Council Tax LO after their errors *** Cancelled***

[Snf0113]

Hi all,

this is a long post but I’ll try to keep it brief.

 

Back last year I got behind on my council tax payments

set up a payment plan before it was taken to court.

 

They laid out the plan in a letter with payments dated every month from Aug 18 - Jan 19 but there was 2 payments in Jan.

I didn’t think anything of it until it got to the beginning of Jan (payment day was the 15th)

 

I called to see if it was one payment or 2 as they were the same date and I was assured that it was only one payment and that Jan was the LAST payment on the plan and it was a typing error.

that was all paid.

 

Didn’t think anything of it until a notice came through the door saying that I had missed Feb 19 payment of £89.

I called them,

discussed it all,

 

they said there wasn’t a typo their end and that feb was the last payment  (I’m guessing it had been pointed out and amended) and paid it a few days later yet mistakenly paid them £85 instead of £89.

 

Yesterday I received a court summons for £79 which is the missed £4 and £75 court fees but surely the missed payment of £89 isn’t my fault as it wasn’t on the payment plan in the first place and not once after my phone call was I sent a revised letter with the amended plan on.

 

Does anyone know if there is any way I can ask for copies of all the letters they have sent me since that letter in July?  

I’ve still got my copy of the payment plan but I want to see if they have changed it.  

[dx100uk]

 

SAR time

 

[ss002d6252]

Quote

they said there wasn’t a typo their end and that feb was the last payment  (I’m guessing it had been pointed out and amended) and paid it a few days later yet mistakenly paid them £85 instead of £89. 

 

 

The problem here though is that you paid short and that is the cause of the summons - although the letter had a typo on the date they still waited until after the February instalment date before they took action - so, in effect, you had longer to pay than your letter suggested. If it had been the other way round then you would have been at a detriment due to their error (i.e if they said Feb for the last payment but it was actually Jan) and had more of an argument.

 

If the payment of £89 had been made by the February date then the summons could not have proceeded but due to the £4 shortfall then it would appear that the council have acted correctly and could proceed with the summons.

Depending on what letters you received, and what they said, there may by a technical defence but it's unlikely.

 

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by ss002d6252

[Snf0113]

I didn’t pay short that is the thing, I’ve been paying more than they were asking for and my last payment according to the lady I spoke to on the phone was the 15th of Jan which I paid 2 days after I spoke to her on the phone which was around the 1st week of January? I’ve checked my bank statements against the letter and every single payment on the plan has been made and paid. 

[ploddertom]

As dx said it has to be SAR time.

[ss002d6252]

Originally you had payments due until either Jan or Feb. You contacted the council who clarified that the final payment was in Feb and not 2 due in Jan.

 

When the payment of £89 was due for Feb you stated that you paid £85 so the payment was short by £4, the amount on the summons.

 

What were the payment dates/amounts and what does your bank show for each of these? Unless you'd paid more than was due by the Feb date then you'd be short if you did not pay the full Feb instalment amount to settle the remaining balance.

[ss002d6252]

You may be able to dispute the summons on a legislative technicality but it won't remove the fact that the council tax charge would still be due if it was not paid.

 

If the summons could be argued against successfully then they can simply issue a revised demand notice for the outstanding balance.

 

[Snf0113]

To be honest I can’t be bothered with all of the rigmarole, I just wanted to know the rights I had in regards to copies of the letters that I have been sent since and including the day I was sent the payment plan but they are all being sent and should be here next week. 

 

The summons was my own fault as I didn’t pay enough on the last payment but as I’ve stated that payment isn’t on my payment plan. I only knew of it when I received a letter last week telling me I had missed it,  so I called them

to find that the Feb payment was my last payment yet when I called in January I was assured January’s payment was only one payment and that was the last one on the plan. 

 

 

[ss002d6252]

You can certainly dispute with then regarding what you state you were told and ask that they remove the summons but if they don't there's not a lot that can be done.

They've do seems to have done it in an odd way anyway by though by the sounds of it as it doesn't sounds like the letter you received was a demand notice but a hand typed arrangement letter (which they made the typo on). For them to rely on this then there, prior to the summons, must have been a reminder or final notice that was defaulted on - the problem comes in that it may have been issued some time ago and they chose not to issue the summons until Feb. When the letters comes through take a good look at the reminder or final notice.

[Snf0113]

It wasn’t a notice, it was literally just  a typed payment plan. I’ve not received any letter since then until the defaulted payment letter last week, and my next council tax demand that has come through the post this morning. I don’t throw letters away which is why I asked for copies of any sent between aug and now, just in case there was any I’ve missed or thrown. 

 

Its all so confusing, 

[ss002d6252]

What seems to have happened as a best guess* is that at some point you defaulted on the original demand notice and a reminder/final notice was then defaulted on. Rather than go straight to a summons they suspended the issuing of it and gave you another payment arrangement.

 

This arrangement had to be a manual one as its outside of how most council tax systems bill as standard. Once you had, for whatever reason, failed the manual arrangement they then released the summons they had held. The summons would then be issued for whatever balance remained due.

 

 

* it's permissable but in over a decade of working in council tax I've not known one do it this way as its far too fiddly and can go wrong too easily.

[Snf0113]

Sorry I haven’t replied.

 

Just a quick update,

 

I called Monday asking for a copy of the letter that I was sent.

It was waiting for me when I got home from work today,  

 

opened it and it’s sent on the same date as the letter I have only my payment plans changed and instead of January 2019 x 2 which is on my letter it’s January, February 2019

 

I called them and explained that this letter they sent recently and the original letter I received were different and the lovely guy I spoke to cancelled the summons fee as not only was it a ridiculous amount but as I have the original letter with the typo it would have been wiped anyway (his words) so I only have the £4 to pay. This is why I keep all the letters from CT I’ve ever been sent. 

[Peterbard]

Well done that man.

[dx100uk]

so we can mark this as LO cancelled then?

[Snf0113]

Yes please. I would delete the post but I don’t know how to  

[dx100uk]

delete ? for what reason?

[Snf0113]

No reason, I just thought that’s what you did with resolved posts. 

[AndyOrch]

That would be pointless as we would have no record of past successes .....or any reason for this forum 

 

Andy