Council tax recovery team problems

[CARAVAN]

I am a pensioner, for as long as i can remember i have always paid my council tax on time and with the correct amount, 23 years ago ! ! I started getting summons costs added to my bills, every bill, over the years they added bailiff costs, liability costs and whatever else they could think of, needless to say i have fought them all the way, i have written over 20 letters and suffered a great deal of anguish to keep them at bay. Eventually they reluctantly agreed that they were in the wrong and i was right all along, they appologised and credited me with hundreds of pounds, all of the added costs, to punish them and to partially compensate me for my crusade i witheld the final payment of £125-00 from last years account, i wrote to explain my course of action. Anticipating their dirty deeds the first payment cheque for the current year £130-00, i endorsed on the back, below the account number, the message in capital letters " this payment is the first for year 2016 / 2017", quel suprise !, they dishonestly mis-appropriated this money to clear the previous years account, this then triggered the summons process and a court hearing, here we go again, i feel i need to do something to punish them further for their vendetta / harassment over 23 years, i have started by asking them to reveal the name , position, reasons behind the final mis-deed, needless to say, silence, what next ?

[Snoopy1948]

Re: Council tax recovery team problems

Hi Caravan

The problems with cheque payments, or indeed any payment, is that it is so easily misappropriated to earlier debts on the account as that is what computers do. Did you take a scan/picture of the cheque on both sides? IT is possible that cheques are plucked out by staff other than council tax officers and the request to pay this to 2016/17 has probably been completely ignored.

You have the right to clear immediately due amounts ( such as the current year ) by request as clearly it will save another round of enforcement procedures. Some councils maintain the current year by applying such payment direct ( where the account clears that payment as the current year ) and others always apply payment to the oldest debts with a computer 'marker' for no action on the current year. In your case, neither has happened.

You clearly feel that this is personal and as such I would write to the Councils Chief Executive, marked private and confidential, making that very point that you believe you are being harassed. Clearly, the full story needs to be known here but the simple act of putting payment intended for current years instalments to older debts needs explaining.

Just one question, we are now in August so four current years instalments would have been due by now. Have you paid all of them or you late on those?

[CARAVAN]

Re: Council tax recovery team problems

Snoopy, mornin, many thanks for the info. As you suggest the chief exec. Is probably the place to go, i am up to date with my payments, i will keep you informed, cheers.