Bailiffs chasing me for overpaying my council tax!

TBagpuss

I agree with the advice above. WRITE to the council (keeping a copy)
State the dates and amounts which you paid, and the point at whcih you switched to single occupancy.
State that you have bbeen told by the council that the money was recieved but incorrectly allocated to a holding account (if possiblem say when and who told you this)
Ask that they :
- provide you with a brreak down of what they cali is owed, how it has ben calcuated
- Explain why the money you paid was put into a holding account rather than against your account, and why you were not advised at the time of this, and why, if they could not identify the correct account, they did not return to money to you
- Ask them to confirm that they will immediately arrange to suspend all bailiff or other collections activity until they have addressed these issues.

It may be possible for you to apply to the court toget the order set aside but that wil be much easier if you can proce that you paid.

I am not particualrly surprised that this could have happened - a collegue of mine had a similar situation, he council incorrectly took one direct debit payment too many so she had overpaid by a month, she spotted the erro and spoke to them, they apologised and asked whether she wanted a refund r simply to credit it against the new bill when that came out. She said lkep it as credit against the new bill. They then started chasing her for being a month in arrears, as it seemed that they / the system culdn't understand the concept of an overpayment. They got as far as issuing proceedings, and it only stopped after she had a solicitors letter sent.

OP, document everything, keep copies of any letters , make notes of any phone calls incluing when you called / were called incl. the time, and name of the person you spoke to)

If you hear from the bailiffs then don't let them in, tell them that debt is disputed and that you are trying to get the council to resolve it as the issue arose from them not allocating the payment you made to your account.

Talk to StepChange about further help or advice in dealing with the debt - they might be able to help you with sample letters etc.

CIS

inkwat wrote: »

Do NOT pay it - that CAN suggest you admit liability. It is much harder to pay a debt and claim it back than to have it struck off.

Too late about that - the liability order granted by the court confirms that the balance is due, there's no 'liability' to deny or admit in the respect of the order being granted. There may well be ancillary issues but that's a different aspect to consider.

Craig

CIS

The only way to find out what is happened is to contact the local authority and find out changed and when with regards to payments.

The fact they mentioned money is in a holding account usually means it couldn't be matched to an account (otherwise there'd be an account in credit). If a payment has been received that can't be matched to an account then the council can't be held responsible if action has moved on for an account that has no payment on it - councils usually have dozens of payments on hold that cannot be matched up for various reasons.

Craig

marliepanda

CIS wrote: »

The only way to find out what is happened is to contact the local authority and find out changed and when with regards to payments.

The fact they mentioned money is in a holding account usually means it couldn't be matched to an account (otherwise there'd be an account in credit). If a payment has been received that can't be matched to an account then the council can't be held responsible if action has moved on for an account that has no payment on it - councils usually have dozens of payments on hold that cannot be matched up for various reasons.

Craig

Agreed, and the op should have got SEVERAL letters regarding this. I can't see how many many have gone by the wayside. And if they did have money in holding and the OP contacted them it should have been allocated once they knew where it belonged.

Something doesn't add up.

tim123456789

Andyjflet wrote: »

My advice, pay the Bailiff before the debt spirals out of control and then pursue your issue with the council. Paying it doesnt mean you admit liability but you will end up with a bigger bill.

No don't do this

when the council unwind this they will not give you the 500 pound bailiff fee back

hazyjo

Did your ex have RM forwarding? Were the bills definitely just to you while you were there alone, or might they have got caught up in his post-forwarding?


Jx

hazyjo

tim123456789 wrote: »

No don't do this

when the council unwind this they will not give you the 500 pound bailiff fee back

Completely agree. I'd not pay a penny if something's disputed/already paid.

teneighty

You have my sympathies.

I got embroiled in a similar dispute with my Council over a moronic administrative !!!! up that they just would not admit too. The more I pushed the more they dug their heels in. It became a kafkaesque farce with the petty bureaucrats seemingly relishing their power.

I made an official complaint to the Council Chief Executive which was rejected, I made a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman which also failed but the ombudsman phoned me up to apologize as their hands were tied by procedural red tape which meant in my case they had to find in favour of the Council against all sense of justice.

In the end I managed to win by going through the Valuation Office but that will not apply in your case. Infuriatingly I still had to pay the bailiffs fee but as it was only £25 I was too exhausted by this stage to fight any more. But certainly go down the formal complaint and ombudsman route. These people really need to be reminded that they are actually public servants working for the benefit of decent honest tax payers.

CIS

The valuation tribunal is good if it's a dispute over liability, discount, exemptions or S13A reductions. It wouldn't help in this case as it's outside of the VT remit.

The Local Government Ombudsman may be able to help, after any internal complaints procedure has been looked at, but it pays to remember that they are only advisory in respect of their decisions and Local Authority isn't required to follow any recommendation - the LGO cannot rule on matters of legislation (regardless of whether they think legislation is right or wrong).

Craig

teddysmum

It took 4 years for our council to sort out the council tax bill for my husband's friend, who lives in a housing association flat.


As above, I would speak to the councillor for your ward. There are usually councillor contact lists (email and phone) and they would have direct access, instead of waiting in an enquiries queue.