolleyes:
Don't take that seriously.