Dodgy Tricks by Local Council

[comebackjimmy]

Hi all

 

I am in the North Herts District Council region and have just had my council tax bill.

 

The total sum is £1140.97.

 

They have calculated it in ten instalments with the first being £114.97 and the balance being another 9 at £114.00. So far so good.

 

According to the new rules issued by the government I have the right to ask for this to be paid in 12 instalments. I therefore e-mailed the council as follows:

 

Please re-issue my council tax bill to show repayments in twelve equal instalments and adjust your billing system to expect payments in twelve rather than ten payments.

Today I received the following:

Thank you for your email requesting 12 monthly instalments for your council tax.

Once we have received your April instalment, I will amend your instalments from May - March and a revised bill will be issued.

So on the face of it they are requiring one tenth of the figure to be paid first and I only want to pay one twelfth. Now it is only a small thing but if the government says I can pay equally over the year then I want to pay equally over the year. In short I want to pay £95 in April, not £115. I don’t want to give them £20 until I have to.

I wrote this back to them:

That is all very well but what am I supposed to pay in April?

 

You seem to be wanting one tenth of the annual amount before spreading the other nine tenths over the remaining eleven months. Is that correct?

 

As I understand it the new regulations allow for equal monthly payments over twelve months.

 

Please clarify your position.

Anybody else getting this sort of thing?

Anybody got any comments?

[leigh04]

nope my council adjusted ours with no problems, the only thing was it had to be set up before March 15 th

[ss002d6252]

Not so much anything dodgy as them trying to ensure you still have time across the year to pay 12 instalments as they may only bill for the 1st of the month - in my local authority we have been telling people to pay 1/12th on the 1st of April and we'll reissue a demand for the remaining balance as soon as possible with 11 instalments. Many of the customers I have dealt with this week are just paying as per the start of year demand until an adjusted one is issued ( most of them actually offered to pay that way).

 

The actual regulations mean that the council have to give 12 instalments if you request it in writing AND the demand notice is issued before 15 April 2013 but that's dependent on the council issuing revised demand notices before 15 April 2013.

[ploddertom]

My Council gives me a list of dates I may choose to make payment on - by direct debit - and will allow the 1/12 providing they have the time to set up. Must admit 28th of the month is looking favourite. However if I want to pay in cash I may only do this over 10 months.

[assisted blonde]

if you pay one 10th then the other payments will be lower over the remaining 11 months

[BazzaS]

What would happen if you set up the DD then paid them (1-2 weeks earlier) £95.08 [£95.09 for the 1st payment]?

 

If they then tried to take the DD payment too, you could use the DD guarantee to claim it back?

[ss002d6252]

However if I want to pay in cash I may only do this over 10 months.

 

They can't refuse to give you 12 instalments for cash payments.

[id6052]

i suspect the problem you are experiencing might relate to the request to change instalments being too close to when first payment is due

 

as long as you do not pay by direct debit, i would suggest sending a letter back with first payment of £95.97, asking them to issue revised bill showing 11 remaining instalments of £95.00

[ploddertom]

They can't refuse to give you 12 instalments for cash payments.

 

This should provoke an interesting conversation on Monday.

[comebackjimmy]

Hullo all

 

Many thanks for the many replies and here is an update:

 

The council had written the following to me:

The payments can be divided into 12, rather than 10, so if you just pay a twelfth i.e. £95.08 in April. Once this payment shows I will amend your instalments from May - March.

 

So I guess I have established my right to pay by equal instalments.

 

I think it is a pity this was not properly and openly offered in the first place.

 

As I have achieved what I have set out to achieve I no longer seek any advice from other CAGers. However, I am very happy for this thread to be continued by anyone wanting to discuss the topic.

 

Thanks again for all your input.

[ss002d6252]

The payments can be divided into 12, rather than 10, so if you just pay a twelfth i.e. £95.08 in April. Once this payment shows I will amend your instalments from May - March.

 

This is the same solution we've been giving to people in my local authority so they don't miss out on having 12 instalments.