Council House Problems

50Twuncle

My Father-in-Law is almost 90 - he and his wife have been council tenants for almost 60 years !!
He has ALWAYS paid his rent in cash - at the post office - always on time - never got into arrears
Recently - his local council required him to change his method of payment - so, reluctantly, he started to pay by debit card ...
Then, about three months ago - he received a letter from his council informing him that he was in arrears (to the tune of about £30) and if he didn't clear this debt he was in danger of being evicted !!
This, obviously concerned him, since he had ALWAYS paid his way and on time - why did the council have to come down so heavily on him and why was he in debt in the first place ?
I assume that when you take out a new DD - The council will set it's payments correctly and also the 4 weekly rate should be the same as when paying by cash ...


My wife is going to clear this up with the council later in the week but how can an old man be dealt with so harshly ?

System

I would guess its a standard arrears letter thats generated , it wont take anything into account other than the overdue money.

jamie11

I have a friend (79) that comes and stays with us from 10 - 12 weeks at a time, before he comes he invariably pays his rent in advance to his local council plus all his other regular outgoings at least 3 months in advance. Invariably when he goes home he finds letters on his doormat wanting to know where his rent payment is and has to spend time explaining to the council that they've already had it.

I don't think they can cope with people that actually pay their way, they think there must be a fiddle going on somewhere.

Mojisola

50Twuncle wrote: »

My wife is going to clear this up with the council later in the week but how can an old man be dealt with so harshly ?

No-one is. It will be a standard, badly-worded letter that goes out to everyone whether they owe £30 or £3000.

50Twuncle

It's about time that HUMANS were brought back in to the equation !!
Rather than automated systems ...

Mojisola

50Twuncle wrote: »

It's about time that HUMANS were brought back in to the equation !!
Rather than automated systems ...

That would be good!

I had to deal with upsets several times when my parents received letters (mostly from the DWP) that worried them. The usual answer is "Oh, ignore that. It's just a standard letter that the computer sends out"!

50Twuncle

Mojisola wrote: »

That would be good!

I had to deal with upsets several times when my parents received letters (mostly from the DWP) that worried them. The usual answer is "Oh, ignore that. It's just a standard letter that the computer sends out"!

Yes- but my father in law is not a Computer person - he doesn't understand them and thinks that the system is out to get him
I just hope that my wife can calm him down..
He doesn't owe them (or anyone else) a penny
It is a council mistake - but will they apologise ??

Mojisola

50Twuncle wrote: »

Yes- but my father in law is not a Computer person - he doesn't understand them and thinks that the system is out to get him
I just hope that my wife can calm him down..
He doesn't owe them (or anyone else) a penny
It is a council mistake - but will they apologise ??

Neither were my parents. They thought that every one of these rotten letters had been written by a person who was looking at their individual files and that the contents applied only to them. They were very upset at times.

I did write to complain and I know one format has been amended but an apology - no chance!

It doesn't take a lot of thought to imagine what effect the wording of a letter might have on a vulnerable or elderly person. If I hadn't been on hand to sort out my parents' problems, they would have made themselves ill with worry about the letters.

AlexMac

Sad tale, TWuncle and important to your dad-in-law, as as others say, its very unlikely that the jobsworths in the council would even consider an apology...

But if you don't want to let it go an do want to make the point, why not go over their heads to your local elected ward Councillor? Its really easy via https://www.writetothem.com/
All you need is his postcode, even if you don't know your representative, and a few minutes to compose the email. Target it at the majority party councillor if you have a choice in his Ward and there is one.

A short, understated letter, saying how upset he was after a lifetime as a model tenant, and how concerned you are at their lack of thought about the impact of a harshly worded letter following a minor error which their system probably caused...

You might be surprised and chances are you'll get a reply as Councillors want people to vote for them- and at least the Councillor will probably copy the email down the chain so the people who work for her/him know how FiL feels.

I sent off a winge to mine about temporary changes to parking controls and was surprised by a constructive and conciliatory reply- from both the Councillor in charge of traffic and a senior manager down the line!

Good luck

moremore

Mojisola wrote: »

No-one is. It will be a standard, badly-worded letter that goes out to everyone whether they owe £30 or £3000.

I know a pensioners that got a letter for 50pence in arrases, it must cost more to send that letter out. Also a lot of these letter are sent out around Christmas time when it's the council banking system at fault. When money leaves your bank account then as far as you are aware the rent is paid. But no the council has to blame the tenants as it's in built in their psychic culture towards tenants.

It is much safer to set up a standing order as that way you are in control what leave your account.
There is a lot shenanigans in the council regarding elderly people and be very careful not all of them have got older peoples interest at heart they are out for self gain and that is not lie.

50Twuncle

moremore wrote: »

I know a pensioners that got a letter for 50pence in arrases, it must cost more to send that letter out. Also a lot of these letter are sent out around Christmas time when it's the council banking system at fault. When money leaves your bank account then as far as you are aware the rent is paid. But no the council has to blame the tenants as it's in built in their psychic culture towards tenants.

It is much safer to set up a standing order as that way you are in control what leave your account.
There is a lot shenanigans in the council regarding elderly people and be very careful not all of them have got older peoples interest at heart they are out for self gain and that is not lie.

He does pay by DD for the amount that he was asked for !!