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AIBU?

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Original poster

Neighbour made a mistake and now wants money

422 replies

DomingoFlamingo · 20/09/2016 02:55

Neighbor moved in about 10 months ago - its a house converted into flats with a communal hallway, front door and letterbox (I live upstairs, she lives downstairs) since she moved in we've had several issues including persistent loud music and her "borrowing" my things that then take several weeks to be returned (if at all)

Then today she knocks on my door with a letter address to me and dated July. She then proceeds to tell me that the letter (a bill) was picked up by her son and she didn't bother to read the name on the front until today when she went to pay again.. hence she's (somehow) been paying my bill since July Hmm and I now owe her a 3 figure sum for doing so......

I'd have normally payed this bill in installments throughout the year, but she payed the whole amount in two payments. Because of this I don't have that amount of money available to pay her back immediately (I work part time and its nearly 4 weeks wages for me)

She's asked for the money by the end of the week, I've offered to pay her in installments but she refused the offer and said she wants it in one go or she'll call the police. :( is she BU or am I? I will/would pay her back but I simply can't afford the whole amount in one go......

OP posts:
embo1 · 22/09/2016 07:09

Maybe you could overpay your council tax so your account is in credit and then they could refund her? It may then be a simple enough case of reallocating payments or entering a credit and a debit? Can you try someone else at the council office who may be more flexible/amenable?

Mol1628 · 22/09/2016 07:11

So she's taking the piss borrowing your stuff and trying to scam you saying she's paid things she hasn't and you're still going to give her some money? Hmm

AmIbeingTreasonable · 22/09/2016 07:39

DO NOT GIVE HER THIS MONEY!!!!!
Sorry for the shouting but get the council to sort it, it's not your responsibility or your problem!

TequilaBlockingBird · 22/09/2016 07:45

If she has paid it, she should get a refund from the company. You can arrange with them to pay in instalments.

JacquettaWoodville · 22/09/2016 07:47

OP cannot overpay her account because she wants to pay in instalments. Therefore the account won't be in credit until the end of the payment year.

If the neighbour wasn't an arse who had tried to cheat her and threaten her, the easiest thing to do would be to pay the neighbour in as few instalments as possible, with a letter signed by both that payment of £40 on sept 30 and £40 on Oct 30 was in full and final settlement of the mistaken payment of £80 by neighbour.

I can well believe that the council can't move a payment between accounts if it is not their error, or that the admin fee for doing so may be considerable.

mildredsmells · 22/09/2016 07:48

What dropzone said: go with her to pay point and pay the amount directly off her own account, then both ask for revised bills and pay your own accounts from there

StepAwayFromTheThesaurus · 22/09/2016 07:50

The council don't need to transfer money between accounts. They need to refund this woman who has paid in error. She can then pay anything she owes on her own account. And you can pay yours.

There's no need for you to sort it out by giving her any money.

AbyssinianBanana · 22/09/2016 07:54

Opening someone else's mail is not a criminal offense and it is NOT illegal. UNLESS YOU INTEND TO ACT TO A PERSON'S DETRIMENT.

The Postal Services Act 2000: "A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person's detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him."

OP would need to prove intent of neighbour was to get refund for both bills, when she only paid one, which would be impossible.

ossur · 22/09/2016 07:57

Tell her to call the police if that's what she wants. It is a criminal offence to open other people's letters. She has NO grounds what so ever, as the fault is her own. Tell her how you usually pay, and that you will pay her back in the same interval, or not at all!

Hedgesinthewind · 22/09/2016 08:13

I've left her note under her door saying I'll pay her back in two installments if that's acceptable to her

OP I sort of understand why you're being so meek: you're a reasonable polite person we're all reasonable in AIBU Grin. For those of us who are reasonable & polite, sometimes it's just a bit gobsmacking to encounter bare-faced cheek.

Your neighbour is of the bare-faced cheek ilk.

So can you rehearse and practice for next time she is unreasonable next time she ever speaks to you Just use silence.

You missed a perfect opportunity when you found out that she lied about how much she'd paid in error. It's just MAGIC when you, a meek polite person, simply states the truth, and you are then silent. The other just squirms.

I did it once over a fee negotiation. I'd found out how much the other person was being paid for less than I was doing at a gig. I just stated "So X is being paid £Y, and I'm being paid £Zilch " very matter-of-factly. And watched them stutter. It doubled my fee to that of person X. I didn't have to rant or ask. I just dropped the information in, and sat in silence.

Maybe you could rehearse this to yourself, or with a friend, for next time your neighbour tries to take the Michael.

JudyCoolibar · 22/09/2016 08:21

I can well believe that the council can't move a payment between accounts if it is not their error, or that the admin fee for doing so may be considerable.

What admin fee? Surely they don't maintain separate bank accounts for separate council taxpayers? It's just a bookkeeping entry, whether it's their error or someone else's.

Glastokitty · 22/09/2016 08:23

Fucking hell. Why on earth don't people RTFT?

RunnyRattata · 22/09/2016 08:25

Isn't it illegal to open other people's mail?

RunnyRattata · 22/09/2016 08:26

GrinGrinGrin

WhiteDraig · 22/09/2016 08:26

Went to the council this morning.. Turns out dumb neighbour did manage to pay some money into my account but it was significantly less than she originally claimed/thought (two figures rather than three)... Unfortunately council say they can't transfer the money across accounts and the only option is for me to repay her in cash hmm which I'm reluctant to do but am glad its not the original amount she demanded......

You need a paper trail.

Do not pay in cash - best bet cheque ( and take a copy if possible) - also mean their is proof she got it as sh'd have to cash cheque.

You also need to write to the council stating what has happened - what their response was to you stating meeting date time and with who if you remember and what you current course of action has been. You don't want them to suddenly decide they can refund or transfer ( it happen different people have different ideas of how their company/department handle things). Keep a copy of this letter as well.

She's clearly shown she isn't honest asking for more money than she has paid - so keep a paper trail with her and the council - so don't rely on her being honest.

I do think she lucky your honest and want to pay her back - I think many people have have left it between her and the council to sort.

JudyCoolibar · 22/09/2016 08:28

"It's an offence to open someone else's mail" is going to become the new "Cancel the cheque", isn't it? Closely followed by "It's not possible to pay someone else's bill".

WhiteDraig · 22/09/2016 08:30

I can well believe that the council can't move a payment between accounts if it is not their error, or that the admin fee for doing so may be considerable.

I'm not sure there would be an admin fee - as presumably all the money needs to go into same council bank account.

I suspect they don't want effort of sorting it - staff time chasing all people and getting permissions and everyone on board - making it the OP issue means no work for them.

diddl · 22/09/2016 08:35

Presumably she has managed to do it as she has paid using the payment slip/info of Op's account.

If Op had already had her CT bill & was paying it, why was she sent another?

(I thought that they only went out once a year?)

Wixi · 22/09/2016 08:57

First point, it's against the law to open post addressed to someone else. So let her get the police. Secondly, if you can't pay in one go it's not possible. I agree with previous poster, speak to the company, get her refunded and set up agreement directly with them.

AdaLovelacesCat · 22/09/2016 09:00

" First point, it's against the law to open post addressed to someone else."

IS IT REALLY ILLEGAL TO OPEN SOMEONE'S MAIL THANKS FOR THAT WE HAD NO IDEA!!!!

CandODad · 22/09/2016 09:09

For the love of god could people read the thread. It's currently the same five or six posts just written by other people. Most of it cobblers.

JacquettaWoodville · 22/09/2016 09:09

"What admin fee? Surely they don't maintain separate bank accounts for separate council taxpayers? It's just a bookkeeping entry, whether it's their error or someone else's."

No money changes hands if airlines have to change the name on a plane ticket; there's still a fee for it.

It's not about moving the money, it's about updating internal records - the payment is allocated to an account as it came in against that account number and there was no fault on the part of the council.

Someone has already spent time on the phone with OP looking into this. If the council were to reassign the payment, I suspect that both OP and the neighbour would have to authorise the movement. Neighbour will have to provide her account number. Someone will have to read or confirm that authorisation, then follow the council's procedure for reassigning. This will take time as well.

You might think it's just an entry, but that entry will be done by people and, as they didn't make the error, those people may either say they cannot fix it or only fix it by charging a fee.

LassWiTheDelicateAir · 22/09/2016 09:11

I can well believe that the council can't move a payment between accounts if it is not their error, or that the admin fee for doing so may be considerable

Yes the Council can't just swap money from one tax payer's account to another.

What admin fee? Surely they don't maintain separate bank accounts for separate council taxpayers? It's just a bookkeeping entry, whether it's their error or someone else's

They won't have separate bank accounts for each person but they have separate internal accounts. These are unique to that person. It's no different than HMRC do for income tax or VAT. It's not so much there might be an admin fee but that there is no legitimate mechanism to make a payment. There was no error in processing the payment and the OP's account is still live.



HarveySchlumpfenburger · 22/09/2016 09:14

I'd better phone and tell my council that. They seemed to manage it with no issue at all.

JacquettaWoodville · 22/09/2016 09:18

Then you were lucky, Rafa - different councils may see it differently.

My post was in the context that, if a neighbour was reasonable and approached apologetically saying they'd made a mistake and could it be sorted out, OP paying the neighbour with some kind of receipt would be easier than going via the council which might attract an admin fee. It then seemed to a couple of posters that the very idea of an admin fee was ridiculous; I responded to this.

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