Hi All

Just some information "Please"

I have been paying my council tax which is normally due on the 5th of each month.

My Payments.............................. Councils requested Payments

Date........................Payment Balance

(13 May 2009...........£147.10..£1,100.00 Paid).....(05 May 2009 £139.00 £1,112.00)

Hi All

Phone the muppets at Council today they say they have sent out reminders (Not Received) and that unless I setup a direct debit or pay in full they will issue a summonds. This being despite the fact I am in front of paying my council tax now by £75.00 over the ten monthly payments. They have rejected my payment plan as above. Seem to me all they want to do is con another £85.00 out of me.

Will keep you posted

The relevant legislation allows proof of postage as proof of delivery.

They would get the L/O granted as once the final notice goes the years balance is due in full so legally you are now behind as you owe the remaining balance due for the year.

Its a bit unclear with the way the formatting has gone but if the payments are due on the 5th and your payments are shown on the left the then they have been late on every instalment which would trigger the reminders.

Although, to be honest, the system we use at the my authority will issue reminders in the same way as technically it is issuing them right however we usually re-calculate a persons instalments if they are ahead to give then the leeway.

Hi ss002d6252

Thank You for yor reply, You say that legislation allows for proof of postage to be used as proof of delivery yet the envelope that contains the Fianl Notice only has a second class printed stamp on it their is no postmark showing the date it was posted and nothing to show proof of postage. SO I think a request under the freedom of information act is called for asking them to provide the proof of postage for the aledged reminders is called for. I shall also ask for copies of my last 2 years payments. As I paid the same way for the last two years with no problems. In fact for the year 2007-2008 I over paid by approx £120.00. For the Year 2008-2009 I over paid by 58p.

Many Thanks

They should be able to provide a list of the print run on which the FInal Notice/Reminders were printed on and then the relevant bulk postage for those final notice/reminders.

Unfortunately the fact that you have paid that way for the last 2 years wont prevent the issuing of the liability order as it will have been obtained legally, What it may do is to sway the decision of the local authority to withdraw the notice and re-input a payment arrangement.

In legislation a Reminder can be issued from the day after the payment was due and requesting that payment be made within 7 days. What happens in reality is that the L/A's wait a week or so for admin reasons/late payments clearing before issuing the reminders.

This delay is purely at the council's discretion so it may be that they have tightened up this year and for example they are running the reminders after payment is 5 days late rather than 7 days late.

Hi All

One other question for you how long does it take for the council to raise the summons after issuing the final notice. Notice issued on the 13th August 2009 received on the 17th August 2009. Payment of £160.00 made on the 18th August 2009.

Many Thanks

Hi All

Phoned the council again today have agreed to setup a direct debit for the balance. The council will devide the outstanding balance by the number of payments left e.g £620.00 / 5 = £124.00 to be paid on the 7th of each month. I like to get my rip off tax paid before December is their anything in the regulations to stop me paying extra at the postoffice.

Finally I court this council out? the council say it takes 4 working days for a payment made at the postoffice to reach them, In fact they insisted that was correct. We went through the dates on which they received the payments

Payment received by the council

21st April

14th May

11th June

9th July

19th August

5 times I court them out this makes me believe they are prone to bending the truth.

I know for a fact that another council solicitors in my area are not adverse to committing purjury and perverting the course of justice to save having to repay £4.5 million pounds in illegal parking tickets.

Many Thanks

Hi All

I sent a letter under the Freedom of Information Act to this council registered post on the 22/08/2009 as follows.

FOIA Request

Dear Sir or Madam:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act,.

Please supply the following information held about me by the Council Tax Office Eastbourne Borough Council Account Number 0000000000

1) Proof of Postage for the two Council Tax reminders that they claim to have sent on the following dates (17 April 2009) (13 May 2009)

2) Proof of Postage for the Final Notice dated 13/08/2009

3) A full statement of accounts for my Council Tax year 2007-2008 to include payment dates

4) A full statement of accounts for my Council Tax year 2008-2009 to include payment dates

Under the Freedom of Information Act you have 20 days to comply

Thank you for your assistance.

Yours Faithfully,

I recieved a letter on the 11/09/2009 with the payment history for the last two years, today 12/09/2009 I received copies of the two reminders and final notice only NO proof of postage. I now consider this council to be in breach of the FOIA as they have failed to provide the information requested.

Can anyone suggest a letter format for my next letter to this council

Many Thanks

Hi All

I now have it in writing from the horses mouth that reminders and final notices are sent out automaticly by second class post they have NO proof of postage. So it would seem that this council is not keeping a record of batch posting.

They will have records - the system will show that a print run of summonses etc was made and the post room will have a record of a bulk postage being made on the day they were posted - even if they can't literally track each single letter it should settle the issue with a magistrate.