Cullingworth dad's anger over Bradford council tax debit errors

7:00am Monday 10th September 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Jo Winrow, City Hall Reporter

Andrew Vaux with e-mails and letters from Bradford Council Andrew Vaux with e-mails and letters from Bradford Council

A father-of-two is locked in a dispute with Bradford Council over extra charges the authority insists he owes after his council tax direct debit payments failed.

Andrew Vaux, of Lees Close, Cullingworth , has been successfully paying his council tax in monthly instalments for the best part of 20 years, but in May received a letter out of the blue from the Council stating he had missed April’s payment.

Upon investigation he realised that his bank account had not contained sufficient funds, so called the Council to pay the outstanding amount of about £130 by debit card.

He assumed that would be the end of the matter and that the direct debit would kick in again the following month and he was told over the phone that everything was in order.

As a result he said he was shocked to receive another letter in July stating he had missed a subsequent payment. Again he paid over the phone but was again not advised there was a problem with the direct debit.

A further letter stated he had missed two more payments and he would be taken to court and as a consequence owed court costs too.

Mr Vaux told the Telegraph & Argus: “I’ve offered to pay the £393 I owe in missed council tax payments but I do not believe I should be charged extra when no-one explained to me that the missed payments meant I had lost the right to pay by direct debit.

“Apparently I should have been sent an amended bill after the first missed payment, but I did not receive one. I want to pay what I owe and believe I have been completely reasonable about this, but I am really disappointed with how I have been treated.”

Mr Vaux’s direct debit was reinstated by the Council this month, with his payments recalculated to reflect the extra court costs he is in dispute over. As a result he has cancelled the payment.

Martin Stubbs, the Council’s assistant director of revenues and benefits, said: “We cannot comment on individual cases.

“The most cost effective way is to pay by direct debit, but if a direct debit fails, an alternative method of payment might be needed to prevent a further accumulation of debt.

“In many cases it is possible to continue to pay by direct debit even after a payment has failed. Any individuals can take up our complaints procedure if they so wish.”

Comments(17)

wobbley-bob says...
8:37am Mon 10 Sep 12

Nothing this council does surprises me.

About 6 years ago, I got a court summons from the said incompetent bunch, telling me I owed them for underpayment of my Council tax.... added to that was costs etc, amounting to over £200.
It was all their fault, as they didn't take my final DD payment for that years.

I went to court, to expose them for the numpties that they are.I never received any letters to the fact I 'owed' anything.... because they never sent any. The first I knew about it was the court letter.
The courts found in my favour, & I was awarded costs plus compensation, which paid the next years tax, with some left over.

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JDDixon says...
8:56am Mon 10 Sep 12

This happened to me this year. I got a letter saying I owe this much which I paid that day using a debit card then the next month a court order landed on my door step! Bradford council are the worst group I have ever had to deal with. If Bradford council were a limited company they would have gone bust long ago through sheer incompetence. I am self employed I would have never got away with this behaviour so why should they!

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Correctness says...
9:01am Mon 10 Sep 12

The Council just like to obtain extra funds from people who they know are able to pay. They would be better emplying staff in the so called deprived areas to get something but that would be hard work.
The Council used to issue Payment Books which were easy to make payments with and straight forward but they said they were to costly to produce or is it more honest people knew when they had or had not paid and thats why extra revenue fell.

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Thee Voice of Reason says...
9:06am Mon 10 Sep 12

An honest mistake for a bounced DD get this treatment, what happens to the £8m that is due from those who don't pay regularly? If they were this quick we wouldn't see £8m in arrears.

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angry bradfordian says...
9:12am Mon 10 Sep 12

Just imagine the amount that Tradex will have to pay in 'owed court costs' if they lose their case!

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a reasonable sort of chap says...
9:53am Mon 10 Sep 12

That's why I don't use Direct Debit, it is unreliable and you can't trust them.

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Thee Voice of Reason says...
9:54am Mon 10 Sep 12

a reasonable sort of chap wrote:
That's why I don't use Direct Debit, it is unreliable and you can't trust them.
You probably don't even pay council tax, it's paid for you.

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Joedavid says...
10:35am Mon 10 Sep 12

a reasonable sort of chap wrote:
That's why I don't use Direct Debit, it is unreliable and you can't trust them.
The man in the story did not have suffient in the bank to meet the DD payment on the due date, so nothing wrong with the DD system.
It is up to us to watch our bank balances to meet our outgoings.
We as indeviduals have got to learn to manage our accounts to cover such a situation of an accidental lack of funds you arrange automatic over draft arrangements with your bank.
Now what is wrong here is the council persecuting this honest man who when he realised there was a problem took immeadiate steps to put things right. He got really shoddy service from the council staff who I thought were supposed to work for us honest people.

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Albion. says...
11:06am Mon 10 Sep 12

The council have a duty to collect what is owing and any costs incurred. This story just shows what a slack set up the complainant is.

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wobbley-bob says...
1:45pm Mon 10 Sep 12

Albion. wrote:
The council have a duty to collect what is owing and any costs incurred. This story just shows what a slack set up the complainant is.
The Council 'have a duty' to do lots of things.............D
on't think I need to expand on that fact.

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Albion. says...
2:07pm Mon 10 Sep 12

wobbley-bob wrote:
Albion. wrote:
The council have a duty to collect what is owing and any costs incurred. This story just shows what a slack set up the complainant is.
The Council 'have a duty' to do lots of things.............D

on't think I need to expand on that fact.
Would they be relevant to this story?

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SensibleLass says...
8:47pm Mon 10 Sep 12

No sympathy for this bloke. Having had problems with one payment, one would have thought he would be checking his stamenets regularly to make sure a) there were sufficient funds to make future payments and b) the payments were in fact made. He missed 3 further payments and claims not to have noticed? Why should the Council not claim their costs back from him? Why should I subsidise his failure to pay?

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Colin Allcars says...
9:54pm Mon 10 Sep 12

They want to chase all these houses with multiple adults that have put up extensions (with or without planning permission, yet haven't altered the council band.
Bring back the Poll tax and make taxes in Bradford fairer.

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Michael Clayton says...
9:02pm Tue 11 Sep 12

Annual Council Tax is legally enforceable on 1st April. However, tax-payers are given the opportunity to pay by instalments. Of course, the fact this man flouted the privelage (i.e allowed three months arrears to build) is everyone's fault but his. He should hang his head in shame. As should the T&A for implying that the errors are attributable to the council.

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SensibleLass says...
9:50pm Tue 11 Sep 12

Michael Clayton wrote:
Annual Council Tax is legally enforceable on 1st April. However, tax-payers are given the opportunity to pay by instalments. Of course, the fact this man flouted the privelage (i.e allowed three months arrears to build) is everyone's fault but his. He should hang his head in shame. As should the T&A for implying that the errors are attributable to the council.
Quite agree! People need to take responsibility for their own actions and stop blaming others for their own errors. He is sent an annual bill that sets out the terms on which payments can be made - he should read it - andas you say, his own errors caused this situation to arise. Not the Council's fault. This is not news!

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SensibleLass says...
10:09pm Tue 11 Sep 12

Anyone worked out yet that this bloke is a former T&A journalist?

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Michael Clayton says...
10:28am Wed 12 Sep 12

Thanks for the information. It is also understood that he is a parish councillor. What makes it worse is that they knew that Mr Stubbs would not be able to discuss details of the account with the correspondent. We then get the other idiots on board bleating about their experiences. Having some knowledge about the subject of council tax, I understand that it is only possible to deal in matters of fact - it is a shame that certain journalists are not able to do likewise .

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