I would like to pay my council tax please

My name is Lindsey I’m a 25 year old homeowner and I would like to pay my council tax. I would like to receive a bill (as much as anyone ever likes receiving a bill) telling me how much I owe and how to pay it.

In the 9 months since I bought my house I have called Southwark council switchboard, the council tax office, and planning department numerous times each time asking to be able to pay my council tax. Initially I was told my house didn’t even exist (it’s a new build and somewhere in the bureaucracy of the inspections they did they forgot to register it). I still haven’t had official confirmation it is even registered.

So I gave up for a while hoping they would eventually get round to it.......

Then one day I got a business card from Liberata through the door which actually ended up getting lost in the kitchen and covered in food before I found it and realised it might be useful (I might like to add if I didn’t work at Kable I would have no idea who Liberata were and it would have gone straight in the bin). So I followed the biro instruction written on it saying ‘please ring’ and spoke to a nice man called Paul. He seemed to have some idea what was going on and took the details of my property developer. A few weeks later I called him back. Then I emailed. Then I called him back again. I gave him the same details again.

He did at least give me some sort of answer. Apparently it will probably take about 3 months to go through. I will get a bill at some point for a certain amount he thinks.

So 9 months on:

I don’t know how much my council tax will be.

I don’t know when I will get the bill.

I don’t know how long I will be given to pay it off.

I don’t even know who the right person to be chasing at the council is.

WIBBI. Wouldn’t it be better if when a person moved into a new house they were sent their council tax bill, with an explanation of how to pay it and when by? And perhaps in circumstances where this didn’t happen for whatever reason, citizens were offered support rather than feeling like they had to battle to get any kind of information? After all. this is a case of me offering to give them money!

Published by Lindsey on 28/04/08 at 11:41am

Comments

Lindsey,

When they finally bill you they will almost certainly expect full payment by the end of the tax year. If this will cause you problems then ask them to extend the payment arrangement (taking into account the amount you will have to pay when your new bill arrives in April 09).

Council Tax collection tend to pretend that they have no flexibility, but they do - in fact the Local Government Ombudsman has repeatedly criticized LA’s for fettering their discretion in many areas.

Don’t let them bully you into making payments you cannot afford, don’t be afraid to escalate complaints through the system - make them treat you like a human being!

Reply by Ben Sansum on 04/28/08 at 2:31 pm
Well, this is bizarre. I wonder what % of the populace frets about not being able to pay bills, and what rights we have when no-one asks us for money. Maybe there are new builds where one can reinvent oneself a non-person paying no tax at all!

Wibbi council tax was BOTH
a) a larger % of local council spend
AND
b) far lower

Reply by on 04/28/08 at 2:38 pm
Of course, because you have contacted them, they reviewed the issue and gave you a response. Query solved immediately. They are able to show that you
haven’t been waiting for a response and so they are pleased to include you in the statistics. Another success chalked up for their customer service!

Success is measured by their performance, not your satisfaction. What have you got to do with it anyway?

Reply by Simon on 04/28/08 at 4:14 pm

Next entry: Crime mapping?

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