Council Tax Direct Debit

LeeCee

Hi All,

I'm having a bit of trouble with Manchester City Council with regards to Council Tax, I'll try to be clear and concise to avoid confusion.

My mother has been in and out of hospital for several months over the last year, I was aked to open her mail regularly whilst she was in hospital.

On March 16th, 2020 I opened several threatening letters from Manchester City Council stating that she owed Council Tax and needed to make immidiate payments.

I tried to contact Manchester City Council on the numbers they provided but all three phone numbers lead to an automated payment line.

I notified the council via e-mail regarding her circumstances and informed them that I had set up a direct debit for £50.00 a month from my account to clear the balance. I never received a reply.

I created a direct debit on the Manchester City Council website for £50.00 a month from my account and got an automated acknowledgement that same day.

On 7th April, 2020 Manchester City Council debited £156.07 from my account without my consent and without notifying me.

On 7th May 2020 Manchester City Council debited £218.61 from my account without my consent and without notifying me.

No mail has been received at my mothers address, she's still in hospital and has not been home.

I have not received any further communication via e-mail or phone using the contact information provided with my direct debit.

I have complained to Manchester City Council and am currently waiting for a response, but that could only be done via e-mail.

Would there be consequences for my mum by cancelling the direct debit?

In light of the above I'm at a loss as to what to do next. Has anybody else had this issue and, if so, how was it resolved?

KatrinaWaves

I posted on your other thread also but there must be a bill somewhere for your mothers account, what are the monthly payments due? £50 is very low unless she is claiming some council tax benefits.

Also normally with a direct debit you are told what to pay, you don’t choose what to pay, so what functionality did you use to set up this £50 of your choosing

It almost seems to me that you’ve set up a DD for her normal instalment of around £150, and offered an additional £50 of your choosing to start clearing the arrears, which would explain the increase from month 1 to month 2. There would not normally be such a change in April and Mays payments unless a change to benefit/discount awarded, or an arrears payment.

LeeCee

She has council tax benefit as she's ill and unable to work, the balance was £438.86.

As I was unable to make any contact with Manchester City Council or discuss the issue with any member of thier staff I thought I would stop the threatening letters, hoping any payments made to the account would have shown an element of good faith. The last thing she would have needed is the Council incurring additional unecessary costs, court fees etc when discharged.

On the direct debit screen you can enter the amount you are willing to pay, which I did. There was no mention of additional irregular payments being added.

The idea that they would unilaterally take another persons agreement, add my agreement and just start debiting an account without any notification or an agreement, of any kind, being sent to the account holder is surprising to me.

Additionally, these payments do not make any sense. Even if they added the 2019 arrears to the 2020 Council Tax Bill they would far exceed the amount she is required to pay.

KatrinaWaves

Which balance was £438.86? Last year, or this year?

What are the instalments set out for this year on her new bill? 

Socajam

LeeCee said:

She has council tax benefit as she's ill and unable to work, the balance was £438.86.

As I was unable to make any contact with Manchester City Council or discuss the issue with any member of thier staff I thought I would stop the threatening letters, hoping any payments made to the account would have shown an element of good faith. The last thing she would have needed is the Council incurring additional unecessary costs, court fees etc when discharged.

On the direct debit screen you can enter the amount you are willing to pay, which I did. There was no mention of additional irregular payments being added.

The idea that they would unilaterally take another persons agreement, add my agreement and just start debiting an account without any notification or an agreement, of any kind, being sent to the account holder is surprising to me.

Additionally, these payments do not make any sense. Even if they added the 2019 arrears to the 2020 Council Tax Bill they would far exceed the amount she is required to pay.

Even though you did that, they will still take the money to settle the debt.  Is this legal, not sure.
But they are notorious for doing this.  As I said I learnt my lesson with the council the hard way because they did this to me, hence my CC usage.
Calling them is a nightmare, because the phone system is automated and nobody ever answers the phone.  Unless you wrote them a letter.
The council have no idea what good faith means - it's all about the debt and getting their money.

KatrinaWaves

Socajam said:

LeeCee said:

She has council tax benefit as she's ill and unable to work, the balance was £438.86.

As I was unable to make any contact with Manchester City Council or discuss the issue with any member of thier staff I thought I would stop the threatening letters, hoping any payments made to the account would have shown an element of good faith. The last thing she would have needed is the Council incurring additional unecessary costs, court fees etc when discharged.

On the direct debit screen you can enter the amount you are willing to pay, which I did. There was no mention of additional irregular payments being added.

The idea that they would unilaterally take another persons agreement, add my agreement and just start debiting an account without any notification or an agreement, of any kind, being sent to the account holder is surprising to me.

Additionally, these payments do not make any sense. Even if they added the 2019 arrears to the 2020 Council Tax Bill they would far exceed the amount she is required to pay.

Even though you did that, they will still take the money to settle the debt.  Is this legal, not sure.
But they are notorious for doing this.  As I said I learnt my lesson with the council the hard way because they did this to me, hence my CC usage.
Calling them is a nightmare, because the phone system is automated and nobody ever answers the phone.  Unless you wrote them a letter.
The council have no idea what good faith means - it's all about the debt and getting their money.

Clearly you have had a bad experience but every council is different. For example, mine has no automated service at all, you call and you get a person, so you cannot just generalise that they are all just vultures out to take all they can get. 

es5595

Surely if you weren’t notified of these amounts and only consented to £50 a month, you can contact your bank and get one/both recalled under the direct debit guarantee. 

Then start dealing with them in writing, just in case it goes to court, you’ve got a solid paper trail of your attempts to sort it out and prevent it escalating. 

Galloglass

To understand CT, there are no "threatening letters". They simply state the powers they have which includes sending people to jail - a very Victorian idea and I'm amazed it is still on the statute book.

As regards DD, there is a failure to understand that too. Standing Orders can be for a fixed amount but DD is an invitation to take amounts from your account as @KatrinaWaves has explained.

What you have done, inadvertently, is saved your mother a shed load of cash and a visit from the bailiffs.