Ensuring customers are not subject to unnecessary recovery action, additional costs or hardship

The request was successful.

Dear South Gloucestershire Council,

A council taxpayer who owes more than just the current year's liability runs the risk of incurring additional recovery costs through a further application for a liability order if payments which are intended for the current year's liability are allocated by the council's computer to the previous year's liability. This would most likely happen where a non specific payment is made and the computer software is set to automatically allocate these payments to the oldest year's debt.

Councils computer systems have the necessary flexibility to be set to allow non specific payments to be allocated to the arrears or the current year's liability.

I understand that the majority of billing authorities have their computer software set to ensure that their customers are not subject to unnecessary recovery action, additional costs or hardship, i.e. so non specific payments are allocated to the current year's liability.

How does South Gloucestershire Council have its computer software set to deal with non specific payments. Current or oldest year's liability?

Yours faithfully,

Gwyn Worth

Freedom of information, South Gloucestershire Council

Dear Ms Worth

Thank you for your recent request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.
I have sent your request to our Revenues and benefits department who will provide a response to your request.
The 20 day period for considering your request commenced on 02.11.2017.

In the event that the information you have requested is to be disclosed, it will be sent to you no later than 01.12.2017. If we cannot respond by that date then we will write to you again.

Yours sincerely

Jo-Anne Parker
Customer Relations Support Officer
South Gloucestershire Council
Chief Executive & Corporate Resources Department
Finance & Customer Services
 
Telephone: 01454 86 6208
Email: [email address]
Post: South Gloucestershire Council, Chief Executive & Corporate Resources, Customer Relations, PO Box 1953, Bristol, BS37 0DB

My working days are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Revs Bens FOI, South Gloucestershire Council

1 Attachment

Dear Gwyn Worth

Please find attached a response to your recent Freedom of Information request

Yours sincerely

Alexandra Di-Duca
Policy and Compliance Manager
Revenues and Benefit Service
South Gloucestershire Council

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Dear Revs Bens FOI,

Thank you for stating that unmatched payments (within a tolerance of 99p) will be allocated to the oldest debt.

Would you please confirm whether or not any measures are in place (other than relying on the the council tax payer to make contact) to check that allocating an unmatched payment to the oldest debt in these circumstances would have the consequences of putting the current year's liability also in arrears, and if so, in accordance with R. v Miskin Lower Justices [1953] 1 Q.B. 533, whether the payment would be moved in respect of the current year's account to avoid unnecessary recovery action, additional costs etc.?

Yours sincerely,

Gwyn Worth

Revs Bens FOI, South Gloucestershire Council

Dear Mr Worth

Thank you for your e-mail

If it was found that a payment had been allocated to the oldest debt outstanding because it was not immediately obvious the payment was intended for another year where recovery action had recently occurred, upon review of the account the incorrect payment would be reallocated accordingly and the recovery action cancelled.

Kind Regards

Alexandra Di-Duca
Policy and Compliance Manager
Revenues and Benefit Service
South Gloucestershire Council

Dear Revs Bens FOI,

I consider South Gloucestershire Council has provided the information I requested. The purpose of this exercise was to ascertain whether or not the principles surrounding the appropriation of payments were being adhered to.

R v Miskin Lower Justices (1953)

It was held in R v Miskin Lower Justices, that where an amount obviously relates to a specific liability, it would be an unwarranted assumption to allocate the payment elsewhere.

If no instruction is given at the time of payment, then the council has a duty to allocate payment to the account which it is most beneficial to the debtor to reduce. That would be in the majority of cases the current liability if the consequences of allocating payment to the arrears meant that the customer was subject to unnecessary recovery action, additional costs etc.

I understand by the council's response (see *note*) that there are measures in place to ensure that unspecified payments are allocated to the account which it is least burdensome for the debtor, and consequently the laws surrounding the appropriation of payments are being complied with. This effectively means that an unmatched payment allocated to the oldest debt (having the consequences of putting the current year's liability also in arrears) would be reallocated to the current year's liability on account of the circumstances implying that this was the debtor's intention (least burdensome for the debtor). If it appears I have misunderstood anything by what I have stated I would appreciate if you would correct me.

*Note*: "....upon review of the account the incorrect payment would be reallocated accordingly and the recovery action cancelled."

Yours sincerely,

Gwyn Worth