Scott&Co enforcement charges

[Ant80]

Hi there, long time lurker here but first time poster.

I'm looking for some input on a problem I'm facing,

I couldn't find any specific info using the searches.

 

 

I'm posting this in both the "Scotland" and "Dealing with Debt in Scotland" forums

as I don't know which is more appropriate - admin please feel free to move or merge as required.

 

I missed the last month (January) of our 15/16 Edinburgh council tax payment,

an elderly relative fell ill at New Year,

subsequently passed away in March and

 

 

my wife and I were spending so much time with family we neglected our usual finances.

We received the missed payment info from Edinburgh Council

but by the time we were able to follow up with them,

they said that the payment had already gone out to Scott&Co to collect

and we should just wait for the info from them to arrive before paying.

 

Subsequently, we were away from home the 2nd half of March for the funeral

and had already arranged to spend some other time with family over Easter.

 

 

The Scott&Co letter w/ top up charge ~ £180 was amongst the post we received

when we got home on 3rd April

(sorry I don't know the exact figures as I'm posting this during my lunch break at work

and don't have the documents here).

 

 

It took me a few more days to be able to come up with the money

(we had to take it from what was supposed to be the 1st payment of this years Council Tax!),

I paid them online from work on Weds 6th April.

 

 

When I got home that night another envelope from them had arrived,

containing the previous info and additional hand-written charges

- badly written and not making sense!

- and a copy of this with the typed charges

- making more sense

- arrived at the start of this week.

So they are trying to charge us an extra ~ £95 for this.

 

I don't know what to do,

we have no spare money at all

and we can't afford to hand over payment out of what was supposed to be yet another months CT for this year,

as it will just send us back into the same spiral.

 

 

Can anyone tell me,

do Scott&Co have the right to charge this extra under the circumstances,

and if so is it possible to appeal (internal or 3rd party)?

 

 

Here's the timeline according to their paperwork:

 

- Original debt plus 10% awarded to them: 10th March (fair enough).

 

- First letter from them dated 17th March,

but hadn't arrived by 19th March when we left home to travel to family funeral.

Letter read on 3rd April when we returned home.

 

 

I realise my mistake was not calling them on Monday 4th as soon as I could,

but I knew we had some money coming in that week as was just waiting to get it to pay.

- Paid online 6th April

 

- Letter with additional charges (hand written arithmetic) received 6th April

 

- Copy of letter with additional charges (printed arithmetic) received 11th April

 

Help! Any advice?

 

Thanks for any input.

Ant

[maroondevo52]

Hello and welcome,

 

I have deleted your thread in the Scotland forum, please continue to use this thread regarding this matter.

 

When you don't pay your Council Tax by the due date, the council should issue a reminder requesting the overdue amount to be paid within seven days. If you don't pay the amount due on the first reminder, you should be sent another reminder but the option to pay in instalments will be withdrawn, however, you will be given 14 more days to pay.

 

If you have received two reminders from the council about unpaid Council Tax and still have not paid, then the local authority can apply to the Sheriff Court for a summary warrant. If the council are granted a summary warrant they will send Scott & Co. your name, address, and the amount you owe, on top of the amount of Council Tax you owe, there will be an additional 10% penalty charge added for the summary warrant. Scott & Co. will send out a summary warrant stating the amount owed and how to pay it.

 

It is advisable to contact Scott & Co to come to a repayment arrangement, otherwise the council can obtain a charge for payment.

 

This is where the extra £95.00 comes from, I would get in touch with Scott & Co and if the council have not followed the timelines I have pointed out you can dispute the charge.

 

Regards,

 

Scott.