Hi. I have just received a Reminder Notice from the council about "arrears" on my account and despite contacting them they refuse to budge or accept any payment arrangement other than "In Full before the end of the financial year".

The situation arose last year when I contacted the Council to inform them of a change in circumstances. They realised that they had not updated my account with my reported change in circumstances (childcare & rent)- firstly in June 2008 - and again in September 2009 when my daughter started school and ceased attending Nursery.

The upshot was that my Council Tax & Housing Benefit claim was re-calculated for the whole period - and I was required to send in (again) evidence of childcare costs, income, bank statements covering an 18 month period. The whole situation dragged on for MONTHS because it was nigh on impossible to speak to the person actually dealing with my case. Letter tennis and mammoth phone calls ensued ... and finally we agreed on a figure of overpayment. (Although I was a bit miffed because I thought that my claim was accurate as I had informed them of my change in circumstances - as is required - but despite them acknowledging this they had not updated my claim).

So, as it stands, with the Housing Benefit claim, my payments have been reduced by £9.90 per week to recover the overpayment. No problem there - all agreed and ticking along nicely.

However, due to the recalculation, my Council Tax account for 2008/9 2009/10 2010/11 were also recalculated using the revised figures generated by Housing Benefit - and this resulted in "Arrears" being added to my previously "paid "accounts.

I was issued with a new "Bill" showing these amounts outstanding with an installment plan to clear the balance within 4 months. I contacted them and asked if I could make an arrangement - as to clear 18 months of a miscalcuated claim over 4 months was going to be difficult - and it wasn't enitrely my fault that it had come about in the first place. Answer? NO. Apparently, payment arrangements cannot be entered into UNTIL you default.

So ... I just paid them direct the samne amount every week using my online banking facility - and have continued to pay each week. The balance now stands at £90.00

I received the letter this morning so I called them and explained that I could not afford to pay the "arrears" at more than I was paying at the moment. I was told that I had 2 options:

1: Put my account on "hold" for 31 days - after which the Recovery process would recommence

2: Sign up for Direct Debit and they could discuss a repayment plan

I explained that I was paying regularly and that I intend to clear the balance - but I just cannot afford to pay more just because they want it cleared by the end of the month! I was told that "we are following Legislation and are unable to make arrangements outside of the scope" (RUBBISH)

So, as it stands at the moment, I will continue to pay my fixed amount each week - but at the end of March they will send me another Recovery letter. The balance at that point will probably be about £40. (My new bill will be due - but should be calculated correctly and the installments should be manageable.)

My question is, after the 31 days are up - and they send me another letter, are they likely to issue a liability order (along with the associated court costs) if I am continuing to pay regularly and it is obvious that the amount will be cleared within a few weeks? It just seems a bit heavy handed that they are unwilling to accept a payment arrangement that is affordable - by using the "Legislation has our hands tied" line - along with the highly irritating "well, we've given you an extra month to pay anyway" line. (Should be over 12 months and not 10 in my opinion!)

Obviously I want to avoid any court costs - and will borrow the money if I have to - but it seems daft that my council aren't willing to compromise, when it is obvious that I am not refusing to pay - I am just not paying as much as they would like me to in order to clear the account before the end of the financial year!

Do you mind me asking which council you're dealing with please. Just for the record, what they're saying is rubbish, they may not like carrying debts over to another financial year, but they can and do regularly. At one stage I was paying for 3 different financial years at once, fortunately all now behind me.

Hi. I have just received a Reminder Notice from the council about "arrears" on my account and despite contacting them they refuse to budge or accept any payment arrangement other than "In Full before the end of the financial year".

The situation arose last year when I contacted the Council to inform them of a change in circumstances. They realised that they had not updated my account with my reported change in circumstances (childcare & rent)- firstly in June 2008 - and again in September 2009 when my daughter started school and ceased attending Nursery.

 

The upshot was that my Council Tax & Housing Benefit claim was re-calculated for the whole period - and I was required to send in (again) evidence of childcare costs, income, bank statements covering an 18 month period. The whole situation dragged on for MONTHS because it was nigh on impossible to speak to the person actually dealing with my case. Letter tennis and mammoth phone calls ensued ... and finally we agreed on a figure of overpayment. (Although I was a bit miffed because I thought that my claim was accurate as I had informed them of my change in circumstances - as is required - but despite them acknowledging this they had not updated my claim).

 

So, as it stands, with the Housing Benefit claim, my payments have been reduced by £9.90 per week to recover the overpayment. No problem there - all agreed and ticking along nicely.

 

However, due to the recalculation, my Council Tax account for 2008/9 2009/10 2010/11 were also recalculated using the revised figures generated by Housing Benefit - and this resulted in "Arrears" being added to my previously "paid "accounts.

 

I was issued with a new "Bill" showing these amounts outstanding with an installment plan to clear the balance within 4 months. I contacted them and asked if I could make an arrangement - as to clear 18 months of a miscalcuated claim over 4 months was going to be difficult - and it wasn't enitrely my fault that it had come about in the first place. Answer? NO. Apparently, payment arrangements cannot be entered into UNTIL you default.

So ... I just paid them direct the samne amount every week using my online banking facility - and have continued to pay each week. The balance now stands at £90.00

 

I received the letter this morning so I called them and explained that I could not afford to pay the "arrears" at more than I was paying at the moment. I was told that I had 2 options:

 

1: Put my account on "hold" for 31 days - after which the Recovery process would recommence

2: Sign up for Direct Debit and they could discuss a repayment plan

 

I explained that I was paying regularly and that I intend to clear the balance - but I just cannot afford to pay more just because they want it cleared by the end of the month! I was told that "we are following Legislation and are unable to make arrangements outside of the scope" (RUBBISH)

 

So, as it stands at the moment, I will continue to pay my fixed amount each week - but at the end of March they will send me another Recovery letter. The balance at that point will probably be about £40. (My new bill will be due - but should be calculated correctly and the installments should be manageable.)

 

My question is, after the 31 days are up - and they send me another letter, are they likely to issue a liability order (along with the associated court costs) if I am continuing to pay regularly and it is obvious that the amount will be cleared within a few weeks? It just seems a bit heavy handed that they are unwilling to accept a payment arrangement that is affordable - by using the "Legislation has our hands tied" line - along with the highly irritating "well, we've given you an extra month to pay anyway" line. (Should be over 12 months and not 10 in my opinion!)

 

Obviously I want to avoid any court costs - and will borrow the money if I have to - but it seems daft that my council aren't willing to compromise, when it is obvious that I am not refusing to pay - I am just not paying as much as they would like me to in order to clear the account before the end of the financial year!

It's Bristol City Council.

I know what they're saying is absolute tosh - but trying to discuss the matter with them is impossible! It took me almost 8 months to sort out the overpayment problem in the first place because they kept getting the calculations wrong .....

It's the stance on Court action that annoys me - even when it is obvious I'm paying regularly and the arrears were a result of an administrative error their end. (My accounts with them have always been paid on time and have never been in arrears at any of my addresses under BCC!)8-)

Thank you! I'm just about to have my dinner so will be off the site for an hour or so. While I am could you do me a favour? Write down how much your debt was in total? What you've been paying per week / month? How long have you been paying this? How much is left? Are bailiffs involved or has there been any recent threat of involving bailiffs?

If you could either post this up or pm me the information, once I've eaten I'll come straight back to you.

Thanks PT for pointing me to this post! We'll do what we can!

I've PM'd you with all the figures - no bailiff threats yet, just the prospect of £130 court costs to come to an arrangement for an amount less than £100!!

Replied to you via pm

I just wanted to update on the current situation. I have had no reply to my letter - but I have received a revised bill - with revised schedule of repayment starting in December 2010 - through to March 1st 2011! This was dated 08/03/11.

The amount of the scheduled payments exceeds the stated Balance Outstanding figure by over £20 - and quite frankly makes no sense whatsoever!!

Hey ho ... the saga continues!! (I am, however, continuing to pay a weekly fixed amount via Internet banking - irrespective of the non-sensical communication from the CT Office!). I'll keep you updated as the situation unfolds

FINALLY ... after much to-ing and fro-ing I have a result. I had to email the CEO again - because I did not receive a reply to my first email (Thanks for the draft Tingy!). I did however receive a few nonsensical account updates and a very silly letter, all apparently written in retrospect and including calculations that bore no resemblence to outstanding sums on my account - hence the follow up mail.

The second email was responded to almost immediately - resulting in a conversation littered with pontifications about "policy" and "procedures" etc ... but eventually concluded with my account being put "On Hold" until the end of April to allow the remaining £40 to be cleared as requested - without attracting Court Costs or a Liability Order.

Hooray!

Brilliant news - well done for sticking to your guns - really pleased it's sorted at last!

Tingy