Has anyone had an issue with the Council asking for the entire Council Tax balance to be paid in full??
Posted by thegreyman1986@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 57 comments
So, I’ll try to keep it short;
I pay my Council Tax monthly by Direct Debit, yesterday (Monday) I got a letter from the Council telling me they’d gone to Magistrates Court and I had to pay the entire balance of my Council Tax in full (£1,991.27) by Friday (11th) or they would proceed with bailiffs etc.
I obviously panicked, it was too late to call, so I went onto the Council website and paid off the balance because I know not to fuck about with Council Tax.
Anyway, I then thought about an hour later that the balance seemed high because I’m Band B, so I checked and sure enough it should be just under £1,900 (£1,860-something off the top of my head)
So I check back through my bank statements and, sure as shit, the money has been going out like clockwork, just over £600 so far.
I’ve sent an email to them to request more information on why I was never sent any kind of letter to tell me there was any issue (I know they’ll lie and say “oh we sent it”) and why on Earth the balance i had to pay was over £100 more than what my Council Tax was for the year? Plus I included pictures from my bank showing that I had in fact been paying monthly by Direct Debit like I have for the last 5 years I’ve lived here and never had a problem.
Has anyone else had this happen with their Council? How did you resolve it?
New_Line4049@reddit
This sounds an awful lot like a scam I hate to say it.
Rossco1874@reddit
This may sound stupid but have you paid the full bill including pennies monthly.
I once underpaid by £1 usually pay £131 & paid £130 by mistake and got a red ink letter from them about paying on time and futher action.
Could be something as simple as that and there archaic system has triggered the next process
thegreyman1986@reddit (OP)
The first payment came out as 17p less than the subsequent ones … no way have they done this for 17p?! Surely not?! 😂
Houseofsun5@reddit
Oh they certainly will, due to some sort of error, I underpaid by 10p over the entire year, this resulted in a letter threatening court unless paid in full immediately.
ExpectedDickbuttGotD@reddit
could be worse. I remember the post by an American that he had to pay his $0.00 balance, for his medical bill after the insurance company contribution. I think he had to actually make a 0 dollar payment to get them off his back.
phatboi23@reddit
it's all pretty much automated these days so yeah they would.
DullHovercraft3748@reddit
That sounds like it could've caused it - the entire recovery process is automated so no one's checked it and realised how stupid it is to proceed to court over 17p arrears.
If the staff are handsome and smart, like me, they build in thresholds so nothing under a certain amount goes through recovery. Most councils are dumb though.
Rossco1874@reddit
Its a possibility definitely give them a call.
sihasihasi@reddit
It's a direct debit. If the wrong amount has been paid it's the council's fault.
Book_worm121@reddit
Usually they only request payment of the full balance if you have defaulted on the agreed payment arrangement. And if a liability order has previously.beem granted against this year bills then costs would have been added to increase the outstanding balance. If neither of those things have occured you need to contract the council to check what's happened.
Intruder313@reddit
This sounds like pure nonsense - you would have had warnings and letters galore long before they ‘went to court’ and threatened you with bailiffs. It’s a scam or a mistaken address
toastedtwister@reddit
I had to do this with my Dad, he struggled with his finances and thought he had the council tax set up to go out monthly, but as he didn't have online banking etc, he wasn't aware that it was not going out. He got a letter off the council demanding the years amount in full within 7 days or they were taking him to court. I just paid it in full as the council are ruthless when it comes to things like this. I personally think the best option is to pay it in full and then try and reclaim anything you are owed back (if you can afford to). It's not worth the anxiety of a court summons and letters of debt collection agencies etc.
barriedalenick@reddit
I had it when my Dad died and I had to pay the CT on his house. I missed a payment by days as we were in the process of selling the house and I was a bit distracted by the whole death thing and dealing with his affairs. I phoned them up and was equally apologetic and apoplectic which confused them enough to accept a payment without charging me for the year.
shortymcsteve@reddit
I’ve been paying mine every month, but they sent me letters saying it’s late (they never used to and I have been paying around the same time). Then I got a letter to the same effect as yours, but I called them up to find out what’s going on. Apparently they want the payment by the first day of the month (which I find ridiculous). Anyway, I made a payment for that month and the guy told me he would check if it was in within a few days, and if it was they would put me back to normal monthly payments. I got a letter almost 2 weeks later confirming.
I would 100% call them up and check there were no errors. Pretty sure one time my dad had an issue where they took far too much money from his direct debit.
zephyrmox@reddit
Emailing them is the wrong move - you need to get on the phone.
DaveBacon@reddit
When I had a problem with a similar issue I phoned them, but each of the 3 times I spoke to them, they said they had no record of the calls and denied ever haven’t spoken to me so if you call, it may be a good idea to record it.
shredditorburnit@reddit
I hate to be that guy, but are you 100% sure the letter is from the council and not a scam?
thegreyman1986@reddit (OP)
Not a scooby, but I actually paid via the actual council so even if it is a scam… I’ve just paid my council tax early (I hope)
maldax_@reddit
did you go to the website from the letter or google it?
shredditorburnit@reddit
Good to hear!
thegreyman1986@reddit (OP)
Yeah I got a receipt for the payment and everything, fortunately in my panic I followed all the correct channels first!
AddictedToRugs@reddit
The court fees.
mostly_kittens@reddit
Technically everyone owes council tax in one lump sum, paying monthly is just a courtesy from the council which is why they revoke it if you don’t pay.
Does seem there has been some duck up here though.
thegreyman1986@reddit (OP)
100%, although someone else mentioned erroneous payments and I just noticed the very first instalment was 17p under for some reason, so I suspect it may be that
ManyHatsAdm@reddit
Unless your total amount payable is exactly divisible by 12 (or 10 if you pay like that), then the first instalment is always going to be slightly less (at least this is how my council does it).
As for the balance being different, it could be a court fee or some other charge for non-payment?
veridian_dreams@reddit
I have had this and just called them at the earliest opportunity. In my case I was able to continue to pay monthly (it seemed no problem to them) but because a direct debit had been missed they couldn't reinstate it, so I had to make the payments manually on the council site every month for the remaining months.
Hyperlogic2@reddit
Hi. I work in council tax. The DD should be taken correctly. But sometimes there is a small balance from a previous period or if you get any UC or benefit they can change payments. Assuming you just pay normal DD payments over 10 or 12 months you should be OK. From time to time payments do go to pay a previous period meaning you could be behind hence the notices and eventually a summons. A call in to them and they can see exactly what’s what and can advise properly. Where I work we can see within seconds exactly what’s wrong and assure you if there has been a letter that it is from the council or someone else. Even if you have a summons or been told you have to pay the entire balance at once you can bring your account up to date and then go back into a DD. The entire team I work with deal with this every day. Give them a call.
Hyperlogic2@reddit
Oh and don’t email in. This can take more time to get looked into potentially leaving you further behind.
hhfugrr3@reddit
In your position, I'd speak to the council asap but I would also contact the magistrates court and ask for the matter to be listed for an application under section 142 of the magistrates court act 1980 saying that you were not aware of the hearing. You can then get to court and sign a declaration that you were unaware of proceedings, they'll set aside their decision and you can provide evidence that you've paid.
Don't trust the council to do this. I was prosecuted for not paying my business rates once & they tried to tell me that normal procedure in a disputed case is to get an order and then I could have it set aside later if I could prove I'd paid, which is a flat out lie.
Incidentally, I won that case after I pointed out a) I'd notified then we'd moved in writing, b) they could see my old office from my window with the "we've moved signs"; and c) they'd paid me for legal work at my new office address so we're obviously aware we'd moved!
DullHovercraft3748@reddit
Magistrates court works differently for business rates, in that they can actually make judgements in regards to liability. Not the case with council tax.
selectstarisalluneed@reddit
They may also be applying your payments to the wrong address. We had this when we first moved into our house. We live in one of a pair of newer houses that have been built more recently (but still over 20 years ago) than the rest of the street, so the numbering is a bit odd, there's 17 which is an original house on the road, then 17a and 17b for the 2 newer houses which were just slotted into the numbering, and the council were applying our payments (for 17b) to number 17. It got sorted out after a phone call.
thenewfirm@reddit
We had this when for some reason the payments had gone to our old house account not the new one. I did what you did and paid in full and left the credit there for the next year to make that bill cheaper.
blahblahscience1@reddit
Any chance you missed or had the last payment for the previous tax year rejected and its taken them a little bit to get to it with you?
Grem-123@reddit
Martin Lewis of MSE has been going on about this recently. They normally ask you for the full balance up front when 1 direct debit has been missed/bounced.
You were right to pay it first, then argue your case with them (annoying as that is to struggle to get your money back).
thegreyman1986@reddit (OP)
Yeah I’ve gone through my statements and my DD’s have gone out for it like clockwork, nothing ever bounced back so I’m a bit confused. Fortunately I’m in a lucky position that I actually had the money to pay it all and then challenge it
PigHillJimster@reddit
Have you checked to see if your DDs have been going back into your account after being paid out?
i.e. one of your DD was returned a few days later after being paid?
cannontd@reddit
Surely they could have just waited until the morning?
Big_Lavishness_6823@reddit
Ringing the office today to sort it out would've been a better plan than panicking and paying the bill last night.
InternEasy2461@reddit
If you miss payments then yes they can
thegreyman1986@reddit (OP)
Never missed a payment in 20 years. Said this in god knows how many replies now and always on time too
slliw@reddit
Usually happens if you’ve missed or had 1 or 2 late payments.
thegreyman1986@reddit (OP)
Never missed a payment in 20 years, never made a late payment either, always DD it
Arbdew@reddit
Do you get a single person discount? My Council decided one year I wasn't eligible for it. I received a letter saying I had been referred to a magistrate as I'd underpaid unless I made full payment immediately. I hadn't underpaid- was living on my own as I had been for the previous few years. The flag on my account had been set incorrectly to full amount. It all got sorted out eventually.
thegreyman1986@reddit (OP)
Never claimed a single person discount, no
cannontd@reddit
I can’t actually believe you just paid that much out without so much as looking at your bank statement for this month and seeing the direct debit. Next time you experience something like this, slow down because while you have not been scammed, rushing to resolve stuff like this is one factor in making a scam work.
EdmundTheInsulter@reddit
Are you paying to the correct account?
thegreyman1986@reddit (OP)
The same account that was listed when I got my letter through to tell me my council tax for 2025/2026, so I hope so
DigitalStefan@reddit
Direct Debit or did you set up a standing order? Stnding order, you would have had to enter in the council's bank account details.
If it was standing order and you mistakenly were looking at last year's bill when you set up the payment, you'll have been paying slightly too little each month.
Sounds unlikely, honestly, but it was the first explanaton that came to mind for the issue you've had that also explains the different total amount of council tax you were asked to immediately pay.
WickerSnicker7@reddit
I’ve had this so many times. It’s the automated system screwing up. Just phone the Council and they can revert you back to instalments.
Ochib@reddit
This happened many years ago. Someone moved into the same council as me with the same name and the same bank branch.
The council used my direct debit to pay his council tax and not mine. I got a letter from the council saying I hadn’t been pay the council tax (at the time it was called the poll tax) and had to put in a complaint.
It was all sorted out in the end
thegreyman1986@reddit (OP)
Aaaaaahhh… well I do have a pretty standard name so maybe something in that got mixed up. I’ll find out soon, hopefully
External-Piccolo-626@reddit
This usually happens when people don’t pay for a couple of months. I think they have to send reminders before this stage though.
thegreyman1986@reddit (OP)
I understand that, except, I have the bank statements showing I’ve been paying it.
Only thing I can think is they’ve mixed me up with someone else
garryblendenning@reddit
Please check and make sure you have not been scammed
thegreyman1986@reddit (OP)
Yeah I’m gonna do that on my lunch break later, I’ve just never heard of this crap before. 20 years, never once had any issue with council tax
pringellover9553@reddit
Raise a complaint with them about this to get it actually looked at in a good time frame
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