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Durham County Council f**k up again!

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  • Durham County Council f**k up again!

    Got a lovely letter from the council this morning - a "final notice" for CT debt from 2013 (for £8.38). No previous bills, no reminders regarding the supposed deficit - all we have ever received prior to this are the standard regular 'bills' with a balance to pay of £0.00 showing. We are currently on benefits and as such receive CTB (now called a rebate), and have no outstanding CT debts!

    After calming down my OH (who wanted to go down to the council office and break something) and getting him to agree to me dealing with it, I composed a letter of my own which has now been emailed to the Head of Finance :tinysmile_twink_t2:

    REF:

    Dear Mr D,


    Having been residents of County Durham since late 2013 (firstly of xxxxxxxx, and then of our current property) my partner and I have always kept your office up to date with our address. Imagine our surprise this morning when we receive a "Final Demand" for council tax (totalling £8.38) for a period in 2013. We have been in receipt of CTB since moving to Co. Durham, as I can easily prove through correspondence received from your council (and the DWP), and there has been NO cut-off of this benefit at any time, again easily provable. Therefore we cannot see how we should owe anything! Add to this the fact that there has been no previous correspondence regarding a deficit, I am bound to believe that you have made a grave error in your department.


    I am well informed of the protocol for such things. We should have received a bill and a reminder BEFORE this final notice giving us time to question our liability at an earlier date. These have not been forthcoming. As such, I will be taking this matter up with xxxxxxxxxx MP at the first opportunity, as well as supplying her with all the evidence supporting our case.


    I would, however, request that you look into this, and speedily forward any documentary evidence your department holds that substantiate your demand for payment. I also insist on a full enquiry into how a matter as serious as this can be allowed to get so far with no prior correspondence from yourself.


    Any attempt by your department to acquire a Liability Order in this matter will be vehemently fought by both myself and Mr Xxxxxxx, up to and including us bringing our evidence into court in support of our claim. Additionally, an online thread will be started to document this travesty to its end.


    I can be contacted at the above address or alternatively via email xxxxxxxxx


    Kati
    I will update as and when I get a reply, and will be going to see my MP first thing Monday morning :tinysmile_grin_t:
    Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of.

    It doesn't matter where your journey begins, so long as you begin it...

    recte agens confido

    ~~~~~

    Any advice I provide is given without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

    I can be emailed if you need my help loading pictures/documents to your thread. My email address is Kati@legalbeagles.info
    But please include a link to your thread so I know who you are.

    Specialist advice can be sought via our sister site JustBeagle
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: Durham County Council f**k up again!

    Look forward to seeing how this develops. It's harder for them to cover up maladministration when its recorded this way.

    I don't exactly know what Durham County Council are up to but I found something that may benefit from an accountant taking a look. What the quote below seems to be saying (Cabinet Report 19 March 2013/14, page 8 & 9) is that it budgets for a surplus of income from council tax and business rates court costs to be used to meet other council expenditure (Resources).

    Financial Services is forecast to underspend by £0.891m, consisting primarily of £0.601m in respect of the management of staff vacancies, reflecting the early achievement of 2014/15 MTFP savings, offset by a £0.380m managed overspend on work packages with external contractors. There are also managed underspends against supplies and services (£0.121m) and staff travel costs (£0.165m). The balance comprises a forecast over recovery of income of £0.384m, primarily from increased court cost fee income relating to council tax and business rates recovery.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Durham County Council f**k up again!

      I got a standard 'thank you for your email' response saying they aim to get back to me within 2 working days ... so hopefully by Wednesday morning I will know more :tinysmile_twink_t2:
      Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of.

      It doesn't matter where your journey begins, so long as you begin it...

      recte agens confido

      ~~~~~

      Any advice I provide is given without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

      I can be emailed if you need my help loading pictures/documents to your thread. My email address is Kati@legalbeagles.info
      But please include a link to your thread so I know who you are.

      Specialist advice can be sought via our sister site JustBeagle

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Durham County Council f**k up again!

        Kati, was it only yesterday you were claiming to be the cuddly one?

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Durham County Council f**k up again!

          Originally posted by des8 View Post
          Kati, was it only yesterday you were claiming to be the cuddly one?
          yep :lol: (well "sweet and innocent" anyway) ... and I am being nice, I haven't threatened 'em once
          Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of.

          It doesn't matter where your journey begins, so long as you begin it...

          recte agens confido

          ~~~~~

          Any advice I provide is given without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

          I can be emailed if you need my help loading pictures/documents to your thread. My email address is Kati@legalbeagles.info
          But please include a link to your thread so I know who you are.

          Specialist advice can be sought via our sister site JustBeagle

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Durham County Council f**k up again!

            How do you get such easy access to your MP?

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Durham County Council f**k up again!

              Originally posted by stevemLS View Post
              How do you get such easy access to your MP?
              I quite often drop in to the constituency office with 'bits' for her to look into I could just as easily email it over but the office is only 2 mins walk away
              Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of.

              It doesn't matter where your journey begins, so long as you begin it...

              recte agens confido

              ~~~~~

              Any advice I provide is given without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

              I can be emailed if you need my help loading pictures/documents to your thread. My email address is Kati@legalbeagles.info
              But please include a link to your thread so I know who you are.

              Specialist advice can be sought via our sister site JustBeagle

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Durham County Council f**k up again!

                Oh, right, I see Kati - I thought you meant you would actually be able to see them - good that you have such a relationship though - I have only ever written to mine once and she was brilliant!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Durham County Council f**k up again!

                  I always get seen by someone ... even when I just pop in (maybe as where we live there's not many actually USE the mp to their advantage )
                  Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of.

                  It doesn't matter where your journey begins, so long as you begin it...

                  recte agens confido

                  ~~~~~

                  Any advice I provide is given without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

                  I can be emailed if you need my help loading pictures/documents to your thread. My email address is Kati@legalbeagles.info
                  But please include a link to your thread so I know who you are.

                  Specialist advice can be sought via our sister site JustBeagle

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Durham County Council f**k up again!

                    I've found out where all the confusion comes from :tinysmile_twink_t2: We moved in here (our tenancy started) on Monday the 21st October 2013, but we signed the tenancy agreement on the Friday the 18th and were given the keys so we could use the weekend to move our furniture in. I got an email from Durham County Council saying that the landlord had informed them that we moved in on the 18th, and that is why they are saying we owe the £8.38 (for three days CT).

                    It's laughable really ... our tenancy agreement shows that our rent commences (which would be the start of the tenancy yes?) on the 21st and I have a letter from the housing section of DCC stating that our tenancy ended in our previous property on the 17th (Sunday), so we still don't owe anything.

                    The email I got from DCC yesterday says that they sent letters (but not where to) and the 'final demand' letter we received on Saturday has both this address AND our previous one on - so chances are any paperwork went there .

                    I'll be doing another email to the council today - including scans of our tenancy agreement and the other letter I have. Hopefully they get the message :tinysmile_twink_t2:
                    Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of.

                    It doesn't matter where your journey begins, so long as you begin it...

                    recte agens confido

                    ~~~~~

                    Any advice I provide is given without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

                    I can be emailed if you need my help loading pictures/documents to your thread. My email address is Kati@legalbeagles.info
                    But please include a link to your thread so I know who you are.

                    Specialist advice can be sought via our sister site JustBeagle

                    Comment

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