Actually, whilst we're on the subject...
...of saving money, I thought I'd ask the advice of the group. You see, I'm currently being fleeced by the local council for "unpaid" council tax, which is only unpaid because they cocked up with our direct debits (which they've cleared recognised, even if they won't admit it, because usually an unpaid month gets an immediate threat of magistates' court, whereas this time they're sending us chase letters), so I have decided to fleece them back.

I would like to claim every single last council service that I am entitled to under British law, whether I actually need it or not, so that I'm costing them as much of the ridiculously overblown tax bill they swindle me for each month as possible. This is to be my form of protest -- one which, if successful, I shall publicise as much as possible and encourage others to take up -- and one which I can't actually be put in jail for (unlike that poor heroic woman who refused to pay her tax and went on hunger strike), because everything I'll be claiming *I'll be entitled to*.

So, my request is this: I'd rather not tip anyone official off to what I'm doing, and I'm aware that a number of you fine people work for, have worked for, or have had legal dealings with English councils, so I need suggestions of how I'm going to fleece the buggers in kind. I'm a single (engaged)twenty-eight year old male co-habiting with a woman (my finacee) of the same age in a first-floor flat that we own together. We have a small rear garden (not connected to the property) and a parking space, but no car and no front-garden. Any ideas? Remember, it's important that I do *nothing* illegal...
(Orin delurked to post this gibberish on, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 19:05, 16 replies)

Here's a novel idea...
why don't you stop whining and pay the bloody bill?
( Wicca'd Witch needs ideas for a new sig on..., Mon 27 Oct 2008, 19:19, closed)

Lisa
He tried, they cocked up.
( jim_bob can herd cats., Mon 27 Oct 2008, 19:27, closed)

Hmm.
I'm in two minds about this.

Yes, they cocked up the direct debit... but surely he was advised how much was owed? Surely the bill was correct?

If not, then there is a cause for complaint, and a lot of people would be complaining.

If the bill was correct, but just the direct debit was incorrect... well, the OP has had a period of grace. Extra interest earned on the cash in his account etc. I fail to see what the problem is there.

Sure, its inconvenient, and some of the proceeds of the taxes are questionable as well, but this was an expense which was known about in advance and the council even gave him extra time by the sounds of things.

For what its worth, I would suggest NOT fleecing the council, as much as you think it may be worth it. In the long run, the more people which do that result in higher council taxes. If council expenses simply covered the vital, such as fostering, childcare, schooling, road upkeep etc, tax would be that much lower.
(Captain Skippy pooed in a bag and left it on your doorstep, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 19:34, closed)

This^
Also, if you do genuinely have a problem with your council, or they have made an error, phone them and talk to them. I've missed payments before, got myself into debt to them, and they've also been nothing but helpful when I've phoned up and explained myself.

If you speak to an unhelpful person, try phoning back later on; chances are, you'll get to speak to someone else who may be more helpful.
( LemonEntryMyDearWatson This time, Moriarty, the hand is on the other foot, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 19:44, closed)

Well......
you can make sure they send all correspondence in English but with a copy fully translated into Swahili for your girlfriend. Or is it Polynesian? Who knows, you can't understand a word she fucking says! Best send translations into both please. NOW. Oh, and a copy in Pashto for your legal advisor, one in Hebrew etc etc.
(Rsoles, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 19:23, closed)

Well,
I'd rather not advise you of ways to divert funds from public spending to aid you in your "protest".

While you might feel big and clever asking for letters in a redundant South East Asian language, it's not hurting anybody but the taxpayer.

If you've got an issue with your council, raise it with a councillor, and get it sorted out.
( Thinker, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 19:28, closed)

Whilst you're being lectured for costing the taxpayer
(... Have you seen the benefits bills for South Wales per capita?)

I'm all for seeing you can get. Having worked for central government, I can honestly say I was disgusted at the sheer waste of money. Not so much from exorbitant spending, more the general lethargy and process-obsession that led to total inefficiency.. rant over.

I just wish I could give you some proper advice. I say claim benefits for depression and rinse the NHS. Someone I knew from home and ended up with a free tit job...
( elgordo, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 19:51, closed)

What exactly do you think
you might be entitled too? Presumably your rubbish gets collected, your roads get repaired as well as any others, if you were to have kids they would be entitled to attend the state schools in your area.

You must have known what council tax you should have been paying since you set up a direct debit, if you didn't notice it wasn't being taken out then you're clearly not that aware of your finances. Maybe you should stop whining and just get on with your life.
(Bazongaloid, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 20:37, closed)

Part of your council tax bill
funds the Fire Service, Police and Ambulance - so set fire to your flat throw yourself on the flames and then call 999 and admit to arson - job's a goodun*

*May contain traces of sarcasm
(thereisnopoons until, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 21:32, closed)

well thanks for the understanding...
it's nice to see that a forum so famed for its tolerance has rushed to judge me with very few asking me any specific
s.

For the record, I *have* paid, I *always* pay and these services that everyone is so keen to shove in my face (like rubbish collection and the police) show up once in a blue moon.

on the other hand, maybe there is a point here... you see, my first thought was to collect as much evidence as possible as to the amount of money wasted by my council and councillors, and to post it here to support my point. now I think I'll present it, along with my own personal grievances, to my local councillorsand protest the old fashioned way.
the direct debit, by the way, was taken twice, failing the second time but still registering as a missed payment. I don't actually owe them a penny. maybe my original post wasn't clear enough, but thanks for leaping to conclusions anyway.
(Orin delurked to post this gibberish on, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 23:03, closed)

Okay, apologies.
For what it's worth, I would like to apologise for both rants -- both the original post and the badly-punctuated diatribe that followed it.

Short version: I recieved some bad news recently, and have been drinking since I got home. This latest round of combat with the council over an error that wasn't mine the in the first place was the straw that broke the camel's back, so I got angry and drunkenly/childishly lashed out. If I had been sober, and/or stopped to think, I wouldn't have contemplated the hare-brained scheme in the first place. Still, this is what you get for posting angry.

Why do I bother to tell you all this in the first place? Well, first of all because I have now been quite sick and as a result am now thinking more clearly, and realise what i plank I must have sounded. I also think it would be in very poor form simply to delete the original post, because whilst I am perhaps a little embarassed I'm certainly not so small-minded that I can't admit when I'm wrong.

Even so, I still plan to complain directly to the authorities (yet again) and try once more to sort things out. This is not the first time that I've had to battle the council over of their own mistakes, but like a fool I haven't ever documented the problems until now. That is all going to change, however. Maybe I will have to give myself another headache getting them to admit their error yet again, and maybe it will take another few weeks or months to resolve, but from today I'm now putting everything in writing and recording every telephone call via Skype. Once my immediate an personal issues are resolved I'll make a formal complaint to my coucillors in writing. It'll likely get me nowhere, but at least I can make the effort and have a legal record that I have.

It may have been expressed in an entirely harsh and judgemental fashion, but maybe the message is quite correct... it's time to stop acting like a victim and take charge of myself. How fitting that the weapon of choice should be the very one that the council so often hides behind: beaurocracy and red tape.
(Orin delurked to post this gibberish on, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 23:56, closed)

If it makes you feel any better...
I empathise. I know you don't want to waste other taxpayers' money. Councils respond to any debts much more aggressively than private companies, and they always seem to like to send out court summons if an error has occurred that has prevented payment, or if there has been a misunderstanding regarding how long you've lived in the property etc.

Considering that local government is supposed to serve and look after the people, I think their heavy-handed response is pretty inappropriate, especially when bureaucratic errors seem to be much more frequent than deliberate attempts at evasion...can't be very nice for vulnerable members of society to be on the receiving end of it.
(Ovaltina, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 1:19, closed)

Join the library
It's worth it.
(The Archduke of South London I'm in your Girlfriend eating her organs, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 10:05, closed)

Cultivate a drug habit
Alcholol's a nice legal one. Drink drive and crash your car into a fence, wait for police and loose your licence. Loose your job, girlfriend and get kicked out of your flat. Turn to prostitution and contract aids. Die a slow lingering death through liver failure in hospital.

That'll serve the buggers right for fat fingering in your details on whatever cheap and chatty rev and bens system they bought from a mate in the pub.
( buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 10:26, closed)

I'm
not entirely sure how one would loose their job. I don't know anyone that wears their job, or their licence come to the think of it.

However, if you have any dealings with councils you will know that they waste money like it was nothing to them, yet at the same time chasing you for debts that don't exist.

My ex was chased by the council for unpaid council tax. She duly phoned and informed them that she had paid, and had receipts to prove it.

More threatening letters. More phone calls and letters with copies of receipts.

Eventually she had to go to court, where of course it was all thrown out due to the evidence she provided.

Couple that with the fact that our street hadn't had it's bins collected for over 3 months and the zealous enforcing of double yellow lines outside our house where you can barely even see the yellow paint in the road any more (nice little trick to catch people who don't live there), and you have the recipe for doing exactly as the OP stated.
(dchurch bah, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 11:28, closed)

Hah!
"I don't know anyone that wears their job, or their licence come to the think of it."

Excellent :)
(EuroSong I love horse meat: best of all the animals, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 14:13, closed)