My local council are a bunch of idiots.

wurlitzerwilly

I got married 20 months ago, and my wife moved into what was then my home, and as required by Law, I informed our local Council that she was now resident.
For her own reasons, she decided that she wanted to pay all bills by direct Debit from her bank account, so she completed a DD mandate for Council Tax with Adur District Council, who after 10 months informed us that we had not paid and threatened their usual summons. :eek:

We checked bank accounts etc and found that payments had been made to the Council, but It turned out that somehow a Standing Order had been set up, to an unknown account number, and that had ceased after 10 months anyway.
The Council agreed in the end that they had been paid their due, and the best thing we could do was to set up another Direct Debit mandate, which was duly carried out. We had notification that this had been accepted and forgot all about it after that.
Last week, I received another threatening letter from Adur District Council, informing me that I have not paid any Council Tax! We checked with my wife's bank and were given written details that a Direct Debit was indeed set-up and we have an account number and Council reference, together with a statement of zero transactions. It would appear that Adur District Council have not bothered to request payment from the Bank.

I presume that having not paid due to Adur District Council's incompetence, is not the same as refusal to pay, on my or my wife's part, so I intend to let Adur District Council issue its summons, and I will attend Court hopefully along with a local newspaper reporter. I will of course be claiming expenses for loss of earnings and fares along with an offer of a new Direct Debit mandate and repayment of so-called arrears at £1 per week. If asked why I did not inform Adur Council of THEIR error, my reply will be along the lines of "because I don't have to, and I choose not to meddle in the running of Adur District Council's affairs, over which I have absolutely no authority!!!" :j

Regards,

Alan.

advent1122

I dont see the problem, You know you havent paid so just pay up.
No matter whos fault it was setting up the DD and the lack of payments received, the fact of the matter is you have not paid your council tax and you will be made to pay by the court.

wurlitzerwilly

So it's quite OK for the Council to threaten me with a summons over something that is their fault? I think not.

I never said that I do not intend to pay my Council Tax, it is right and proper to do so, but it is also the Council's duty NOT to waste taxpayers' money on matters such as this, without putting their own house in order first.

They are the first to "sabre rattle" when there's a problem, and the last to back down when they're wrong. They deserve to be publicly ridiculed.

Regards,

Alan.

dangeroussports

I couldnt agree more.
The Europeans dont have these issues.

uktim29

If you've been informed you need to pay even if they originally made a mistake you'll need to contact them to get it cleared or arrange payment. If you ignore this you'll probably struggle in court because you know you owe money or have since been informed about the mistake and know you still need to pay.

Mark7799

A similar thing happened to me a few years ago when we decided to switch the Council tax payment d/d from my wife's account to mine. The local authority messed up and didn't take any payments.

I did not want to waste time off work (have better things to do)
I didn't think the local newspaper would have been interested
It didn't occur to me to offer payment at £1 per week
I sent them a cheque for the full outstanding amount for the year
I just assumed mistakes happen

Did I do something wrong?:rolleyes:

CIS

I presume that having not paid due to Adur District Council's incompetence, is not the same as refusal to pay, on my or my wife's part, so I intend to let Adur District Council issue its summons, and I will attend Court hopefully along with a local newspaper reporter. I I presume that having not paid due to Adur District Council's incompetence, is not the same as refusal to pay, on my or my wife's part, so I intend to let Adur District Council issue its summons, and I will attend Court hopefully along with a local newspaper reporter. I will of course be claiming expenses for loss of earnings and fares along with an offer of a new Direct Debit mandate and repayment of so-called arrears at £1 per week. If asked why I did not inform Adur Council of THEIR error, my reply will be along the lines of "because I don't have to, and I choose not to meddle in the running of Adur District Council's affairs, over which I have absolutely no authority!!!" :j will of course be claiming expenses for loss of earnings and fares along with an offer of a new Direct Debit mandate and repayment of so-called arrears at £1 per week. If asked why I did not inform Adur Council of THEIR error, my reply will be along the lines of "because I don't have to, and I choose not to meddle in the running of Adur District Council's affairs, over which I have absolutely no authority!!!" :j

The summons can be proceeded with by the council and in most cases they will do so and request the L/O. At the end of the day, the council should have taken the dd but its is your responsibility to check that payments are being taken and you would have received at least one reminder.

The L/O could be correctly issued for the non-payment as it is the payer responsibility and not the councils to ensure suitable payments are made.

When you received the reminder why didn't you check the bank and once you found the dd had not been taken, make a cash payment or alternative payment ?.

wurlitzerwilly

Mark7799 wrote: »

........................I sent them a cheque for the full outstanding amount for the year
I just assumed mistakes happen

Did I do something wrong?:rolleyes:

Not at all. My method is just different from yours.

Regards,

Alan.

taxcollector

The council cannot issue you a summons unless it sent you a reminder notice. You should have queried why a reminder had been issued at the time. I don't think any Magistrate will be very sympathetic to your reasons and all you will do is ending up paying more due to court costs. The council will have the last laugh and you will be more out of pocket.

Your offer of £1 will be refused and if the Magistrate asks you your employment details the Council can arrange an attachment of earnings. Just pay up and stop bleating. Yes - I collect Council tax for a living and I have heard every excuse in the book. I have to pay my local council (who are not my employers) and and I check my bank statements to check direct debits have been paid.

CIS

Yes - I collect Council tax for a living and I have heard every excuse in the book. I have to pay my local council (who are not my employers) and and I check my bank statements to check direct debits have been paid.[/QUOTE]

Iam in exactly the same situation and can agree 100%.

The council cannot issue you a summons unless it sent you a reminder notice. You should have queried why a reminder had been issued at the time

Common issue in our area (and I suspect all) is the amazing ability of reminders and bills to vanish in to thin air but summons amazingly get through.

bella123

just send a cheque to the council,why waste your time and the councils time and tax payers money,---,you own them the money just pay it.