My conversation with teignbridge district council

[gh0st]

Me "Hi there, I am moving out of my property today, can I close off my council tax please"

Them "Ah I see Mr Gh0st that you are a little behind"

Me "Yes part of the reason I am moving out, I need to speak to someone about paying off the rest in large installments - probably a couple of months tops"

Them "No we will take you to court"

Me "So even though I am offering to pay, you want to waste the courts time with this??"

Them "Yes you are closing the account off so we will take you to court if you dont pay it immidiately"

Me "You sure?? I am fully capable of paying it off in 2 months but you STILL want to take me to court"

Them "Yes see you in court Mr Gh0st -Goodbye"

*click*


Nice.

Cant take my bins away every week but will jump at court action at the slightest hint.... :rolleyes:

[BliarOut]

Ah, but if you let them take you to court you'll be able to pay it off at £5.00 per month

'em, if they are that stupid make them wait

[tinman0]

put your offer in writing, include the first payment in the envelope and offer to see them in court. they will get their arse kicked if they manage to get in front of a magistrate.

[gh0st]

BliarOut said:

Ah, but if you let them take you to court you'll be able to pay it off at £5.00 per month 'em, if they are that stupid make them wait

Trouble is that gives me a CCJ

I said to the neandethal at the end of the phone that it would ultimately cost them more to take me to court since I am able to pay and have every intention for doing so and he basically called me a stupid ct and told me that I didnt know what I was talking about...

Just like Barclays bank - there for you until it rains then they take the umbrella away

[gh0st]

tinman0 said:

put your offer in writing, include the first payment in the envelope and offer to see them in court. they will get their arse kicked if they manage to get in front of a magistrate.

VERY good idea - will do

Cheers

[simpo two]

Go for it

Console yourself with the thought that if they were vaguely competent, they wouldn't be working at Stoneybridge Parish Council

Re the guy being rude to you, an official complaint to the Chief Exec should help spoil his day. You are a customer, not a serf. You pay their wages.

[Graham]

tinman0 said:

put your offer in writing, include the first payment in the envelope and offer to see them in court. they will get their arse kicked if they manage to get in front of a magistrate.

plus copy the letter to the chief exec, your local councillor, and the local rag.

The local rags usually love to have a go at the local council so will print anything..

Cheers
G

[planetdave]

Remember to summon the local rag to see you douse yourself in petrol and set fire to yourself outside the council offices while you shout 'you'll never get that £5.27 now you bastards'.

You'll feel better after that



Say 'weep' to the GP for me


p.s. the heat will do your hand good.

[planetdave]

gh0st said:

Them "Ah I see Mr Gh0st that you are a little behind"

They called you 'small arse'.



You're not going to stand for that, are ya?




No. Have a nice lie down instead

[tinman0]

Smartie said:

thought it was just a liability order and so doesn't affect your credit file? Wouldn't this be before a magistrate? Would need to be in county court to get a CCJ surely? (and even then if you pay in 30 days the CCJ isn't registered!)

small claims are usually in front of a magistrate who can issue a ccj.

[Pot Bellied Fool]

tinman0 said:

small claims are usually in front of a magistrate who can issue a ccj.

Small claims are heard at County Court level and can result in a CCJ but that CCJ won't make it onto your file if satisfied within 30(?)days. Else how would someone who's had a small claims battle but lost payup - they've had the hearing & simply lost the dispute so no need for a CCJ so long as they pay up.

But in any event, Council Tax is, as someone said, a liability order & doesn't end up on your credit file. (Everyone does know to check their own file every so often to make sure it's correct don't you?)

The bad news is that ultimately it will go to bailiffs and because it's regarded as a Crown Debt, they can get a bit more nasty.

In practice, if they can't come to an agreement with you or gain access to levy/distrain on goods then it'll get kicked back to the court - that's bad news because worse case you start looking at stripy suntan time.. but it'd be most unlikely to get that far, especially if you made an offer to pay in small installments.

But back to the original problem for the OP.

2 - 3 months you say?

Just do it, they wouldn't get their arses in gear quick enough in that time anyway but do send a covering letter saying what & when the installments will be - and stick to them. Never promise something that won't materialise, better to take another month over it.

Believe me, they take months to do anything, someone I know has just come to an agreement with the bailiff company for a Council Tax debt of 2 years ago.

...and do write a letetr of complaint about the oaf - he was talking utter boswellox and if there's one thing a court hates, it's having their time wasted. And if you got called to a hearing (which would typically be a month+ away anyway) with a copy of a letter making a fair proposal, the sound of arse kicking would resound down the corridors.

So in summary? Just do what you intended, Councils move at glacial pace, particlarly if they see a pament going into the account when it's reviewed by someone with half a brain. By the time they realise, it'll be paid!

>> Edited by Pot Bellied Fool on Friday 19th August 01:08