Rates Paid Twice.

shaz77_2

Hi All,

My tenant who gets his rent paid for by the DHSS has got in touch with me to advise that £11 has also been paid to the rates body since 2009, he also produced a document to prove this, however I have also paid the full rates bill each June for the past 2 years.

I have contacted the rates body but they have not been forthcoming, what are my options?

Thanks in advance.

Old_Git

I assume as owner the rates where in your name and billed to you ,and you get a discount for this .
This being the case how did your tenant or DHSS /NIHE pay your bill .Surely they pay you the housing benefit every four weeks and this amount includes rates .If DHSS/NIHE have paid £11 which I doubt, then they will ask for it back / deduct it from the housing benefit . If the tenant has paid it themselves let them ask LPS for it back .

The tenant will get a statement saying x rent and y rates have being paid via housing benefit but this goes to you .


BTW you shouldn't pay your rates until September .Six mounts in advance ,six in arrears .

Golden_Anemone

This is likely to be for arrears of rates that the tenant owes LPS for another property and nothing to do with your property.

As Old Git says as long as you have been paid your rent which will include rates by either your tenant or housing benefit you are covered.

wifeforlife

Shaz make sure the NIHE payments where definitely going directly to LPS, there is a common misconception that they are when in fact they could be going to the landlord or tenant with the rent element. Also check the reference the NIHE use, it should be 24 digits long, it should correspond with the rental property, if it doesn't the money may be in a suspense account, or may be going to a wrong account.

If the rate account is in your name, ask for a statement of account, it can be emailed straight away to you and will see each payment credited to your account.

shaz77_2

The rating agency have now got involved and are investigating, I have been promised a response by December 20th.

shaz77_2

I got a letter from the rating agency and indeed £44 per month is being paid by the NIHE to the rating agency since October 2010 despite me paying the rates in full for the past 2 years.

The Rates Agency has attempted to justify this error by stating that the "NIHE payments on their own would have resulted in an annual shortfall of £60," they are also unable to provide a refund until the NIHE stops making payments to them and they have no facility to check if double payments are made to an account.

It's all very messy, what is my best course of action?

BatCat

Hi,
We've had some issues with land and property services/rates over the past year. I highly recommend writing a summary of the issues you have, bringing out all the documentation and then going down to your MLA. Mine had a contact in the rates office and managed to get us an apology and a detailed explanation of everything that had gone wrong within a couple of weeks.
Give it a go.
Cheers,
BatCat