Online Council Tax Payment not working!

No idea, my council give 12 payment option as std.

Mmmm - isn't it the other way round? SOs are fixed (like council tax) in amount and duration - so relatively secure in the sense that you know and agree to what the payments will be, and have to agree to any change.

DDs are variable (like gas/electric bills and credit card balances) - so they take what they think you owe. If that varies from month to month, they don't have to ask -they just take what they think you owe.

Trying to get a refund from the electricity company for an overestimate is not, IME, straightforward. My account often has a credit balance of £200-300 - it was up to £800 a few years back.

The reason I use DDs is that it's cheaper in the long run, but I do have to keep an eye on it. So if I factored in my time, maybe they're not that much cheaper.

Yes, that's my understanding.

They must also listen to cases of hardship and discount bills if they think it's appropriate.

the company taking the money must tell you two weeks in advance of the new amount being taken.

All of my regular payments are by DD and all from the one account. I particularly like the fact that it needs absolutely no thought at all and just cannot be forgotten. The amount needed to cover them plus a bit, is transferred weekly from two other accounts - as standing orders. Away or ill, or simply forgotten about - they get paid on time without any effort on my part.

Ah right, thanks, I got it mixed up.

Yes. But if they get it wrong, you can get a refund near instantly. Just by contacting your bank. A credit transfer made in error can be much more difficult to sort. And failing to pay by other means because you are disputing the amount might lead to all sorts of problems.

That is a different matter from a payment being wrong. But if on that sort of monthly deal you have no option to DD? It would be more than a pain to pay it each month by credit card etc - and you'd likely be charged extra for doing so?

I've used it for many many years - after having that reservation that 'they' set the amount taken. In practice, it has never been a problem. And of course the amount you owe is the same either way - unless you are disputing the bill.

An online energy account lets you review your dd at any time and alter it if you are slipping into credit, you can also get any overpayment refunded easily.

my bank even pays me for having DDs set up, around 8 quid a month comes back, there is an account fee of 5 pounds a month, but I always get more than that back in dd credit and interest.

MrCheerful used his keyboard to write :

I have a similar arrangement.

Thing is that DD isn't exactly new. Been around for perhaps 30 years. If it really was as iffy as some who don't use it think, it would be common knowledge?

While not specifically relating to DDs, I used to work for a business with about 100 employees. As I walked around the workplace I could hear people on the phone - usually the calls related to work. But at least once a day I would overhear a colleague on the phone to their bank, trying to resolve a problem. I know some of these calls related to DDs that had in some way gone wrong.

You'd need to know the full facts. Plenty might blame the bank for paying what was asked for - especially since so many don't seem to understand the DD concept.

Where sometimes it goes very wrong is assuming that a similar arrangement using a credit card is a DD

Next time you switch suppliers make sure that you chose one that allows you to adjust the payment and/or only takes payment based on the monthly meter reading that you give them. For the past 5 years my utility payment hasn't been more than £10 in credit at the end of a monthly billing period.

You might think so.

I had a DD setup with a council and then moved.

I stopped the DD. The council left it more than 6 months and then took the money out off my account with a new DD mandate, claiming the original mandate was sufficient.

The bank, Santander, never did refund the monies claiming the DD guarantee was adhered to. The account itself did end up being in balance, however that is not the point. A DD can be imposed on you at a later date and the bank will honour it and regurgitate the small print to their advantage.

As a result I now pay Council tax (same council) by Standing Order. In all the years of DD I have never had an issue with DDs with any other supplier and consider them a convenience.

alan_m submitted this idea :

You can even agree to make a fixed amount payment monthly, the same each month, based on your calculated annual usage. Thus spreading the high winter use through the entire year.

Scottish Power on 80 day meter reading (they claim 90 days but started demanding it at 80 days) I had to make a quarterly telephone call to them to get them put the payment back right. It changed every month and seemed to work out the payment on the basis that I should NEVER owe them and that at times has meant the account has average credit over £100. This is even though the web site "claims" they set the payments for annual consumption and expect to have times when the account is in debit. Whatever algorithm was programmed into the accounts to set the monthly payment is wrong.

The web app for smart meter shows seasonal consumption. And now the online account management allows me to set the payment up/down to what it should be or refuse the changes.

Not as bad as EON. They sold me a deal they said would be £10/month cheaper. Then the robbing a**holes demanded monthly payment £10 HIGHER.

That seems to me the sensible way to do it. You are in credit during the summer and in debit towards the end of the winter.