Edinburgh Council Tax summary Warrant Notice Advice Please

[Drivenout]

Hi,

 

I am looking for some advice regarding Edinburgh council tax and Scott and Co and stumbled upon this great site, and after a bit of reading I cant seem to find another post that quite matches my issue. I would like to start by saying I am under no illusion that i am perfect in this situation but I still believe i have been treated unfairly. I am also able to afford the payment, i just disagree with the 10% addition. I will try and give you as much information as possible as briefly as possible...

 

For several years council tax has been paid on our flat a full year at a time to save stress. Recent changes in who is living here prompted us to change to monthly payments and due to many reasons there was a gap between the start of the financial year and setup of Direct Debit (DD). This meant the first 2 payments of this financial year were manual, one of which was late and rightfully so prompted a 1st late payment notice. The rough timeline of what happened next is as follows.

 

20th July - fill out online form to setup DD on council website and receive e-mail receipt

24th July - receive "e-bill" thanking me for setting up direct debit and telling me when payments will be taken and to take no further action (i should have checked the first payment came out but did not as it was a month or so before it was due and i have several DD setup i.e. i forgot)

Mid Aug - unknown to me direct debit 'fails', don't know exact details yet but no notice from council

Mid Sept - again unknown to me direct debit 'fails'

15th Sept - another demand which must have constituted 2nd payment notice from council, no mention that DD has failed or even mention that i had a DD, I assumed this was an error and took no further action (was following previous e-bill but now realise this was an error).

25th Oct (1) - return home from weeks holiday to find summary warrant from Scott and Co.

25th Oct (2) - E-mail scott and co stating that demand is incorrect with copies of documents received.

26th Oct (1) - reply from Scott and Co stating they have contacted council and council has said DD failed (this was new information at this time)

26th Oct (2) - called council, they confirmed DD failed but couldn't tell me why, agreed it was odd that DD was not mentioned on the payment notice. Suggested i write a letter and gave me postal address (a PO box)

26th Oct (3) - e-mailed Scott and Co again again stating why demand is incorrect and informing them i was submitting a complaint/appeal and would send them a copy

 

My gripe is that the council did not try to contact me after the first failed DD and then tried to take another the next month. The letter they did eventually send made no mention of DD failure and in fact no mention of DD at all (except helpfully informing me it would be easier to pay with DD). I will end this information by again saying i realise i have not acted perfectly in this situation but members on this site seem to be very good at not judging too much.

 

My questions are..

 

- i guess first question is do i have a case worth fighting?

- reading other posts am i right in thinking the warrant is issued and can therefore not be recalled? i.e. should i just pay Scott and Co and take it up with the council?

- would me paying equate to admission of guilt? i.e. remove my right to appeal

- should i have made a specific request to Scott and co to put my debt on hold? i.e. will they continue to pursue even though i have told them i will be submitting a complaint/appeal

- will this appear on my credit record no matter whether i pay or appeal?

- is any of this covered by the DD guarantee? the guarantee was printed on the back of the "e-bill"

- any advice on how i should approach this with the council/Scott and Co?

 

Sorry for the long post but i have seen members get annoyed when they don't get the full story so i have tried to be as honest as possible but can provide the documents or any other information to anyone who is willing to help.

 

Thank you for any help you can offer.

[maroondevo52]

Hello and Welcome,

 

The reason for the D/D failure should let you know whether this is worth fighting, if the fault of the council then yes.

 

Did you have cleared funds in your account when D/D was presented.

Regarding your Credit record, there will be no mention of this debt whatsoever, so I wouldn't worry about that.

 

If taking this further I would inform Scott & Co you are disputing the 10% surcharge with the council and will they put your account on hold until it's resolved.

Get this in writing from Scott & Co.

 

Then contact the Council and try to get it sorted.

 

Regards,

 

Scott.

[Drivenout]

Thank you for your reply.

 

Yes there were cleared funds in the account and i have received no charges from the bank for a bounced DD etc.

 

I have re-read the e-mail from Scott and Co and although the council told me the DD's had failed the Scott and Co e-mail said the "both August and Septembers payments were recalled by the bank". I don't know if this sheds anymore light on what may have happened? Either way i have contacted the council to ask about the reason for the failure.

 

When you say "in writing" from Scott and co, i assume you mean i should request they send a statement to that effect through the post i.e. an e-mail is not sufficient? Is there any merit in offering to pay Scott and co the years balance minus the 10% for now to keep them happy? again i don't want to be seen to be admitting any guilt or any validity of the warrant.

 

Thanks

Edited October 27, 2014 by Drivenout
spelling/grammar

[maroondevo52]

When you say "in writing" from Scott and co, i assume you mean i should request they send a statement to that effect through the post i.e. an e-mail is not sufficient? Is there any merit in offering to pay Scott and co the years balance minus the 10% for now to keep them happy? again i don't want to be seen to be admitting any guilt or any validity of the warrant.

 

Thanks

 

Hi,

 

E-mail should be ok, regarding paying the amount minus the 10%, as long as they know you are disputing the 10% I can't see any harm in doing this.