Council not paying back money

voixdeville

Hi,

Sorry, wasn't sure where to post this - so sorry if not in right place.

My partner recently received a littering fine and to cut a long story short we ended up owing more than the original penalty of £75.

Anyway, what happened was we paid the local council the fine of £75, but it later turned out we had paid the fine too late (as the issue had already been passed to court) and therefore the fees had increased to £250.

Subsequently, we ended up paying £325 to a debt-collection agency (who were pursuing the debt). The debt has now been cleared.

The problem is, we have actually ended up paying £400! £75 to the council, and £325 to the debt collection agency.

The council keep telling us they will refund the original £75 - as this was paid in error, but the refund never seems to materialise!

I was just wondering if anyone knows how I should pursue this - since we are entitled to that £75, and I would like to get it back.

Thanks

Fosterdog

Send them a letter before action giving them 14 days to pay or you can issue court proceedings against them and make sure you include that any costs of bringing the claim will be added to the claim.

Alternatively you can follow their official complaints procedure which should be detailed on their website and if you reach 8 weeks without a resolution you can forward your complaint to the ombudsman. It will take longer but if you have proof of payments and of them admitting they owe the money then they will be made to pay.

timbstoke

I'd go the other way. Check with the council and the court to see exactly how much was awarded - I'm guessing it's never actually been to court and you dealt directly with the Debt Collection Agency, who told you the price had gone up. If you'd already paid, that's rubbish and you were perfectly entitled to tell them to return the debt to the council.

Since you paid the council before the DCA got in touch, the DCA had no right to collect the debt, nor to add any fees. Write to them and demand a full refund of the £325, as it has come to your attention that the account was settled in full prior to them contacting you. Start the council's complaints procedure on the same basis - you paid the council directly on <date>, additional costs were not added by the DCA until <later date> and as such they had no right to collect those additional costs from you.

DoaM

I'm minded to agree with post #3 ... as long as OP can confirm that they didn't receive any court summons pursuant to the fine. (It wouldn't arbitrarily go to court without the accused being summonsed). If they did but ignored it then they're "on to plums", as they say in some parts of Scotland, and would have to follow post #2.

voixdeville

Thanks so much for these replies!

What actually happened (from the beginning) was that we received the fine in January and wrote a letter to the council appealing against the fine - since there were no bins available to dispose of the litter.

We didn't hear anything back from them, and we therefore (foolishly) presumed that they had accepted the appeal.

Between Sept-Oct 2016 we were away on holiday in France for a month, and on our return we had been sent a court summons. Unfortunately we had missed the court appearance, as it had already taken place.

It was at this point we contacted the council and asked if we could pay in full, which we did. The council representative assured us that the case was settled.

However, it became apparent later that since the court hearing had already taken place, we were now liable for a higher fee of £250.

Due to the delay in resolving the issue, by the time we paid the DCC the fee had risen to £325.

Thanks

agrinnall

voixdeville wrote: »

...since there were no bins available to dispose of the litter.

So you just decided to throw your rubbish on the ground anyway? Any sympathy I might have had has gone now.

giraffe69

So you just decided to throw your rubbish on the ground anyway? Any sympathy I might have had has gone now.

Firstly post 1 says it was OP's partbner not them who dropped the litter and secondly I don't think they were asking for your sympathy but advice on a double payment.

sheramber

How was the £325 made up?

if it was only fees for the court action it would still be payable.

Or was it fine £75 and £250 fees?

[Deleted User]

voixdeville wrote: »

we received the fine in January and wrote a letter to the council appealing against the fine - since there were no bins available to dispose of the litter.

That really is not an acceptable reason for appeal.

If no litter receptacles were provided, you obviously should have disposed of your litter in a more appropriate way.


Of course, the matter of the £75 the Council keeps promising to refund is a separate issue, so do pursue this.

daytona0

giraffe69 wrote: »

Firstly post 1 says it was OP's partbner not them who dropped the litter and secondly I don't think they were asking for your sympathy but advice on a double payment.

Firstly, that's nit picking. The quoted user's opinion is no less valid if it transpires that they referred to the wrong person...

Secondly, I agree that they weren't asking for sympathy But between sticking up for OP's littering and agrinnall announcing loss of sympathy, I know who I'm personally sticking up for....

That's what I don't get with people on here sometimes! They'll defend someone (or at least show MUCH LESS criticism towards) who has thrown rubbish on the floor over someone who effectively says that what they did was wrong!

The fine is another story like! Steep as hell, but alas the OP's stupidity did not help there...


As for situation at hand, it has been covered but basically you need to follow the grievance procedures with the council and, if that fails, take them to small claims court.

If you have your paperwork in order (ie proof of how much the fine was with the collection agency and how much you paid in total) then I can't imagine you losing in the small claims court....

arcon5

timbstoke wrote: »

I'd go the other way. Check with the council and the court to see exactly how much was awarded - I'm guessing it's never actually been to court and you dealt directly with the Debt Collection Agency, who told you the price had gone up. If you'd already paid, that's rubbish and you were perfectly entitled to tell them to return the debt to the council.

Since you paid the council before the DCA got in touch, the DCA had no right to collect the debt, nor to add any fees. Write to them and demand a full refund of the £325, as it has come to your attention that the account was settled in full prior to them contacting you. Start the council's complaints procedure on the same basis - you paid the council directly on <date>, additional costs were not added by the DCA until <later date> and as such they had no right to collect those additional costs from you.

Entitled? Under what regulations?