Council Tax

[sweet sensation]

Im having a right rant today lol

F*cking Council Tax people

Ok months and months ago I arranged an installment plan to pay off my council tax from 2004, 2005 and the begining of 2006. All was going well, I was paying it off every month and only had a few more months to pay to get rid of the bill

Then a few weeks ago I go home to a letter from the bailifs wanting to arrange a time so they could check out my stuff that might be worth selling!!!

I ring the mobile number straight away and get this old sounding guy who says I owe about £200, I was like no I dont Ive only got £100 left to pay. Anyway this conversation went back and for until he agreed to wait a while and so I could speak to the council tax. I knew that I had kept up with my payment plan so thought maybe this old guy had got me mixed up!

Anyway I got home from work last night to another letter saying that they are going to send someone out to my house, charge me for the privilege and then take my stuff

So I ring the council tax today and get this stroppy rude cow on the phone who told me to take the issue up with royal mail???? Finally I speak to a decent bloke who is baffled by the whole thing as I am, he then said that I did owe this £200 and he needed to look into my payment plan. After a lot of heated debate and explaining to him that I had been into the council tax and arranged this plan with a council tax woman and if it was wrong then she should have known!!!

So he rings me back 30mins later to say that 'oh dear the admin f*cked up a bit in 2005 and you do owe this £200' 'the woman who arranged the payment plan for you forgot to tell you about this £200'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So now I have to have this £200 added to my final 2 payments to get rid of this debt

Is there anything I can do to dispute this, cos its there f*ck up, not mine?

Im so annoyed cos Ive budgeted for the £100 I had left, but not this extra £200

[Amelie]

Do you have a copy of the agreed payment plan? Is so it should have the amount owed (it clearly states amount outstanding, how can they come back ages later saying they 'forgot' something!), and how this is going to be collected. If you do then you perhaps have a case- you could phone cit advice although i ususally find them vauge as fuck on most things.

[sweet sensation]

yes I do have a copy of the agreed payment plan, but what they are saying is that that doesnt matter cos this was a fuck up from 2005 and now theyve found it and sorted it and I have to pay it

[Danny C]

Originally Posted by sweet sensation

yes I do have a copy of the agreed payment plan, but what they are saying is that that doesnt matter cos this was a fuck up from 2005 and now they've found it and sorted it and I have to pay it

Send them a copy of your outstanding payments (as you believed it) with details of the payment plan and ask them to provide, before you pay anything further, a detailed breakdown of where the f&ck up occurred, an explanation as to why it happened. You may have grounds to pay the extra back in installments as well, as its their mistake.

[the_ColaBoy]

I'd try and get the decent bloke at the council again and ask for a payment plan for the additional £200.

Looks to me like the £200 has come to light after the initial payment plan, and smacks like it should be treated seperately. Put this to them, expalin that you've stuck to your existing plan. Don't dispute the payment, and offer to pay on the drip (£8 a month - to clear in 12 months seems reasonable to me).

Talk about your budget plans being just as important as theirs etc.

Get in touch with the M.E.N. too (or any other local rag). If you do get your picture and some column inches, ask the journo for a finders fee... might only be a couple of squid, but it's tax free and can come off of your bill.

[sweet sensation]

I have asked for everything to be sent to me that shows whether I do owe this money and why.

If they expect me to pay it back in 2 payments, they can get fucked

[the_ColaBoy]

and I'm shite at maths....