The Bloody Council

kev1n3

Hi

I'm in a serious confrontational situation with the local council. I have had lots of very bad experiences with extremely poor workmanship over the last 12 months. They have lied there tits off to me, even denying they ever said such a thing when in the wrong. They also have missed 4 appointments with me costing me time 4 days away from work. I soon started communicating with them via e-mail only. At last I have got e-mails that proves 2 of them are being untruthful to cover each others butt's, in e-mails to me. They are lying. Another example of complacency is they re-tiled my bathroom floor some months ago; the council tradesperson that did the work cut the tiles to fit round the toilet pan with a hammer and chisel.. Looked really nice.:mad:

I complained and soon had a council surveyor round to see what I was moaning about. He ordered an outside contractor to rip up and make good the bathroom floor: More recently I’ve had a new thermostat fitted to my boiler by the Council. It was fitted so badly I had an independent heating engineer to visually inspect it. He condemned the fittings and wiring and advised me not to use it because it was fitted to a poor standard with excessive wiring exposed to a naked hob flame.

There are lots more examples but far to long winded to post. I was wondering if anyone knows a link to the law on evictions.

I pay my bills every month; I don’t play loud music or have YOB drinking nights. I don’t do drugs or run a brothel. I work hard 7 dyas a week and am law abiding. They have no reason to try and evict me but I’ increasingly becoming a pain in there !!! when I expose faults in there !!!!!! service. I'm getting worried they may try to evict me because I’m standing up to them.

I think they know now I’ve played along with there bull-sh*t for long enough. If anyone knows, who in the “important world” could I complain to and show a government establishment covering each others assess, and to also take seriously?

and the law link if anyone has one.. :j

Be very grateful for any feedback.

Regards

Kev

Rex_Mundi

They can't just evict you. To do this, they have to get an eviction order from a judge. They would have to have a reasonable case against you, and evidence to back it up. Being awkward with them would not count. You've got nothing to worry about (apart from the bad service from the council).

A_Nice_Englishman

Have you talked to your local councillor?

kev1n3

A_Nice_Englishman wrote:

Have you talked to your local councillor?

Many times. but still no changes.

the_other_mce

You need to contact the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) who WILL investigate your complaint and in one similar case I know of the council had to rectify the problem AND pay the tenant £500 in compensation. They are impartial and very helpful. It is worth giving them a ring to chat about it first but you can get a leaflet from your council with details of how to contact them. You need to have made sure you have followed the councils complaints procedure first. Councils don't like being investigated by the LGO, and may sort out your problem without the need for you to make a complaint to the LGO, and don't worry the council can't evict you unless you have broken your tenancy agreement. I hope this helps

Poppy9

the_other_mce wrote:

Councils don't like being investigated by the LGO,

the problem is that Councils to not have to abide by the Ombudsman ruling and can just ignore it so they are not too bothered by it.

You may have more than one local councillor for your area so contact them all. Else you can ask which councillor sits on the housing board/committee and contact him/her.

Each council should have an independent complaints officer so you can go to them but I think a good bet is the Chief Executive of the council. Their email address should be their name and name of council with .gov.uk at the end.

i.e Chief exec Noel Blobby working for London council would be
[EMAIL="Noel.Blobby@london.gov.uk"]Noel.Blobby@london.gov.uk[/EMAIL]

Try not to rant and use abusive language in your correspondence as it can alienate the recipient. Far better to be formal, polite and direct.

IvanOpinion

Poppy9 wrote:

Try not to rant and use abusive language in your correspondence as it can alienate the recipient. Far better to be formal, polite and direct.

Always good advice ... and usually works

ivan

looby75

I've been waiting for 10 years for my council to come and fix a catch on my bedroom window. Gave up phoning and asking them to come and do it after about 3 years, so my then dh went and bought a new one and fixed it himself. last year the council decided we all had to get double glazing (buy 2015 :rolleyes: ) and came to measure up the windows. I got a letter a couple of days later saying that I had a none council window catch fitted to my bedroom window and I had to replace it with a council one or they would come and do it for me....at a cost of £75. :eek:

I phoned my local councillor who was fantastic and sorted it out for me immediately. The council said they would come a fit a new catch for free and apologised for the "misunderstanding". Guess what I'm still waiting for almost 18 months later :rotfl: :rotfl:

panicos_2

I have had problems with the council for years. They say its condensation, we say its dampness. I cant use my cupboard as the wallpaper is hanging of my walls. I refuse to budge, so does the council. I have my councellor and my MSP involved but no joy. I live upstairs in a 4 in a block, they say my lifestyle is causing the problem????????? So your not alone, seems that councils just make the laws up as they go along. We should be able to name and shame them as I'm sure there are lots of people in the same postion. Good Luck anyway.

stamford

Poppy9 wrote:

the problem is that Councils to not have to abide by the Ombudsman ruling and can just ignore it so they are not too bothered by it.

You may have more than one local councillor for your area so contact them all. Else you can ask which councillor sits on the housing board/committee and contact him/her.

Each council should have an independent complaints officer so you can go to them but I think a good bet is the Chief Executive of the council. Their email address should be their name and name of council with .gov.uk at the end.

i.e Chief exec Noel Blobby working for London council would be
[EMAIL="Noel.Blobby@london.gov.uk"]Noel.Blobby@london.gov.uk[/EMAIL]

Try not to rant and use abusive language in your correspondence as it can alienate the recipient. Far better to be formal, polite and direct.

They are very much bothered by complaints to the LGO a friend who is a Director at a fairly large District Council says it is the thing they fear most of all. I helped out doing the complaint form for an elderly lady locally after she got fed up with poor street drains flooding her driveway and years of complaining and contacting Councillors. Result very quick excavation and replacement of drains plus £1300 compensation, problem solved.

You are right Councils don't have to abide by the ruling but normally they do.

From the LGO website

"The Ombudsmen make recommendations which are not binding. But our recommendations are almost always accepted in full".

kev1n3

Well it looks like i'm not alone here.. I'v drafted a letter but not sure if i am able to tone it down any more than i have already. Its hard to write a cool calm letter to the person thats down-rite lieiing to you. I only want them to investigate a complaint withou telling porkies. I'll spend a little more time watering it down tomorrow and maybe a CC to the Chief Executive.

Thanks for all your replies, i dont feel so isolated now.


Happy Christams everyone

Kev