Ensuring customers are not subject to unnecessary recovery action, additional costs or hardship
Dear Ipswich Borough 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 Ipswich Council have its computer software set to deal with non specific payments. Current or oldest year's liability?
Yours faithfully,
Gwyn Worth
Dear Ms Worth,
Thank you for your recent request for information about the following
matter: Council tax - computer payments system.
Your request was received on 23 Oct 2017 and we are dealing with it under
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The Information Officer
Ipswich Borough Council
Grafton House
15-17 Russell Road
Ipswich
IP1 2DE
Dear Ms Worth,
I am writing to confirm that the Council has now completed its search for
the information which you requested on 23 Oct 2017 about Council tax -
computer payments system.
The information supplied has been provided by the department responsible
for the service delivery.
In response to your request, we have a complex algorithm set up to
allocate payments, which to put it at its simplest allocates payments as
follows:
1. If the payment matches an instalment due for the current year it is
allocated to the current year; if not
2. If the payment matches a Special Arrangement instalment agreed to
clear a prior year debt it is allocated to that debt; if not
3. The payment is allocated to the oldest debt.
The Council is always ready to re-allocate a mis-applied payment.
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your
own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for
the purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for example commercial
publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder.
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remember to quote the reference number FOIX311494 in any future
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you should write to the Monitoring Officer, Grafton House, 15-17 Russell
Road, Ipswich IP1 2DE.
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directly to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for a decision.
Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
complaints procedure provided by the Council.
Kind regards,
The Information Officer
[Ipswich Borough Council request email]
Ipswich Borough Council
Grafton House
15-17 Russell Road
Ipswich
IP1 2DE
Dear [email address],
Thank you for stating that the Council allocates unmatched payments to the oldest liability.
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 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
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*** AUTOMATED EMAIL: This email address is unable to take replies ***
On 30 Oct 2017, [FOI #439961 email], wrote...
Dear [email address], Thank you for stating that the
Council allocates unmatched payments to the oldest liability. 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 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 -----Original Message----- Dear Ms
Worth, I am writing to confirm that the Council has now completed its
search for the information which you requested on 23 Oct 2017 about
Council tax - computer payments system. The information supplied has been
provided by the department responsible for the service delivery. In
response to your request, we have a complex algorithm set up to allocate
payments, which to put it at its simplest allocates payments as follows:
1. If the payment matches an instalment due for the current year it is
allocated to the current year; if not 2. If the payment matches a Special
Arrangement instalment agreed to clear a prior year debt it is allocated
to that debt; if not 3. The payment is allocated to the oldest debt. The
Council is always ready to re-allocate a mis-applied payment. The
information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own
purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the
purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for example commercial
publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder. If you
have any queries about this email, please contact me. Please remember to
quote the reference number FOIX311494 in any future communications. If you
are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request
and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision, you
should write to the Monitoring Officer, Grafton House, 15-17 Russell Road,
Ipswich IP1 2DE. If you are not content with the outcome of your
complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner's Office
(ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you
have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Council. Kind
regards, The Information Officer [Ipswich Borough Council request email]
Ipswich Borough Council Grafton House 15-17 Russell Road Ipswich IP1 2DE
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Dear Gwyn Worth,
The Council believes the reply you have already received answers this
point.
The Council does not accept your interpretation of the case law you quote
and stands by its original reply to you.
I would also reiterate that the Council will generally reallocate any
payment upon request.
John Booty
Performance & Relationship Manager
Shared Revenues Partnership - providing Revenues & Benefits Services to
Babergh, Ipswich and Mid Suffolk
From 10^th October to 8^th November 2017, Ipswich Borough Council is
consulting on a new Council Tax Reduction Scheme – for more details about
the scheme and the chance to take part in the survey, please go to
[1]www.ipswich.gov.uk/CTRS-survey
( 01473 432651 or 07342 075921 – Monday to Thursday
+ Shared Revenues Partnership
Ipswich Borough Council
Grafton House, 15/17 Russell Road
Ipswich, IP1 2DE
ü Before printing this e-mail, ask yourself whether you need a hard copy
On 30 Oct 2017, [2][FOI #439961 email], wrote...
Dear [3][email address], Thank you for stating that the
Council allocates unmatched payments to the oldest liability. 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 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
References
Visible links
1. https://www.ipswich.gov.uk/CTRS-survey
2. mailto:[FOI #439961 email]
3. mailto:[email address]
Dear John Booty,
Thank you for your response. I consider Ipswich Borough 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 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 from the council's reply that there are no measures in place to ensure that unspecified payments are allocated to the account which it is least burdensome for the debtor (except relying on customer contact) that the laws surrounding the appropriation of payments are not being complied with. If the laws of appropriation were being 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
Hi
As already advised, we do have systems in place so that payments received via Attachment of Earnings, Attachment of Benefits or Enforcement Agents are allocated to those specific debts. Problems arise where payments are received direct from the Chargepayer which do not match any specific instalment and there are arrears as well as a current charge. As already advised, those payments are allocated to the oldest debt unless the Chargepayer indicates otherwise.
It would appear that you want unspecified payments to go to the current liability rather than the arrears. If that were adopted you can then have older debts going to Enforcement Agents or for committal proceedings causing the Chargepayer even more problems and to the Council being open to criticism. Our Court Officer can recall some while back that he was questioned by the Magistrates as to why we didn't allocate the payments quite clearly being made for the current year to an older debt to prevent committal proceedings.
We are satisfied that we are acting in accordance with the attached.
John Booty
Performance & Relationship Manager
Shared Revenues Partnership - providing Revenues & Benefits Services to Babergh, Ipswich and Mid Suffolk
From 10th October to 8th November 2017, Ipswich Borough Council is consulting on a new Council Tax Reduction Scheme – for more details about the scheme and the chance to take part in the survey, please go to www.ipswich.gov.uk/CTRS-survey
/ 01473 432651 or 07342 075921 – Monday to Thursday
0 Shared Revenues Partnership
Ipswich Borough Council
Grafton House, 15/17 Russell Road
Ipswich, IP1 2DE
Before printing this e-mail, ask yourself whether you need a hard copy
Dear John Booty,
Thank you for you response and attachment.
Re; "It would appear that you want unspecified payments to go to the current liability rather than the arrears. If that were adopted you can then have older debts going to Enforcement Agents or for committal proceedings causing the Chargepayer even more problems and to the Council being open to criticism.
Not necessarily; not if there were measures in place to check payment allocating and move payments to the current year's account to avoid unnecessary recovery action etc.
Re; "Our Court Officer can recall some while back that he was questioned by the Magistrates as to why we didn't allocate the payments quite clearly being made for the current year to an older debt to prevent committal proceedings"
What is more crucial is that 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. Although in the the majority of cases that would be to the current liability, in a minority of cases, for example where a customer would potentially be liable to committal proceedings, then the council's duty would be to allocate payment to the arrears. But I would hope that the instances of the Council instituting committal proceedings were the exception rather than the rule and such accounts would be closely monitored.
In any event, the document you have attached supports this (appropriation of payments).
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/4...
See quoted that which refers to R v Miskin Lower Justices (emphasised):
"It follows that it is not essential for there to be a specific expression by the debtor as to which account is to be credited. The intention may be gathered from other circumstances or IMPLIED BY THE DEBTOR'S LIABILITY that it would be an unwarranted assumption to allocate it elsewhere (R v Miskin Lower Justices (1953) 1 QB 533). "
Hence, 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 require reallocating to the current year's liability. The circumstances would imply that this was the debtor's intention as it would be least burdensome for him and would be an unwarranted assumption to do differently.
Yours sincerely,
Gwyn Worth
Hi
We remain happy with our procedures, and have had no complaints or issues.
I think we must agree to differ as we do not propose arguing this point any further.
John Booty
Performance & Relationship Manager
Shared Revenues Partnership - providing Revenues & Benefits Services to Babergh, Ipswich and Mid Suffolk
From Monday 30 October to 27 November 2017, Babergh & Mid Suffolk District Councils are consulting on new Council Tax Reduction Schemes – for more details about the scheme and the chance to take part in the survey, please go to www.babergh.gov.uk/council-tax/council-t...
/ 01473 432651 or 07342 075921 – Monday to Thursday
0 Shared Revenues Partnership
Ipswich Borough Council
Grafton House, 15/17 Russell Road
Ipswich, IP1 2DE
Before printing this e-mail, ask yourself whether you need a hard copy
Gwyn Worth left an annotation ()
Interestingly the below FOI request asking for details of the book from which a page was provided in this request can not be identified.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/l...
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Gwyn Worth left an annotation ()
Most relevant contents of attachment in above response:
LOCAL AUTHORITY REVENUES
PAYMENTS–APPROPRIATION
Where several accounts are payable to the local authority by one debtor, the debtor may, when making a payment which is insufficient to discharge all the debts, appropriate the money paid to a particular debt or debts and if the payment is accepted as so appropriated it must be applied in the manner directed by the debtor.
It may be, as frequently happens, that payments are received without any indication of appropriations by the debtor and in these cases the creditor may apply the payments as he best thinks fit (Peter v Anderson (1814) 5 TAUNT 596). The allocation will eventually have to be communicated to the debtor but this is frequently done at the time of payment in the form of the receipt.
The debtor has first choice but his right to appropriate must take the form of a communication of his intention. This communication may be express or implied but should be clear enough for the creditor to know that his own right of appropriation cannot arise (Stepney Corporation v Osofsky (1937) 3 All ER 289). It follows that it is not essential for there to be a specific expression by the debtor as to which account is to be credited. The intention may be gathered from other circumstances or implied by the debtor's liability that it would be an unwarranted assumption to allocate it elsewhere (R v Miskin Lower Justices (1953) 1 QB 533).
Once an election is made by the creditor and communicated to the debtor, it is irrevocable (Albermarle Supply Co Ltd v Hind and Co (1928) KB 307).