Full of insincere assistance, Chris then sprinkled on a little pious and responded with the following; maybe if I'd contacted the director of revenues and benefits it would have been less than a month? An idea to make note of.
He did, in his defence, pick up a mistake on my part where I'd read the incorrect dates for the occupancy in question from my notes, where the correct date was the 28th of February. Well done Chris. I'd already paid the bill by this time as they'd put a carrier pigeon into action.
On with the response...Hanging on his every word....
Kind Regards
He did, in his defence, pick up a mistake on my part where I'd read the incorrect dates for the occupancy in question from my notes, where the correct date was the 28th of February. Well done Chris. I'd already paid the bill by this time as they'd put a carrier pigeon into action.
On with the response...Hanging on his every word....
From: Chris
Gibbs <Chris.Gibbs@birmingham.gov.uk>
Date: 22 May 2014 16:11
Subject: Council Tax Ref [redacted]
To: [my email address]
Date: 22 May 2014 16:11
Subject: Council Tax Ref [redacted]
To: [my email address]
Our Ref:
[redacted]
Dear Mr Lampier
Re: Council Tax –
[redacted]
Thank you for your
email of 1 May 2014. Your enquiry has been investigated and I can advise you as
follows.
I can confirm that on 28 April 2014 the
Council Tax account was updated and a single person discount awarded. You are
liable for Council Tax for the period 20 December 2013 to 28 February 2014, as
you had previously advised the Revenues Service, on 12 March 2014, that you
vacated the property on 1 March 2014.
A payment of £226.26 was received on 19 May
2014 and your account is currently showing a nil balance.
You have stated in your most recent email
that your tenancy ended on 8 March 2014. I am therefore required to amend the
Council Tax liability and issue an amended Council Tax bill, as you are liable
for any Council Tax until your tenancy ended and not just the date you vacated
the property.
Before I arrange for the liability to be
amended, please confirm the date your tenancy ended. If you have a tenancy
agreement, please provide a copy.
I trust this clarifies the situation.
However, if you require any further assistance with either this matter or general
Council Tax enquiries, please contact the Revenues Service on 0121 303 1113.
If you are unhappy
with the way we have dealt with your complaint, you can ask us to review it. We
will look into your enquiry again and send you a final response within 20
working days of the date we receive your request.
Did you know that
you can log comments, compliments and complaints via our website, www.birmingham.gov.uk/yourviews.
This is quicker and you can monitor progress through an online account.
Yours sincerely
Chris Gibbs
Assistant Director,
Revenues and Benefits
From: [my email address]
Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2014 7:18 PM
To: Council Tax
Cc: Chris Gibbs
Subject: Council Tax Ref [redacted]
Importance: High
Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2014 7:18 PM
To: Council Tax
Cc: Chris Gibbs
Subject: Council Tax Ref [redacted]
Importance: High
FAO:
Chris Gibbs
c.f.
Letter dated 25th April 2014
I
regret the tone of your letter and remind you that you are yet to provide me
with a corrected council tax bill. As per pervious communication with your
department I asked for single person occupancy discount to be applied and to
ensure that the correct beginning and end dates of my tenancy at the property
to be noted.
Judging
by your letter you have failed to apply these changes to the account and - in
addition - failed to bill me. Should the matter go further I would be happy to
provide the courts copies of the communications (and replies) to this effect. I
will also bill your department for loss of earnings (@ cost of [redacted] pd as I
charge my clients), plus legal costs for any days where I’m forced to deal
with this issue further.
In
order to combat your departments ineptitude further here are the details again:
Tenancy
@ [redacted for security reasons] started 20th December 2013 and ended 8th
March 2014. I also asked that you apply single person occupancy discount for
the duration of my tenancy there - I’m still waiting for the corrections.
I
don’t see the point in discussing it any further but if you feel you need to
you can reach me at this email address, by phone on [redacted] or by post at
the account address (there is a Royal Mail redirect in place).
Kind Regards
Rex
Lampier
