Council Tax..poor customer service

confuseddaughter_2

Lioness_Twinkletoes wrote: »

If you read my thread fully you'd see I was discharged ten years ago Safe to say, any problems I might have had have been resolved. Happy to listen your input though, if you think you have anything constructive to add

I don't understand how you can say they were resolved, that is unless you settled all of your debts, court costs and the OR/trustee's costs?
More likely the case that along the way you left your debts behind that the likes of my mum, dad, sister and myself have had to cover through an increase in the general cost of living and bank charges/interest. It is nothing to be proud of, leaving people with unpaid debts. Most of my family at one time or another has been in this position whilst waiting for money to be repaid/returned. So sorry to take this off track a little, he/she annoyed me saying that 'it was resolved' to whose satisfaction?

confuseddaughter_2

As for poor customer care, I have found that in my council, most can't give a definitive answer to a simple problem - I feel that I know as much now about the law relating to these benefits than my local council does.
On behalf of my dad I am pulling our council 'kicking and screaming' to a Tribunal. We are being represented by the professor head of law studies at the uni who is being assisted by his students.
At the first hearing, the guy from the council was visibly shocked to find out that the reference book used by most if not all councils was actually co written by my rep. The case was adjourned for the council to get to grips with the actual law and not the interpretation of it. It has been set down for a 1 day trial to be headed up by a more senior judge. The amount of CTB in dispute is less than £500, but by the time we have finished with the council, it is estimated that their costs will amount to over £4000.

Lioness_Twinkletoes

confuseddaughter wrote: »

I don't understand how you can say they were resolved, that is unless you settled all of your debts, court costs and the OR/trustee's costs?
More likely the case that along the way you left your debts behind that the likes of my mum, dad, sister and myself have had to cover through an increase in the general cost of living and bank charges/interest. It is nothing to be proud of, leaving people with unpaid debts. Most of my family at one time or another has been in this position whilst waiting for money to be repaid/returned. So sorry to take this off track a little, he/she annoyed me saying that 'it was resolved' to whose satisfaction?

I completely agree with you. Every person that reneges on their debts is potentially causing a hike in the interest rates of those that wish to borrow in their wake. If everybody failed to pay their debts the economy would fall apart.

There are some that accrue debt through no fault of their own, others that are the victim of circumstance - such as losing their job. For these people, the actions of declaring bankruptcy are fierce and long lasting. They lose their homes, their cars, some might lose their jobs. They also lose their self respect. Their shame is paraded for the world to see in public. It is impossible to get credit - even something as simple as home contents insurance. For some, it is too traumatic to face and their shame is so great they kill themselves.

For others, they don't care. They run up debts they can't and won't pay. They have no care as to the ramifications of their actions and are uninterested in the long term consequences. Fortunately, they are few and far between.

For me, eleven years since my bankruptcy and thanks to a lot of hard work and an inheritance I was able to pay my debts. I came out of the whole experience a lot wiser, more cautious and with a greater understanding of how quickly the wheels can come off.

So while I appreciate your irritation I can assure that my financial situation was resolved to everyone's satisfaction (including yours, I hope)

[Deleted User]

claire21 wrote: »

Because they still need to see ID and NI card so a trip was needed, I had thought that one trip would sort all the relevant details needed.

Exactly how I found it 3 weeks ago, I was really extra prepared and took in a bank statement and blow me down with a feather, guess what was asked for by end of the week? so agree it was frustrating

Must say I received the full A4 receipt too although my claim is now ended as you have to reply within 2 week timeframe or it auto closes ok

And on the subject of people getting of lightly re bankruptcy I couldn't disagree more - are interest rates not also pushed up when people are offered discounts to settle their debts or have charges written of, no? anyone who goes through insolvency doesn't get the pleasure of this at the lender's mercy, they can have the full figures recorded, and don't get me started on them that don't acknowledge their debts the stature barred is it?? they also play a part in interest hikes

Trust_Is_Futile

Unfortunately 'getting lost in the system' is all too frequent.

My husband left in August and I applied for single occupancy in October. My local Council opened a new account (from August) and applied all payments made up to October to the old account - except just over £100 which disappeared without explanation.

In January I supplied proof that I had made all payments, in the form of PO receipts, which they photocopied (no receipt given btw), and then nothing. They were still hanging onto the money in case my departed hubby wished to claim it as his own. They even told me (twice) that if he didn't claim it, and I provided no proof, they would keep it in their own funds! I paid all tax I had calculated to be due for 2013-14, and then got a final reminder and threat of summons if I didn't cough up the £100-odd.

It was then it became apparent that nobody had pressed the relevant button in their system to sort things out in January, but they couldn't possibly prioritise their deliberations: day 1 of their avowed 6-week wait for action to be taken on anyone's account query was the date in March when I queried the final demand!

It was only then, that I had raised myself up out of depression enough to ask why payments made in respect of my address after August (when they agreed I became sole occupant) had been applied to the previous account. If they had applied the amount paid in by the date from which they closed the old account, technically the Council would have been pursuing both of us for about a tenner each, instead of withholding £100+ from me - until my ward Councillor became involved last month.

Finally a senior officer contacted me, promised my threat of summons had been removed, promised more transparency when sending out amended bills in future, and averred that the Council definitely wouldn't retain money where previous occupants made no claim.

So if something does go wrong with Council Tax, involving a Councillor is great advice. Nor should anyone believe their local Council has worked out the old/new bill correctly. It is relatively simple to work out what the bills should be - even though people don't usually claim single occupancy unless there's been a major trauma in their lives, which makes poor service even harder to counter.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

I have always helped people to the best of my ability and gone out of my way to ensure all issues are resolved at first point of contact. If English isn't their first language then we have a language line.

I did work for a council a number of years ago where some of my colleagues were unhelpful and said to some Poles that they couldn't claim benefit at all and sent them away. My suggestions about training need of certain members of staff resulted in a training session from John Zebedee but no real change in behaviour

Last I heard the worst offender had been made a manager of the section I left that particular local authority 7 years ago.

So yes there are some people who give worse help than their collegues. Every office I have worked in has at least one person like that.