Debt Payment Refund

souppy

Hi. I had a quick question about whether I am able to get/collectors are obligated to pay, a refund on a debt repayment that I recently made (Yesterday)?

Basically, I had been meaning to apply for council tax reduction due to current unemployment status but had forgotten and was recently given a "scary" letter by debt collectors (Scott and Co on behalf of Glasgow City Council) for the rather large sum of £811 (inc 10% charge). I promptly sent my evidence for council tax reduction to GCC, which should amount to £0 (Still have to pay water charge), but had this letter hanging over me and will have a couple weeks wait until the recalculated bill comes through. I wrongly thought that this had an massively ill effect on my credit rating (which is near perfect) so promptly stuck the full amount on one of my credit cards, totalling ~£835 with CC fee. I have just realised that I have been rather stupid as when I receive my recalculated bill (likely between £20-£250) the fees will be far smaller, probably about £60 - £80 less. I also paid over the phone which I think makes the transaction a "distance sale" (possibly?) which could give me even more rights. So can anyone tell me whether I am entitled to a full refund of my payment (inc fees) which the intention of settling the account as soon as the much lower recalculated bill comes through. I am quite sure they will probably try and fob me off but would like to know what my legal entitlement is.

Thanks.

TLDR: Am I entitled to a refund (with fees) of a debt repayment I made, over the phone, which was actually way over the odds?

sourcrates

Hi,

I would say your chances of getting money out of a DCA, especially scotts, will be next to impossible.

Even more so when it was a council tax debt.

However once you have the adjusted bill, you could put it all in writing and ask for the difference to be refunded.

That should not be beyond the realms of possibility.

fatbelly

They're collecting on behalf of the council so if you end up having overpaid for this year you would have to talk to the council about a refund.

Council Tax is a priority debt due to bailiffs and possible committal so you were right to treat it more seriously than credit card debt.

However, just to clarify, councils do not report to credit reference agencies, whereas credit cards do.

National_Debtline

fatbelly wrote: »

Council Tax is a priority debt due to bailiffs and possible committal so you were right to treat it more seriously than credit card debt.

However, just to clarify, councils do not report to credit reference agencies, whereas credit cards do.

Hi all


I just wanted to clarify that as this relates to Council Tax owed in Scotland, committal to prison is not a possible direct consequence of non-payment. It is still of course a priority debt in every other sense as fatbelly rightly states, especially now that it has been passed to sheriff officers, and just as in England/Wales it is not reported to credit reference agencies.

fatbelly

Thank you.

Only the English and Welsh get jailed then.

sourcrates

fatbelly wrote: »

Thank you.

Only the English and Welsh get jailed then.

I blame Mel Gibson personally !!!

Seems they have more freedoms north of the border than you think !!

CIS

The costs are set at the time the application went through court - they won't alter that now as they were set based on the balance at the time and were correct when that occurred.

You'll can certainly get a refund on any balance overpaid but they'll not refund the whole payment so that you can pay again at a lower amount.

Craig