Council Tax Problem

marc.wrona

My flat mate and I recently sent through 2 council tax payments for August and September (as they were late) as 2 separate cheques for £101 in the same envelope to Westminster Council. We received a letter saying that only one cheque was received and we still owe £101. I then paid £202 online for the “apparently” missing payment and for October. We then checked our statements and both cheques had been cashed and I still paid the £202. I spoke to their operators on a few occasions and they kept assuring me that only 1 cheque was received even though both had been cashed. I was told to send proof i.e. bank statements showing the cheques had been cashed with a cover letter but have still heard nothing back. I'm dismayed that the council is acting so dishonestly and is taking up so much of my time through them having acted illegally.

Has anyone else experienced a similar problem or has anyone got any advice regarding this matter?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Mrs_Optimist

I can only suggest that you send a further copy of your bank statements showing the cleared payments and another letter requesting a refund OR miss the next payments totalkling that amount and when the council query it you can rightly inform them that you have already paid this in advance and have bank statements to prove it!

Xbigman

Don't with hold a payment. This is council tax we are talking about and its not worth messing with. Simply send in your bank statements (recorded delivery) proving both cheques were cashed. It may take a few months but you will eventually get credited with it.

If you with hold it or get behind you can lose the right to pay in instalments and may get an immediate demand for the full yearly sum. Councils do not have a sense of humour over this, even when its their fault.
Regards


X

kit

I would just not pay next month and leave it. If they contact you to chase payment (which normally wont be till the end of the financial year) then show them proof that you have made all payments due in the year ie bank statements / receipts etc. If you have proof then they dont have a leg to stand on if it went to court.

seven-day-weekend

kit wrote:

I would just not pay next month and leave it. If they contact you to chase payment (which normally wont be till the end of the financial year) then show them proof that you have made all payments due in the year ie bank statements / receipts etc. If you have proof then they dont have a leg to stand on if it went to court.

I don't think the Council work this way.

In the past, I have paid instalments early (say the first of the month instead of the 19th, and they still want the instalment on the 19th, and send out summonses if you ignore their warning letter.

I would just keep paying your instalments until you have paid the full amount and then ask them to cancel the last instalment.

kit

Maybe it works differently in different areas. Mine dont worry as long as you have paid it all by the end of the year. Only time you hear from them is if you havent paid enough when the finacial year ends.

DisneyLyn1

A bank statement showing a cashed cheque is not enough proof as this will not show who cashed the cheque. What you will need to do (the council should have advised you of this) is to contact your bank and obtain a copy of the front and back of the cheque. They will charge you for this, but you should be able to claim this back from the council when it is proved that they have had the money all along. Send the copy of the cheque to the council and they should be able to trace, via their bankers, what has happened to the money. It may be that due to an error when processing, the money was applied to someone else's account.