News

| Submit CommentSubmit Comments | View CommentsView Comments(1)
Michael McCormick with some of the threatening correspondence wrongly sent to him by Stockport Council.
Michael McCormick with some of the threatening correspondence wrongly sent to him by Stockport Council.

advertisement

Taxing times for taxpayer

Exclusive by Rob Dawson
11/ 6/2008

A BRAMHALL man has been threatened with court action for not paying his council tax - even though Stockport Council cancelled his direct debit.

Michael McCormick, 66, of Handley Road, received a letter from the Council threatening him with legal action if he did not pay the latest installment of his council tax. This despite paying his tax by direct debit for more than 10 years.

After contacting his bank a bewildered Mr McCormick discovered that the Council had not actually requested the payment.

The threatening letter told Mr McCormick he had seven days to make his payment or action would be taken against him. And he has -stating it could be more than 10 days before he receives a response - by which time he could have been hit with a penalty fine.

A furious Mr McCormick tried in vain for two days to contact Stockport Council - later being told his calls remained unanswered due to a ‘high volume of enquiries’, and he eventually contacted them by email.

However he found the whole process worrying, telling us: "It causes a lot of concern. It is especially worrying for people who do not have the same computer facilities as I do, and can not get in contact with the Council by email or check their bank account."

Stockport Council put the mix-up down to a changeover to a new computer system, but said that the problem was now being dealt with.

A spokesman admitted: "In a small number of cases the process has gone wrong, causing the direct debit to be cancelled and as a result the Council has taken recovery action for apparent non-payment.

"The Council has now picked up this problem and will be contacting customers to explain the situation. No council tax payers will lose out as a result of this."


| Submit CommentSubmit Comments | View CommentsView Comments(1)


Most recent 1 of 1 user comments

   This isn't limited to just Stockport. A similar thing happened to me last year, in deepest Westoland. Somebody had telephoned the Council and, using my address, said they were leaving the Property and moving out of the area. Without any further checks, the Council stopped taking payments from my account. The first clue that there was a problem was a "to the Occupier" letter notifying me that I was liable for Council Tax and asking what date I had taken up residence. I was fortunate that I was able to immediately make good the missing payments. That said, they did acknowledge that it was their mistake and were prepared to spread the missing payments across the remainder of the year. Not exactly the same circumstances as Mr McCormick's and I wish him well on getting a good result. Councils can be very intimidating and, for a home owner who is a sitting target for their retribution, cause a lot of distress.
Roy Gregory, Exile
12/06/2008 at 08:57
Have your say
 
Have your say Got an opinion you want to share?
Register now and have your comments heard.

Register now

Latest stories
 

 
Personal Finance
 

Balance Transfer
Card BT Fee
Virgin Credit Card 2.98%
MBNA Platinum 2.9%
Customers with a 'good' credit profile
Company Typical APR
Platinum Exclusive Loan 7.8%
AA 7.9%
Sainsbury's Personal Loan 8.2%
Alliance & Leicester 8.7%
Lloyds TSB 8.9%
Abbey Personal Loan 8.9%
HASH(0x2b73e308a360)
Provider AER*
ICICI BANK
HiSAVE Savings Account 		4.50%
FIRST DIRECT
Everyday e-Saver 		1.75%
SAINSBURYS FINANCE
Internet Saver 		2.25%
Fees may apply