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

The request was successful.

Dear Richmondshire District Council,

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

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 Richmondshire District Council have its computer software set to deal with non specific payments. Current or oldest year's liability?

Yours faithfully,

Gwyn Worth

Cantrell, Sheila, Richmondshire District Council

4 Attachments

RDC FOI Ref: 5119 – NNDR Info   

Dear Ms Worth

Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Information Request

I acknowledge your request for information received on 06 October 2017.

Your request is being considered and you will receive the information
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Yours sincerely

 

 

Sheila Cantrell

 

 

 

 

Sheila Cantrell
Business Support Team Leader
Richmondshire District Council
t: 01748 900931
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Cantrell, Sheila, Richmondshire District Council

4 Attachments

RDC FOI Ref: 5119 – NNDR Info 

 

Dear Ms Worth

 

Freedom of Information Act 2000 – Information Request

 

Your request for information has now been considered and the information
requested is below.

 

Information Disclosed

-------------------------------------------------------

 

RDC allocates non-specific payment to the oldest debt.

 

Dear Cantrell, Sheila,

Thank you for stating that 'RDC allocates non-specific payment to the oldest debt'.

Would you please confirm whether or not any measures are in place to check that allocating an unmatched payment to the oldest debt in these circumstances would put the current year's liability also in arrears, and if so 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

GEN - FOI/DP Information Request, Richmondshire District Council

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Worth

 

We produce daily cash sheets that display non-specified payments and
unallocated cash. These are investigated on an individual case by case
bases and reallocated where appropriate.

 

Should a taxpayer subsequently contact us, or additional information comes
to light, this will be changed so that the payment is allocated to the
intended debt.

 

 

 

request information

Richmondshire District Council
e: [email address]
w: [1]www.richmondshire.gov.uk

[2]Link to Facebook[3]Link to Twitter

The information contained in this email is confidential. It is intended
only for the stated addressee(s)  and access to it by any other person is
unauthorised. If you are not an addressee, you must not disclose, copy,
circulate or in any other way use or rely on the information contained in
this email. Such unauthorised use may be unlawful. If you have received
this email in error, please inform the sender immediately and delete it
and all copies from your system. Any views or opinions expressed are
solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of Richmondshire District Council.

All e-mail traffic may be subject to monitoring/recording in accordance
with relevant legislation.

Richmondshire District Council, Mercury House, Station Road, Richmond,
North Yorkshire, DL10 4JX.

From: Gwyn Worth [mailto:[FOI #436741 email]]
Sent: 10 October 2017 15:37
To: Cantrell, Sheila <[email address]>
Subject: Re: RDC FOI Ref: 5119 – NNDR Info

 

< WARNING: This e-mail originated from outside the Richmondshire District
Council corporate network >

Dear Cantrell, Sheila,

Thank you for stating that 'RDC allocates non-specific payment to the
oldest debt'.

Would you please confirm whether or not any measures are in place to check
that allocating an unmatched payment to the oldest debt in these
circumstances would put the current year's liability also in arrears, and
if so 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

Dear GEN - FOI/DP Information Request,

My apologies for being persistent.

Can you please confirm whether it would be considered "appropriate" to reallocated a non-specified payment to the current year's liability (in accordance with R. v Miskin Lower Justices [1953] 1 Q.B. 533) if not doing so would have the consequences of putting the current year's liability in arrears as well?

Yours sincerely,

Gwyn Worth

GEN - FOI/DP Information Request, Richmondshire District Council

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Worth

 

I am sorry but your question, in our view, is asking for an ‘opinion’
which is therefore not a valid FOI request. 

 

 

 

request information

Richmondshire District Council
e: [email address]
w: [1]www.richmondshire.gov.uk

[2]Link to Facebook[3]Link to Twitter

The information contained in this email is confidential. It is intended
only for the stated addressee(s)  and access to it by any other person is
unauthorised. If you are not an addressee, you must not disclose, copy,
circulate or in any other way use or rely on the information contained in
this email. Such unauthorised use may be unlawful. If you have received
this email in error, please inform the sender immediately and delete it
and all copies from your system. Any views or opinions expressed are
solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of Richmondshire District Council.

All e-mail traffic may be subject to monitoring/recording in accordance
with relevant legislation.

Richmondshire District Council, Mercury House, Station Road, Richmond,
North Yorkshire, DL10 4JX.

From: Gwyn Worth [mailto:[FOI #436741 email]]
Sent: 12 October 2017 17:21
To: GEN - FOI/DP Information Request
<[email address]>
Subject: RE: RDC FOI Ref: 5119 – NNDR Info

 

< WARNING: This e-mail originated from outside the Richmondshire District
Council corporate network >

Dear GEN - FOI/DP Information Request,

My apologies for being persistent.

Can you please confirm whether it would be considered "appropriate" to
reallocated a non-specified payment to the current year's liability (in
accordance with R. v Miskin Lower Justices [1953] 1 Q.B. 533) if not doing
so would have the consequences of putting the current year's liability in
arrears as well?

Yours sincerely,

Gwyn Worth

Dear GEN - FOI/DP Information Request,

I assume from Richmondshire District Council's response that customers being subject to unnecessary recovery action, additional costs etc. would not be considered an appropriate reason for reallocating non-specified payments to the current year's liability.

The following does not ask for an opinion, however, in the absence of a response I will assume as above.

Can you please confirm whether Richmondshire District Council would reallocate a non-specified payment to the current year's liability (in accordance with R. v Miskin Lower Justices [1953] 1 Q.B. 533) if not doing so would have the consequences of putting the current year's liability in arrears as well?

Yours sincerely,

Gwyn Worth

Dear GEN - FOI/DP Information Request,

I consider Richmondshire District Council has provided the information I requested, however, 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 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 having not confirmed that there are measures in place to ensure that unspecified payments are allocated to the account which it is least burdensome for the debtor that the laws surrounding the appropriation of payments are not being complied with. If the laws of appropriation were to be complied with, 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).

Yours sincerely,

Gwyn Worth