late payment to council arrangement cancelled

[messycess]

Hi guys it me again.

Having agreed a payment plan with the council to pay £200 per month they recalled the LO back from the bailiff. The first payment was due april the 1st and the 1st of every month following. Unfortunately i was un able to pay the first payment on the first as i paid my rent as priority and paid the council the £200 on april 13. my rent is due on the 10th each month so once again this month i am unable to pay the installment until next fridy (may 18th). I have recieved a letter saying they have no choice but to end the agreement and over £2000 is now reguired IN FULL! I called the council today and they said that there is no flexibility on the date to recieve payments. Its the 1st or nothing at all basically. Does anyone have any idea if i can actually make the payments on a date i can afford and if not will this go back to the bailiffs? Thanks in advance

[bluebottle]

Re: late payment to council arrangement cancelled

It sounds to me as if the local authority involved is behaving in a totally unreasonable manner. I would go back to the local authority concerned and explain your financial circumstances to them. If they still behave like playground bullies, come back onto this thread. There are LBs who have more experience of dealing with this than I do.

[labman]

Re: late payment to council arrangement cancelled

This sounds like a classic case for a letter to the CEO of your council to me. Write explaining the position, and you might also mention that if the debt is passed to bailiffs to enforce, you will refuse to let them in and just continue paying the council. They are not allowed to refuse your payments whatever they may say, and you can always pay either online or via their automated telephone system.

If he is told the situation and knows you know you don't have to deal with bailiffs, then one would hope he will intervene. If he doesn't, and you're willing to have your name in the papers, it would be a great story for the press a you're paying, but the system is refusing to allow you to pay when you have the money.

Definitely write to the CEO though.

[SpringerSpaniel]

Re: late payment to council arrangement cancelled

You could also contact your MP about the local authority and/or your local councillors about the conduct of their staff

[messycess]

Re: late payment to council arrangement cancelled

Right ok thanks guys. i dont suppose there is some kind of template letter on this site i could use?

[enaid]

Re: late payment to council arrangement cancelled

TBH it's always best if you write it yourself, but when you have done so am sure if you pop it on here (no personal details included) am sure someone will take a look and tweak it for you if need be.
Enaid x

[messycess]

Re: late payment to council arrangement cancelled

erm i have literally no idea how to word it!

[labman]

Re: late payment to council arrangement cancelled

How about something like this?

Dear Sir,

Your Ref: ABC12345
I am writing to you as your front desk staff appear either unwilling or unable to resolve a problem I believe should never have arisen.

On dd/mm/yyyy I agreed a repayment plan with xxxxxx Council in which I agreed to pay £200 per calendar month towards a debt for Council Tax. This is not a problem and is an arrangement I am happy to keep.



My difficulty lies in the fact that my rent falls due on the 10^th of each month, so I am unable to pay the £200 agreed until the 18^th of each month. It appears your council is not able to accommodate this fairly straightforward budgeting issue, and has thus sent me a letter demanding over £2000 as full settlement of the debt.



I phoned to explain the situation to your staff, but they insist there is absolutely no flexibility in the repayment arrangement, and that all payments must be made on the first of each month or they will return the debt to the bailiffs to enforce.



To me this seems quite unbelievable. It is not that I am unwilling to pay, it is purely that I can only pay on the 18^th of each month, rather than the first, on which your staff are insisting.



I hope you will intervene to resolve this situation. I fail to believe the council cannot accept payments on any day other than the first of each month.



Should you fail to resolve the situation, I will be left with no option but to refuse your appointed enforcement agents access to my property and continue to pay the council the agreed £200 per month on a date acceptable to myself. I cannot stress enough the fact that I am not a case of won’t pay, I will pay, but can’t pay on the day on which your staff are insisting.



I trust you will be able to intervene to arrange a mutually acceptable solution to this, and thank you in advance for your help.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,