Hit by council tax bill out of the blue!

KanePaul

I'll try to keep this short! I'm a single parent who is self employed and claim Universal Credit, I've not been paying council tax due to council tax support. 11 March when my son went back to school so I started working again. Yesterday I put my figures into the the Universal Credit system (7 April). Today I checked my universal credit payment and I will get less because of what I earned which is normal no problem. But today just 1 day later the council took £239 out of my bank, just 1 day later, with no warning, no letter, text email or anything and this has put me into my overdraft which is now at limit and I have to shop at the weekend and won't get universal credit until the 13th. Surely they are not allowed to take something this large amount 1 day after I declare earnings to Universal Credit?

elsien

Is this via direct debit? 

KanePaul

Yes direct debit elsien

elsien

I’m thinking you’ve got a two pronged approach then. Complain to the council tomorrow  that there was no notice and they’ve left you in financial difficulty. 

Do you know how they’ve reached the amount they’ve taken - any idea if it’s correct or not? 

You could also go to your bank with regards to the direct debit guarantee and them taking the money without giving any notice. 

kaMelo

I would hang on before using the direct debit guarantee here to find out exactly what's happened.

You need to check that firstly the amount taken is correct and it was taken on or after your usual date, not before.
Then check whether they gave notice via the usual method. You should have received at least three days notice of the upcoming payment. I see you said you have received nothing but is it possible they did send notice and you just missed it?

If the amount taken is incorrect then feel free to use the DD guarantee to reclaim it.
If the amount taken is correct but notice was not given in time, or at all, then you could reclaim via the guarantee although you will still owe them the money.
If the amount taken is correct and notice was given via the usual method then reclaiming via the DD guarantee would be a breach of the guarantee.

You need to clarify which one fits your scenario.

theoretica

It seems unusually joined up and fast for this to actually relate to the figures you put into UC the day before - to get to the council and through the direct debit system in that time.  I wonder if instead it is because of the start of the financial year.  But also it is a large sum for one month, especially for a single adult.

sammyjammy

Perhaps they have taken the amount for the whole year? With the council tax support did you have to pay anything?  If the amount they have taken is around 10 times what you were paying then maybe thats it

Sncjw

Are you able to check your council tax account on your council website? 

nyermen

Sorry to hear that this is causing problems.  For note - Direct debit process is 4 days (payment taken on day three) - its a defined process, not even a council can get round that (they could recall, that is all).  They need to have submitted by "input day", so it may be coincidence, albeit you need to find out what it is and why.  Since this is the first set of payments for the "new council tax year" it may have been pending regardless.

Input - day 1 

Input day is the latest day a business user/bureau may submit a payment file to Bacs for a processing cycle. Payment files must be transmitted to Bacs between 07.00 and 22.30. 

Processing - day 2 
Files are delivered to the recipient banks which then process each payment. 

Entry - day 3 
Payments are simultaneously debited from the recipients' accounts and credited to your account.

TELLIT01

It's highly unlikely that a council would be so on-the-ball that they would have seen the changes in your UC and acted to take a payment all in the space of 24 hours.  We have just moved into a new Coucil Tax year so it's far more likely that an error on their system has removed an indicator that you pay reduced/nil Council Tax. 

You do need to call them to get it resolved.

CIS

For the purposes of council tax an instalment cannot be taken unless a demand notice has been first issued for that amount, this must give 14 days notice (and under the DD guarantee there must be 10 days notice of a DD).

Whatever generated this money being taken, it was not the change the day before.