Online Council Tax Payment not working!

Sorry guys, obviously wrong destination, DOH!

We could all email or ring on your behalf:

snipped-for-privacy@southbucks.gov.uk 01895 837500

Let us know how you get on ...

Why not set up a direct debit or standing order? Then there is no need to think about it, not even once a month.

Yes, I know that number already, it's on the Council's website. But office closed at 3:14am; I just wanted to get it out of the way. Making optimal use of awake time... :)

Sort of gathered that. One of the perils of using a prog where it is so easy to send an email to a newsgroup.

If it's something you have to pay on or before a given date, why not just set up a direct debit?

I dislike DD. Will only use it kicking and screaming.

OK. Your choice if you don't mind problems like you've had.

I agree - why let somebody take money from your account? The aggro of correcting it when it goes wrong just isn't worthwhile.

But where I can't avoid it, I have a bank account set up specially for DDs - which I can close with not much inconvenience if a DD goes wrong.

Much better for Johannes to set up an automated transfer out of his account. I see that this would be difficult for a variable amount - but surely for Council Tax this is a known amount at the beginning of every tax year ...?

[...]

What have you had go wrong?

I have a couple of dozen DD's set up, some of them going back 30 years or so. I've never had a problem.

Council tax here is taken as 10 payments in a year, with one of them as a slightly different amount. No idea why, but DD makes it easy.

Chris

The falicy of DD is that you don't know what you're doing. And if you know what you're doing, then the effort is the same. Of course the money collectors love it.

Chris Whelan explained on 02/06/2017 :

Did you know that if you request it, they have to let you do it in 12x monthly payments?

My council require evidence of pecuniary disadvantage. Are you suggesting it is a right?

I do Standing Order. However my council, until recently, made it difficult in that you have to request details of their account. It wasn't on the demand paperwork.

IIRC it became a right for the tax year 2013-14 and subsequent years but you may have to ask, they don't have to offer it to you instead of the

10 months. And you are only entitled to 12 months of the bill is issued in time.

But check before you engage Messrs Sue, Grabbit & Run :)

No, I didn't, but it wouldn't make any difference to me - I still pay it without really knowing I've done so.

Chris

Fredxxx submitted this idea :

As I understand it, it is your absolute right to request it. I had no disadvantage, I just requested it and they agreed to 12x payments.

I also understand councils can be a little reluctant, but cannot refuse such a request.

Not that I've ever had to use it, but believe the safeguards on DD are better than standing order. If you think about it, they'd have to be or no one would use it.

Part of that is that the (my) council seem to frequently change bank accounts. Quite why they make it so dificult to pay is really odd.

Best one I had was when I suddenly got a demand for payment (I had been on DD for may years and my bank account was never low on funds) The demand asked for immediate payment of about 250 quid, or court enforcement would be immediate, the demand came over a bank holiday and left just 5 working days to make the payment, I could have been on holiday or working away or anything. As I was not away etc., I immediately made the payment they asked, and demanded to know why my DD had not been taken as arranged. Eventually, after, literally, many months, many letters, many phone calls (some cut off at their end) I found out what happened: someone else had made a cash payment of their rates, it was accidentally credited to my rates account, that made my rates account paid up in advance, my DD stopped being taken, after a couple of months the mistake was picked up, my account was debited, and suddenly MY account was in arrears, next was the demand etc. Their incompetence was obvious, yet they never actually made any proper apology for their multiple errors.

I have many DD over thirty years or more (12 x 12 x 30 = 4,320 payments or thereby), there has only once been a problem, and that was the other party's fault.