Land and Property NI Issue
Cotta
Posts: 3,667 Forumite
in N. Ireland
Hi All,
This is on behalf of an elderly lady and I am hoping to get some advice here.
The lady's husband passed away recently so a call was made to Land and Property NI to advise them of this and get the rate bills for two properties switched over to her name. The following issues arose:
- The operator for LPNI advised that her husband would need to confirm he had passed away before his name could be removed - this caused the lady to be extremely distressed and she asked the person to use some common sense.
- The bills on the property had been paid in full by the lady's husband, however LPNI have issued full bills out to the lady on Monday. LPNI confirmed on the phone that the rates had been fully paid when the lady called initially.
She was a bit distressed by the above situation, there is also an issue with the second property which is just a shed on land valued at £1500, the rates are only around £20 per year, however as nobody lives there and since the LPNI have registered it since 1992 as a dwelling property I feel she should be entitled a full refund.
I've advised her to write a complaint about the above points, however what should she realistically seek? I think this episode on top of the bereavement has left her quite upset and personally I don't think LPNI have behaved honourably.
This is on behalf of an elderly lady and I am hoping to get some advice here.
The lady's husband passed away recently so a call was made to Land and Property NI to advise them of this and get the rate bills for two properties switched over to her name. The following issues arose:
- The operator for LPNI advised that her husband would need to confirm he had passed away before his name could be removed - this caused the lady to be extremely distressed and she asked the person to use some common sense.
- The bills on the property had been paid in full by the lady's husband, however LPNI have issued full bills out to the lady on Monday. LPNI confirmed on the phone that the rates had been fully paid when the lady called initially.
She was a bit distressed by the above situation, there is also an issue with the second property which is just a shed on land valued at £1500, the rates are only around £20 per year, however as nobody lives there and since the LPNI have registered it since 1992 as a dwelling property I feel she should be entitled a full refund.
I've advised her to write a complaint about the above points, however what should she realistically seek? I think this episode on top of the bereavement has left her quite upset and personally I don't think LPNI have behaved honourably.
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Comments
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Hi All,
This is on behalf of an elderly lady and I am hoping to get some advice here.
The lady's husband passed away recently so a call was made to Land and Property NI to advise them of this and get the rate bills for two properties switched over to her name. The following issues arose:
- The operator for LPNI advised that her husband would need to confirm he had passed away before his name could be removed - this caused the lady to be extremely distressed and she asked the person to use some common sense.
- The bills on the property had been paid in full by the lady's husband, however LPNI have issued full bills out to the lady on Monday. LPNI confirmed on the phone that the rates had been fully paid when the lady called initially.
She was a bit distressed by the above situation, there is also an issue with the second property which is just a shed on land valued at £1500, the rates are only around £20 per year, however as nobody lives there and since the LPNI have registered it since 1992 as a dwelling property I feel she should be entitled a full refund.
I've advised her to write a complaint about the above points, however what should she realistically seek? I think this episode on top of the bereavement has left her quite upset and personally I don't think LPNI have behaved honourably.
Do LPS intend to have a !!!!ing seance?
What a bunch of clowns0 -
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I think she was particularly distressed with that aspect, a transcript of the call actually had the rating agent passing on his condolences at the start before proceeding, I would have thought an apology would be a minimum here.0
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Frankly I'd just leave Land and Property Services alone and scoot along to my local MLA. They have contacts in the office and will be able to clear everything up.
We were once asked to prove that a house had been empty before we even owned it. We ignored the letter and they went away.
Now, even if the dwelling is empty you are required to pay rates on it.
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/rating-empty-homes
but you can apply to have it excluded0 -
I caught up with the lady in question today, the issue rumbles on but some progress has been made.
1. £100 compensation was offered for stress and poor customer service.
2. The property has now been correctly put into the lady's name and the money held has be aligned to the correct account.
3. However a letter was issued out to the lady asking if she would accept the £100 along with confirmation her account was paid up to date. She advised she would, the money arrived along with a fresh bill for the year advising she still owed the annual rate bill.
Overall a terrible service and point 3 rumbles on.0 -
I spoke to the lady briefly this morning, she has since closed off the complaint, Land and Property feel that it is acceptable for them to issue a bill despite advising held money would be offset to the new account, Land and Property also refused to issue her a corrective letter to give assurances that her account was clear.
On a separate note the lady has mentioned she could be moving away and may rent out her house. If this happens is there any changes in her rates premium? I think she will have to pay them in September if my memory serves me correctly?0 -
I spoke to the lady briefly this morning, she has since closed off the complaint, Land and Property feel that it is acceptable for them to issue a bill despite advising held money would be offset to the new account, Land and Property also refused to issue her a corrective letter to give assurances that her account was clear.
On a separate note the lady has mentioned she could be moving away and may rent out her house. If this happens is there any changes in her rates premium? I think she will have to pay them in September if my memory serves me correctly?
Anyone able to help on the point in bold above?0 -
Anyone able to help on the point in bold above?
She can apply to have Landlord rates on the property. Ring her local Rates office for application form when tenant occupies the property
There is small discount for landlords and it is paid in September rather than May in the rates year
Discount 10%
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/rates-rental-properties
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