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Original poster

Help with council tax please

38 replies

Gettingropeburns · 06/11/2019 21:58

Dd recently moved out into her own place, she has received her council tax bill but it’s way more than expected and makes no sense whatsoever

I don’t wanna give exact numbers here as Rio outing but happy to do
so by pm.

It’s more than double the undiscounted monthly amount based on the annual amount even though she is living alone.

Anybody around who knows how this stuff works?

OP posts:
ShellieEllie · 06/11/2019 21:59

It sounds as though she needs to give the Council a call and ask them to explain.

RandomMess · 06/11/2019 22:01

Are they wanting 6 months of next year up front? So she pays double then in April it is halved?

AnotherEmma · 06/11/2019 22:03

Could you take a photo of the bill and then scrub out the address and all other identifying details?

Otherwise she should just take the bill to the council office and ask them. Or send a scan/photo of it to her local citizens advice and ask them.

AnotherEmma · 06/11/2019 22:04

Could you take a photo of the bill and then scrub out the address and all other identifying details?
(And then share it on here.)

dementedpixie · 06/11/2019 22:07

She should get a 25% discount for being a single person. Are they taking into account that you don't normally pay in February and March and trying to get her to pay for just now until the end of april in just a couple of months. Best to contact them to query it

AutumnGlitterBall · 06/11/2019 22:07

It may be due to the payment schedule and when she took the property.

We got our rental flat back in September but by the time the council worked out the bill, it came to us in October for first payment in November. We only pay November, December and January. February and March are ‘free’ months so we have seven months of liability but only three to pay it in. This makes the payments look huge when normally they’d be about 100 a month if we had the year to pay.

dementedpixie · 06/11/2019 22:09

You can of course choose to make payments in February and March so you make more payments of a lesser amount

teacuptale · 06/11/2019 22:14

Phone the Council. Check the start date of the account is correct and that the single person discount has been applied. Also have a look at the instalment scheme. If payments aren’tdue to be made in Feb/March, this can be requested, which will bring each instalment down a bit. Don’t worry- it’ll be sorted.

Original poster
Gettingropeburns · 06/11/2019 22:15

She’s sent me a pic of bill but I don’t wanna put here far too identifying but if posters ok I’d be willing to pm you what’s on it?

Don’t equal 6 months of payment that’s what’s weird it don’t match anything! It don’t match the Banding she’s meant to be on, don’t match any other banding and don’t match any multiples of any bandings.

It’s a weird amount that makes no sense at all.

I’m in same area as her still, I pay my council tax by direct debit and it has to be paid every month there’s no months off (I know there are in some places but not here)

It’s not enough for even 3 months in advance makes no sense at all it’s like they got the number from nowhere!

OP posts:
RandomMess · 06/11/2019 22:26

Wonder if they don't have her moving in date so this is arrears from before then.

Original poster
Gettingropeburns · 06/11/2019 22:47

They do have her moving in date but I think they might be charging her for arrears from before then but how on Earth is that her responsibility!!

OP posts:
MummytoCSJH · 06/11/2019 22:50

@Gettingropeburns it's not her responsibility, but they'll be able to sort it really easily (wrong banding, no discount, arrears) and reissue a new bill. No need to stress, she just needs to call tomorrow.

Original poster
Gettingropeburns · 06/11/2019 22:56

She is not very confident at dealing with stuff like this and thinks she don’t know what to say to them I don’t know what to tell her.

OP posts:
AnotherEmma · 06/11/2019 22:58

None of us can help you if you don't share the bill with us. Even if you did share it we might not be able to work it out without calling the council.

Could you help her to call/email the council?

MummytoCSJH · 06/11/2019 23:04

To be fair, if you have her details and permission (maybe at a time when you are together) you could call for her, they don't know what she sounds like. Just say I think my new bill may be wrong because '...'.

Original poster
Gettingropeburns · 06/11/2019 23:31

Bit tricky as we have very different accents and voices.

She works shifts so arranging a time to call when she’s with me also tricky as she mainly works when the council are open (and then some)

I did wonder if I might get away with asking them ‘hypothetically’ like “IF someone moved into a band x property on x date what would their bill be and why?’ Type thing?

OP posts:
Difficultcustomer · 06/11/2019 23:38

I think she needs to deal with this. Unless she has SEN/disabilities then it will be easing her into dealing with these things. A lot of councils are now trying to do more online and it be as quick or quicker to see if the have a secure portal/email to council tax.

Ariela · 07/11/2019 00:04

Get her to write down the facts on a bit of paper, so she has it to refer to:
eg
My address including postcode
invoice number on the invoice
I moved in on (date)
My tax band is Band B
I am living here alone, so I am entitled to 25% single person discount.
The bill you have sent is a lot more than I was expecting.
I was expecting to pay about £x a year, which, for the remaining months of the year from when I moved in would be £y per month.

Tell her to stand up when she calls them (projects the voice better and will make her sound more confident even if she isn't~~~~~)
SHe can then explain everything by referring to or even reading out the key points she has written down

MeTheCoolOne · 07/11/2019 00:45

Bit tricky as we have very different accents and voices

They won't know you have the wrong house and accent though! Just phone up and pretend to be her.

Aloe6 · 07/11/2019 00:48

Yes just make the call and pretend to be her. They won’t know.

MummytoCSJH · 07/11/2019 09:08

Why does that make it tricky? They don’t know or care what she sounds like and they don’t note it on the systemConfused

Ariela · 07/11/2019 11:14

Or she could just write a good old-fashioned letter

ivykaty44 · 07/11/2019 14:43

on the bill there should be dates which the bill started? What date was it? The end date will be 31/03/20

When did the tenancy start? Did she move in straight away?

MrsPear · 07/11/2019 14:52

My sister was similar when she first moved out and I did similar to ariela and helped her write out a clear concise script. She then filled out answers as she went. Btw she is well educated and works in HR yet when it came to house matters she was simply not confident and worried she would say something wrong. Now she doesn’t think twice to query something. It will be a learning curve but a necessary one. Tell her to bite the bullet and call. At least you can - my local council doesn’t take calls now!

OurChristmasMiracle · 07/11/2019 15:04

If you go on the VOA site it will tell you what band her property should be. You can then go onto the councils website and find out what it would be for the year.

She would need to pay 5 months worth so divide by 12 and times by 5 would give you a rough cost.

She will need to apply for the single person discount. She won’t automatically get it.