Charging for an unwanted Invoice

Thunderbird66

My mother is in a council care home (self funding as sold home) and despite me saying again and again for the last 3 years I don’t need a monthly invoice as fees are paid by direct debit 4-weekly, they still send one each month. The council have now declared we must pay £10 administrative fee for each invoice which they say we must receive by law. They might be VAT registered but we are not so I asked under which law. The department has declined to comment stating I must complain to the council if I don’t want to pay. Bureaucratic madness or must I have an invoice?

eskbanker

Thunderbird66 said:

I don’t need a monthly invoice as fees are paid by direct debit 4-weekly

I don't understand this - it sounds like technically you could claim refunds under the Direct Debit Guarantee if they're collecting an amount that doesn't correspond to their billing?

sheramber

Thunderbird66 said:

My mother is in a council care home (self funding as sold home) and despite me saying again and again for the last 3 years I don’t need a monthly invoice as fees are paid by direct debit 4-weekly, they still send one each month. The council have now declared we must pay £10 administrative fee for each invoice which they say we must receive by law. They might be VAT registered but we are not so I asked under which law. The department has declined to comment stating I must complain to the council if I don’t want to pay. Bureaucratic madness or must I have an invoice?

Have you contacted the council to ask what law requires an invoice to be issued?
The department processing it will just be doing what they have been instructed to do. 

Thunderbird66

sheramber said:

Thunderbird66 said:

My mother is in a council care home (self funding as sold home) and despite me saying again and again for the last 3 years I don’t need a monthly invoice as fees are paid by direct debit 4-weekly, they still send one each month. The council have now declared we must pay £10 administrative fee for each invoice which they say we must receive by law. They might be VAT registered but we are not so I asked under which law. The department has declined to comment stating I must complain to the council if I don’t want to pay. Bureaucratic madness or must I have an invoice?

Have you contacted the council to ask what law requires an invoice to be issued?
The department processing it will just be doing what they have been instructed to do. 

I have but told to make a formal complaint using their website as customer services (the only direct access point) say they cannot deal - they did send me back to the Charging Dept where I had just been who said yet again, you have to have an invoice and as you pay full care fees were now going to charge you £10 for sending you the invoice.

lisyloo

So have you made a formal complaint?

redped

Is the £10 admin charge because they send a paper copy?  Can they send the invoice via email (for free) instead?

TELLIT01

Get in touch either with your local councillor, or the one covering the area the care home is in.

Thunderbird66

lisyloo said:

So have you made a formal complaint?

Not so far - I read some other posts here and then posted this one to see if anyone knew of anything obvious I was missing or any advice that might help me frame my complaint.

Okell

I'd suggest the question is not so much whether the council is required to produce a monthly invoice, but what legislation allows them to charge £10 for issuing one.

It's a general admin function and should be covered by council tax revenue.

The OP should challenge it on that basis and if no satisfactory answer lodge a formal complaint according to the procedure on the council's website.

Complaining to their local councillor is unlikely to produce a result and would likely be a waste of time

(Anybody following the council parking charge notices forums on pepipoo and FTLA will know that councils will attempt anything to get revenue and just hope they'll get away with it.  They need to be challenged)

Ergates

eskbanker said:

Thunderbird66 said:

I don’t need a monthly invoice as fees are paid by direct debit 4-weekly

I don't understand this - it sounds like technically you could claim refunds under the Direct Debit Guarantee if they're collecting an amount that doesn't correspond to their billing?

Agree  - don't know about "law", but a direct debit requires an invoice.  No idea why this would cost £10 though.

born_again

Ergates said:

eskbanker said:

Thunderbird66 said:

I don’t need a monthly invoice as fees are paid by direct debit 4-weekly

I don't understand this - it sounds like technically you could claim refunds under the Direct Debit Guarantee if they're collecting an amount that doesn't correspond to their billing?

Agree  - don't know about "law", but a direct debit requires an invoice.  No idea why this would cost £10 though.

Not quite true, It requires a schedule of payments. Which can be via any method (post/email) with the amount & date payments are due to be collected.

Some companies send a reminder that payment is due in X days, but it is not a requirement of the DD mandate, if they have previously sent a schedule & the payment/date has not changed.
eg National lottery give you 6 months payments with amount & date, but do not remind you when next is due. Octopus send a reminder each month stating £xx will be taken in so many days. Even though the amount is the same.

The Guarantee

• The Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits

• If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit the organisation will notify you (normally 10 working days) in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request the organisation to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request

• If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society

• • If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when the organisation asks you to

• You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify the organisation.