In need of a vent...

Starbrite

I really just want to cry and know this is a trigger for my depression, I guess money worries triggers everyone's depression right. I do feel I need to "share" this to get it out there, forget about it and move on. So please bear with me.

I am fully aware a lot of people on this board are in far more greater debt than myself, trust me i have been there in my 20s and managed to get out.

So today's rant is council tax. A little background history... I was unemployed for 18 months or so was struggling with the bills etc. I had enough and embarked upon a course and became better off and council tax exempt whoop whoop fast forward to now...

I was very lucky enough to have June as a holiday I saw sunshine and other exciting things... Upon my return late June I had a letter re council tax and i need to pay £91 a month, obliviously my "July" pay was low as did not work much in June I managed to cover all the bills rent gas elec and so forth apart form council tax due to the fact in mid may no one could advise me how much it would be so I could pre plan.

Upon reading the letter I thought oh well will pay it end of August/beginning of September, I thought no more of it.

Today I got home to find a reminder letter that my account is overdue of Julys council tax (we are not even at the end of July!) I did the sensible thing and called them to say I cannot pay it until end of August beginning of September and explained why. between you and me its my own fault as A, I went on holiday and B, a stupid car parking ticket has caught up with me if I don't pay that £250 at end of July it will be a CCJ thing and I don't want that). However the man on the phone was very unhelpful informed me I should be aware of taking on the responsibility of council tax and told me I know how the system works, basically bringing up the past and when I was unemployed and struggled before.

He also said if I don't pay arrangements to retrieve the monies will be made. As you can imagine the conversation went round in circles me informing him I will pay it and him informing me I should know how the system works and telling me to contact housing benefit if I cannot afford it.

Why oh why are they the most horrible people ever and as useless as a chocolate teapot?

I put down the phone and all the memories of feeling useless unemployed came flooding back. Do they not realise the affect they have on peoples feelings?

Yes I know I should of put money to one side to pay it, but when you have no idea how much it will be how can you do this? Maybe in hindsight I shouldn't of gone on my first holiday in 3 years. There is only so much in life you can pre plan, I thought I did well by covering all my other bills tbh

I'm not looking for answers just wanting to vent and share, thank you for reading xxx

Andypandyboy

Surely the rates/bands of council tax are stated on the council website and then if you are single you deduct 25%?

Sorry, but I do think it is unfair that someone doing their job is referred to as "the most horrible people ever and as useless as a chocolate teapot?" If the money was due in July and you are saying you will pay but in September, what did you expect him to say?

If a bill is due then you pay it before going on holiday. We would all like to delay payment of bills but in the real world it doesn't work like that, they need paying when they are due not when it suits us.

Starbrite

Before I went away mid May I was exempt from council tax, I called them in April/may time to find out when payments needed to be made etc yet no one could inform me of this. I went on holiday and upon my return I had a letter dated beginning of June informing me of payments starting the 1st July

I had 3 days notice that £91 need to be paid... Due to fact I returned 28th June

I was referring to the department being useless and a helpful as a chocolate teapot not the individual

Andypandyboy

They gave you more notice than 3 days though. It is not their fault you were away almost 6 weeks. Sorry, but you must have an idea what band you property is in based on the published bands.

I can see that it is annoying to get a bill you only had a little time to pay, but that it is due to circumstance and those circumstances were of your own making, so I am not sure why the vent at the council who simply want what is due when it is due, not two months later.

Smodlet

It's your choice. Either pay it when it is due or bring down a world of pain by ignoring it, whilst trashing your credit record. Perhaps the person at the council was having a bad day; they are human, too. Have you never reacted to a situation badly and wished you had done better, afterwards? We all have.

CIS

Starbrite wrote: »

I really just want to cry and know this is a trigger for my depression, I guess money worries triggers everyone's depression right. I do feel I need to "share" this to get it out there, forget about it and move on. So please bear with me.

I am fully aware a lot of people on this board are in far more greater debt than myself, trust me i have been there in my 20s and managed to get out.

So today's rant is council tax. A little background history... I was unemployed for 18 months or so was struggling with the bills etc. I had enough and embarked upon a course and became better off and council tax exempt whoop whoop fast forward to now...

I was very lucky enough to have June as a holiday I saw sunshine and other exciting things... Upon my return late June I had a letter re council tax and i need to pay £91 a month, obliviously my "July" pay was low as did not work much in June I managed to cover all the bills rent gas elec and so forth apart form council tax due to the fact in mid may no one could advise me how much it would be so I could pre plan.

Upon reading the letter I thought oh well will pay it end of August/beginning of September, I thought no more of it.

Today I got home to find a reminder letter that my account is overdue of Julys council tax (we are not even at the end of July!) I did the sensible thing and called them to say I cannot pay it until end of August beginning of September and explained why. between you and me its my own fault as A, I went on holiday and B, a stupid car parking ticket has caught up with me if I don't pay that £250 at end of July it will be a CCJ thing and I don't want that). However the man on the phone was very unhelpful informed me I should be aware of taking on the responsibility of council tax and told me I know how the system works, basically bringing up the past and when I was unemployed and struggled before.

He also said if I don't pay arrangements to retrieve the monies will be made. As you can imagine the conversation went round in circles me informing him I will pay it and him informing me I should know how the system works and telling me to contact housing benefit if I cannot afford it.

Why oh why are they the most horrible people ever and as useless as a chocolate teapot?

I put down the phone and all the memories of feeling useless unemployed came flooding back. Do they not realise the affect they have on peoples feelings?

Yes I know I should of put money to one side to pay it, but when you have no idea how much it will be how can you do this? Maybe in hindsight I shouldn't of gone on my first holiday in 3 years. There is only so much in life you can pre plan, I thought I did well by covering all my other bills tbh

I'm not looking for answers just wanting to vent and share, thank you for reading xxx

Quite a common situation that I dealt with over the years between the local authority and my current consultancy. Legislation on the matter is clear (although I find it can take a 2 or 3 page letter to go through it all).

It would appear that you missed the instalment on the demand notice - the shorter answer is that the council tax regulations allow for the reminder to be issued the day after the instalment is due. There's no requirement for the council to wait.

lovehackney

Council tax is more of a priority bill than a car parking ticket. So you might want to prioritise that over the fine.

bluesky1989

The month of June for a holiday? Sounds nice.

It seems like you need to take responsibility for this - you didn't pay your car ticket on time causing it to become a bigger issue than it needed to be. £250 is a ridiculous amount.

If you cannot afford a surprise payment of £91 which they gave you ample warning about (should they have delivered the letter directly to you?) then you shouldn't have gone on holiday.

Chances are not paying the council tax for one month will not cause any drama, they will send out a few more letters which will probably get redder and more threatening but it actually takes some time before they start any meaningful action.

sourcrates

bluesky1989 wrote: »

Chances are not paying the council tax for one month will not cause any drama, they will send out a few more letters which will probably get redder and more threatening but it actually takes some time before they start any meaningful action.

That's actually really bad advice.

The OP may lose the right to pay by instalments, and the council may demand the full years payment in one go.

Is the parking ticket a council PCN or a private parking ticket ?

Either way, your council tax is a number one priority as things can get out of hand really quickly if you start missing payments, try phoning them again, hopefully you will get someone with a more positive attitude, they should allow you to spread the missing payment over the remains months of the year.

bluesky1989

It probably is I agree. I'm just talking from personal experience when a council has demanded council tax payments despite my husband and I both being eligible for student exemption.

theoretica

I imagine you are venting in part because you are annoyed at yourself - you thought to ask how much it was and if you had thought a little more you could have found the band for your home and estimated the bill yourself to put money aside.

Do you have a plan now? It seems unusual that your next payday isn't until the end of August to pay this, as most people are paid at least every month.