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Hi
Having had a run-in with Rossendales regarding Council tax, I googled it to find this forum. I thought I'd outline my experience to help others.
First of all, I received a letter from Rossendales of a 'Final Opportunity' to sort out a bill from 2012. In fact, I had thought the bill was a closed matter, so this came as a surprise. I immediately emailed them to say this and that it must be in error.
The next day my neighbour came round to hand me a letter that hand been "hand-delivered" to his house. An EA had been it seems to discuss this. This letter now said that I had accrued an extra £235 charge. In fact, these both happened ON THE SAME DAY. The letter arrived, though dated a week earlier, the same day this agent visited.
I called the council to determine if I was really liable for this CT. It seems I was. Therefore I had to pay the amount plus £75 for a compliance fee. There was also this extra £235 levied due to the visit by the EA. I felt this was unfair. I had next to no time to respond to this letter. I told the council this. I thought the matter was closed too.
After receiving the letter from my neighbour in the evening, I googled 'Rossendales and Council tax' and of course, nearly scared myself to death. The warnings on here and around are very scary and I learnt about the new rules that meant that bailiffs have a lot of power now. I was really worried and got about 2 hours sleep that night. I also parked my car elsewhere!
First thing next morning I called the bailiff to sort this out. He offered me to pay by instalments but wouldn't budge on the £235 despite my protestations. He recommended I called the head office to sort it. On calling head office, they said that I needed to sort it out with the agent or make a complaint, and they gave me a complaints email address! So i called back the agent and said 'Can I sort it out with you or go to complaints? What do you think - is it fair I've had no time to respond to this? Besides, you delivered the letter to the wrong house. So you haven't been to my house, so you can't charge me £235'. He admitted it was the wrong house - we live next door to a house that is semi-lived-in and looks dilapidated in comparison to ours. I think he assumed that's where a debtor would live.
He offered to ring head office then call me back. A half hour later - good news! They'd waived the fee - he didn't say why - and we agreed repayment arrangement for the CT + £75. I never saw this guy, and to be honest, he was ok to deal with.
I hope that's of some use to someone. This happened over the last few days.
Having had a run-in with Rossendales regarding Council tax, I googled it to find this forum. I thought I'd outline my experience to help others.
First of all, I received a letter from Rossendales of a 'Final Opportunity' to sort out a bill from 2012. In fact, I had thought the bill was a closed matter, so this came as a surprise. I immediately emailed them to say this and that it must be in error.
The next day my neighbour came round to hand me a letter that hand been "hand-delivered" to his house. An EA had been it seems to discuss this. This letter now said that I had accrued an extra £235 charge. In fact, these both happened ON THE SAME DAY. The letter arrived, though dated a week earlier, the same day this agent visited.
I called the council to determine if I was really liable for this CT. It seems I was. Therefore I had to pay the amount plus £75 for a compliance fee. There was also this extra £235 levied due to the visit by the EA. I felt this was unfair. I had next to no time to respond to this letter. I told the council this. I thought the matter was closed too.
After receiving the letter from my neighbour in the evening, I googled 'Rossendales and Council tax' and of course, nearly scared myself to death. The warnings on here and around are very scary and I learnt about the new rules that meant that bailiffs have a lot of power now. I was really worried and got about 2 hours sleep that night. I also parked my car elsewhere!
First thing next morning I called the bailiff to sort this out. He offered me to pay by instalments but wouldn't budge on the £235 despite my protestations. He recommended I called the head office to sort it. On calling head office, they said that I needed to sort it out with the agent or make a complaint, and they gave me a complaints email address! So i called back the agent and said 'Can I sort it out with you or go to complaints? What do you think - is it fair I've had no time to respond to this? Besides, you delivered the letter to the wrong house. So you haven't been to my house, so you can't charge me £235'. He admitted it was the wrong house - we live next door to a house that is semi-lived-in and looks dilapidated in comparison to ours. I think he assumed that's where a debtor would live.
He offered to ring head office then call me back. A half hour later - good news! They'd waived the fee - he didn't say why - and we agreed repayment arrangement for the CT + £75. I never saw this guy, and to be honest, he was ok to deal with.
I hope that's of some use to someone. This happened over the last few days.
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