Council tax help please!

Tina20

I genuinely cannot find a place to post this! Sorry!

I receive council tax benefit, and received a letter to say my bill for the year was 58ish pounds.

BUT I signed up to pay by direct debit, so was told that it would be taken this way.
The other day I received a letter to say that I had not paid the amount of 58 pounds odd, and that a £5 charge had been put on the account and it was being reffered to the courts! Apparently a sherriff was being sent out to seize the money or something??

I was very cheesed off, as

1: I had thought it was taken by direct debit
2: They didn't TELL me it had bounced
3: I had no chance to pay before this charge was put on the account
4: Because I thought it had already come out, I had budgeted accordingly so don't have enough money to pay now, as I thought it had been paid!

I use an RBS app on my phone to track my bank account, and the day I checked I saw the payment taken out. BUT the app does not tell you when a payment has bounced, so because I had seen it 'come out' I thought it had been paid! Did not realise it had bounced, as it does not show up on the App mini-statement as a failed payment.

Cannot for the life of me find a number to phone my council, there is practically NO chance of getting in touch with a real person short of walking in to the council building and being told to phone 0800XYZ So I phoned the automated payment line and paid my last £20.

I hope this will be enough, I can pay next week but have no more money now. Am I gonna have bailiffs at my door? Is there any way to complain? Are you not supposed to get some sort of letter to say the payment bounced??

Thanks

[Deleted User]

i`m surprised you havent had a letter,however if you look up your council website there should be a telephone number also on the letter you received this week
just contact them and make arrangements to pay