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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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 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:

EarthAngel1973 · 22/09/2016 11:37

I have trouble paying bills in my husbands name!!

Aworldofmyown · 22/09/2016 11:38

blu you should definitely report Boden for sending you mail they had already opened.

Its your right you know.

StepAwayFromTheThesaurus · 22/09/2016 12:21

it makes no difference to the OP how the council organise their council tax accounts or whether there's an admin fee to change anything. The fact is that it isn't her problem to fix.

The neighbour has made a mistake and paid someone else's council tax, so she needs to rectify this with the council. The OP is only responsible for paying her own council tax and has absolutely nothing to do with this mistake.

If another sky customer accidentally pays their bill into my account rather than their own then it's not up to me to sort that for them. The issue is between sky and them. I just need to make sure that I pay sky on time. It makes no difference if the other customer is my next door neighbour or someone on the other side of the country. It's just not my problem and I don't need to give any thought to whether there's an admin fee or anything to sort out the other customer's mistake. I certainly don't need to compensate the other sky customer so sky doesn't have to.

It's exactly the same if it's the local council rather than murdoch's evil empire.

unexpsoc · 22/09/2016 12:23

soupdragon - good timing. Someone was just looking for a pedant before....

JudyCoolibar · 22/09/2016 12:34

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.

It's a few keystrokes made by the council's employees, they won't be charging the council a fee. Clearly it's possible because, as attested on here, so many councils do it - mine included.

QuimReaper · 22/09/2016 12:36

unex that's not pedantry, it's quite a valid distinction

SoupDragon · 22/09/2016 12:42

soupdragon - good timing. Someone was just looking for a pedant before....

it's always a shame when people can't understand the difference between two statements. Never mind.

JacquettaWoodville · 22/09/2016 12:47

"It's a few keystrokes made by the council's employees, they won't be charging the council a fee. Clearly it's possible because, as attested on here, so many councils do it - mine included."

And changing an airline ticket is also a few keystrokes by an employee. Still has a fee.

JacquettaWoodville · 22/09/2016 12:49

And the employees are paid for their time by the council; time spent correcting an error not of their making is time that could be spent on other things.

unexpsoc · 22/09/2016 12:50

"it's always a shame when people can't understand the difference between two statements. "

it's always a shame when people can't understand mild ribbings.

Feel free to read my post. I did state that I don't believe what happened here was illegal.

But in general, people should steer clear of opening other people's post. Because whether a law has been broken or not may be decided by a court of law rather than the opinion of Mumsnetters.

For a layperson, assume it may be perceived as illegal and leave well enough alone.

diddl · 22/09/2016 13:04

Leave it to your neighbour, Op.

Otherwise you might find out that you pay her & the council transfer the money to her account!

FeliciaJollygoodfellow · 22/09/2016 13:14

As if the council will refund someone not on the bill the only way the neighbour will get the money back is if OP gives it to her.

I would give it back by include a Hard Stare. I'm dead 'ard, me

LassWiTheDelicateAir · 22/09/2016 13:15

"It's a few keystrokes made by the council's employees, they won't be charging the council a fee. Clearly it's possible because, as attested on here, so many councils do it - mine included."

Councils can only pay out money if the circumstances permit them to do so.

There is nothing here which would fall into the standard circumstances. Money was paid in for a specified account and allocated to the correct account. There has been no mistake by the Council or change of circumstances which would justify payment. It is not just a "few keystrokes"

Jaxhog · 22/09/2016 13:19

If she opened the bill when it was addressed to you, then SHE broke the law (in the UK anyway), by tampering with your mail. As several people have said, check with the billing company, it smells fishy to me too.

Jaxhog · 22/09/2016 13:24

Ah, just checked - it isn't illegal in the US unless you do it deliberately.

Scholes34 · 22/09/2016 13:29

OP still needs to pay her Council Tax. I would suggest she does this and then ask the Council to reimburse her the overpayment at the end of the year. She can then give that back to her neighbour.

Did the OP not wonder where her Council Tax bill was? Time for a separate mail box (if the landlord permits it) and to set up a direct debit.

monkey36 · 22/09/2016 13:30

I am sure it's a scam - I would call the police because of this suspicion - its such an odd thing to do - and on more than one occasion….

StepAwayFromTheThesaurus · 22/09/2016 14:00

But all this talk of errors and admin fees makes no difference to the OP.

Her neighbour has made an erroneous payment to the council. It doesn't matter that it went into the OP's account or whether it went to the bloody moon. I don't see why the OP should make it her problem.

If it were me, I'd just pay my council tax as usual. Indeed, we pay by direct debit so it just gets on with it. If someone else mistakenly pays money into my account then that's a proven for the council and them to sort out. As long as I've paid my bill, it makes no difference to me.

The neighbour wants the OP to make it her problem. And the OP is being too British to just say, 'actually no. I don't owe you any money and I don't need to worry about this. Take it up with the council and get your money back.'

How the neighbour gets her money back is not the OP's problem. Sadly she's put a note under the neighbours door taking responsibility for this already.

EveOnline2016 · 22/09/2016 14:04

What I want to know is how does the goat fit into this and perhaps the op could just pay the money and life off a MN chicken

StepAwayFromTheThesaurus · 22/09/2016 14:07

I suspect the goat is processing the refund here.

supermum06 · 22/09/2016 14:44

It's illegal to open others mail too...stick that to her!!!
Personally I don't believe her..

JudyCoolibar · 22/09/2016 15:08

And changing an airline ticket is also a few keystrokes by an employee. Still has a fee.

The airline charges that to the customer, and we all know that the fee represents a hell of a lot more than the actual cost to the airline. If the LA wants to charge the neighbour, I doubt that OP would object.

JudyCoolibar · 22/09/2016 15:12

It's illegal to open others mail too...stick that to her!!!

How many more, FGS? It is NOT illegal unless done for criminal purposes. Paying someone else's bill is not a crime, believe it or not.

Personally I don't believe her.

Maybe OP should believe the council, who have confirmed that what the neighbour said was true, even if she did exaggerate the amount involved?

Or maybe you could read just a teeny tiny bit of the thread?

SoupDragon · 22/09/2016 15:51

it's always a shame when people can't understand mild ribbings.

As you have proved admirably.

unexpsoc · 22/09/2016 16:13

soupdragon - glad you came back. Thought you had gone off miffed - I found this for you (when I say found, had it posted to me for being a smartarse on something else)

Neighbour made a mistake and now wants money

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