Help with council tax problem

kevin_wevin

Hi all,

As you can see I don't post here very often but have been a member for a while and love it here.

I was hoping someone could provide me with some advice regarding council tax.

I moved into a new flat on 1st June 2013 (renting) and I applied for the 25% single person discount on council tax. Glasgow City Council then sent me 'Your council tax and water service charges notice for 2013/2014' dated 30th July 2013 which had a monthly breakdown of the charges for the period 1st June 2013 to 31 March 2014 which totalled £785.83 which was fine.

The first charge on that list was £113.83 on 1st September 2013 and received a bill for that amount through the post. I then phoned up to pay it by card.

I hadn't received anything at all after that until Friday when I received a letter from Scott & Co Sheriff Officers stating that the account has been passed to them for Enforcement and Collection. If I do not pay by Wednesday this week then a Warrant may be enforced against me. I now owe them £739.20 which is the original £785.83 - £113.83 = £672 + 10% charge!

Today was the first chance to phone Scott & Co and the lady was very rude to me and said I had to pay the full amount by Wednesday and there was nothing I could do. I explained I had not received a monthly bill after September and she said this didn't matter and that Glasgow Council can pass it to them any time - she said they only had to send the original schedule of charges.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

I just do not feel it is fair at all. I expected monthly bills and then at least another reminder to come in the post before getting this type of letter. Admittedly I should have realised I had not had a council tax bill for a couple of months but I have a busy life like most people and I just didn't think about it sadly.

The other thing I am concerned about is that I hope to exit this flat at the end of January but this charge is up until March 2014 so could I get it reduced? Or should I just pay the amount so as not to incur any further charges?

Any help is very much appreciated!

Thanks

Kevin

agrinnall

If you have the money I'd recommend that you pay it to avoid the possibility of additional charges and then argue about it if you can be bothered. The good news is that you will get a refund for the February and March payments, although of course you'll have to pay for those months at wherever you move to (unless you leave the UK) - if you move within Glasgow I would expect them to just transfer it to your new property, so you'd only get money back if the new one is in a lower band than the current one.

kevin_wevin

Thanks for your help agrinnall! I can pay the amount, but it just means I can't buy Christmas prezzies until I get paid on the 14th which is a bit annoying. I will be staying in Glasgow so that's good that they could transfer the amount

RobertoMoir

I won't pretend to know the laws and rules surrounding council tax enforcement in Scotland, but generally speaking it's beholden on you to chase the council up as you know you're liable for the tax. You (hopefully) wouldn't expect someone to get very far with "well they didn't send me a letter" as a defence on not paying road tax or TV licence, for example.

Speaking of the council, you should contact them directly on the off-chance that they'll accept that its a honest misunderstanding and take the file back from the Sheriffs' office and accept an arrangement to pay the council instead. Nothing ventured and all that...

scottishblondie

I've never had more than one bill a year from Glasgow City council for council tax - that bill lists all the instalments for that year and their due dates. I'll admit it's not terribly obvious that they won't send you other bills, but it does make the payment schedule quite clear. They will also only send (I believe) one reminder that you need to make a payment before passing you on to Scott and Co.

You don't really have any option other than to pay up now if you want to avoid any more issues. As agrinnall said, they will transfer your overpayment to your next CT account if you are still in Glasgow, or they will simply issue you a refund if you leave the council area.

CIS

I've never had more than one bill a year from Glasgow City council for council tax - that bill lists all the instalments for that year and their due dates

Presuming there is no change of circumstances then that is all a person would get.

The first charge on that list was £113.83 on 1st September 2013 and received a bill for that amount through the post. I then phoned up to pay it by card.

What about October and November ?

Prior to a court order being obtained the council will have sent at least one reminder and a summons first.

19lottie82

Your annual bill should have had the monthly amounts and the dates for each instalment.

I've never heard of any council offering monthly bills?

19lottie82

kevin_wevin wrote: »

I received a letter from Scott & Co Sheriff Officers stating that the account has been passed to them for Enforcement and Collection. If I do not pay by Wednesday this week then a Warrant MAY be enforced against me.

In other words they are just scaring you, you don't need to pay this all at once. No warrant will be awarded by a court as long as you are making realistic payments towards the balance.

Call them back and tell them you are not in a position to pay the balance in full and you can offer them £x a month, take it or leave it. Back this up with a letter detailing the same.

This is more than they will get from 80% of the people who owe council tax debt, and they will accept it.

kevin_wevin

CIS wrote: »

What about October and November ?

Prior to a court order being obtained the council will have sent at least one reminder and a summons first.

I didn't get anything regarding October and November, I assume they got lost in the post or something. That's what I was trying to get at, I just thought it was a bit extreme suddenly receiving the letter from Scott&Co

kevin_wevin

19lottie82 wrote: »

In other words they are just scaring you, you don't need to pay this all at once. No warrant will be awarded by a court as long as you are making realistic payments towards the balance.

Call them back and tell them you are not in a position to pay the balance in full and you can offer them £x a month, take it or leave it. Back this up with a letter detailing the same.

This is more than they will get from 80% of the people who owe council tax debt, and they will accept it.

I called them and they said I could split it over 4 monthly payments which I was happy about, thanks for your help!

BigAunty

I moved properties within Glasgow and notified Glasgow council tax department, received an annual bill which I assumed was for reference and then fairly soon afterwards, received from the council a snotty red letter threatening future legal action for one or two missed council tax payments, indicating I would have to pay for the full year in advance. It didn't reach Sheriff court stage. You seemed to have missed some correspondence.

The council tax rep I spoke to seemed puzzled as to why I expected my direct debit to continue at the new address but I told him they had all my DD details and other service providers I used, like the telecoms and energy companies, merely changed over my address details and didn't cancel my direct debit without telling me, like Glasgow council did. After all, the supplier has the power to amend direct debits - that's the point of having direct debits rather than standing orders where the power is with the customer.

When I rang to notify them that I was moving, I apparently should have informed them I wanted a new direct debit to be set up at the new address. They automatically cancel the existing direct debit and the old address and did not make this known, they did not say my payments would end at the old address and offer to establish a new one for the new address. I was left with the impression, based on my experience of moving addresses, that suppliers would continue with the DD.

So as far as I know, Glasgow council expect its direct debit council tax payers to be psychic and know that they will cancel the DD without setting up a new one when someone rings to tell them they are moving addresses! As far as I remember, there is nothing in the annual bill letter that you receive at the new address that makes it clear that you have to ring them and establish a new DD.