Council tax deductions HELP PLEASE

Housing_Benefit_Officer

peanut99 wrote: »

UPDATE!!!
I called the council. Turns out that they hadn't closed the account for my old address. All council tax related paperwork was sent there including the bill for the current address. The bill has been recalculated accordingly and all other charges have been removed. The debt is no longer being taken from my benefits. I have arranged to pay the bill in full as usual once it arrives.
Job done and thanks all for your help. Hope this thread can help someone else in the future

Good news

My current local authority all the HB officers are also CTAX officers so we update Council Tax accounts at the same time we update benefit claims. Most councils have 2 separate departments and if the Benefits team fail to send a memo to the CTAX office they never know that someone has moved out.

seven-day-weekend

peanut99 wrote: »

Yeah I totally thought I was getting council tax free this year. Moron! Believe it or not checking to make sure the council were doing their jobs properly was not top of my agenda, seeing as I have 2 children one of which has special needs. Plus another on the way.
If you had read all the comments I did mention that I had said to a friend of mine that I hadn't got a council tax bill this year. As the council want me to pay it is their job I think to make sure they bill me correctly. Perhaps I should learn the art of telepathy instead. There has obviously been some kind of error. I haven't deliberately avoided paying, I didn't get the bill or anything to do with it. I've never not paid the council tax bill, so thank you for your narrow minded moronic input.
I have updated my addresses. They knew I'd moved because I claim council tax benefit which is paid regarding the current address.

Actually, it IS your responsibility. You knew you had not had a Council Tax Bill. Obviously this was an error, but it was still up to you to chase it up. You knew you should have one.

I'm glad it has now been sorted out.

mickaveli2001

Unsure if this will be of any help, but I'm sure there was legislative measures put in place to stop people from taking money that was used for the sole use of living (food, rent, heat etc.)


It's theft, plain and simple. The councils get away with illegal actions all the time. Glad it's sorted now, but it irritates me that they just come out with a "whoops, we made a mistake" and forget about it. What about the initial threats they usually dish out before any proof can be established that you even owe anything, or all the stress they put people through? They should be taken to court for idiotic little errors

seven-day-weekend

mickaveli2001 wrote: »

Unsure if this will be of any help, but I'm sure there was legislative measures put in place to stop people from taking money that was used for the sole use of living (food, rent, heat etc.)


It's theft, plain and simple. The councils get away with illegal actions all the time. Glad it's sorted now, but it irritates me that they just come out with a "whoops, we made a mistake" and forget about it. What about the initial threats they usually dish out before any proof can be established that you even owe anything, or all the stress they put people through? They should be taken to court for idiotic little errors

There is more than 'the Council' who has made an error here.

First of all 'the Council' in this context probably consists of a low-paid 20-year-old admin assistant who forgot to press a key on a computer. They should be taken to court for this, by your reckoning. Really?

Secondly, the OP knew they had not received a CT bill and should have chased it up, not ignored it and then complained when they were asked to pay. It was pretty obvious that something had gone wrong.

Everyone makes mistakes. In this case, both 'the Council' and the OP. It is now sorted out, and could have been sorted a long while ago if the OP had been pro-active.

mickaveli2001

Yes. IMO they should. If the shoe is on the other foot and we accidentally underpay or cause any other administrative error then we are normally sent threatening letters very quickly. My alleged council tax bill was sent to sheriff officers, who in turn threatened to make me bankrupt, and even stealing articles from the home before they even established foundational requirements that would compel me to pay them. The council, fully are of this behaviour, simply stand back and allow it, because it's they who instruct it and call the dogs. For all the hassle they cause to people who make mistakes, they should be held accountable

CIS

mickaveli2001 wrote: »

Unsure if this will be of any help, but I'm sure there was legislative measures put in place to stop people from taking money that was used for the sole use of living (food, rent, heat etc.)


It's theft, plain and simple. The councils get away with illegal actions all the time. Glad it's sorted now, but it irritates me that they just come out with a "whoops, we made a mistake" and forget about it. What about the initial threats they usually dish out before any proof can be established that you even owe anything, or all the stress they put people through? They should be taken to court for idiotic little errors

Deductions from benefits are quite legal under the council tax (administration & enforcement) regs 1992 (as amended).

mickaveli2001

legalised theft doesn't make it any more moral

seven-day-weekend

mickaveli2001 wrote: »

legalised theft doesn't make it any more moral

It's not theft if they are legally recouping money they are owed.

poppasmurf_bewdley

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

It's not theft if they are legally recouping money they are owed.

And many, many people (lots of whom struggle to pay their CT bills) will be grateful that the councils are putting in the effort to make sure everybody pays their due and the dilatory not allowed to increase everybody else's bill.

mickaveli2001

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

It's not theft if they are legally recouping money they are owed.

Owed for what? No council in this land can even provide a legitimate bill to make it legal. That's because the services provided to us are funded mostly by excessive borrowing, which part of the local government Act, 1992 allowed. We now hand over the same amount of money for far less services to make up the shortfall