Wealden DC apologises for early collection of January Council Tax and Business Rates

An automated scheduling error meant that direct debits for Council Tax and Business Rates were taken on 27 December rather than on 1 January.

If you are affected by this technical error, please contact your bank and see below for FAQs.

Leader of the council Councillor Rachel Millward, Alliance for Wealden (Green Party), said, “It is deeply upsetting to know that this error will have caused stress and difficulty for some residents over the Christmas period. On behalf of the council I offer my sincere apologies to anyone impacted. We will do all we can to rectify this situation. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with our teams at  localtax@wealden.gov.uk or you can call 01323 443 385.”

Councillor Daniel Manvell, Alliance for Wealden (Labour Party) and lead member for Housing, Benefits and Revenues, said, “Christmas was the worst time of year for a large unexpected payment and I add my profuse apology to all residents who have been affected by this mistake. I am committed to a thorough review of what went wrong and what improved measures can be taken to ensure this cannot happen again. We have already put in place extra measures to support this commitment.”

Can I get a refund? 

If you do choose to process a refund this can take up to 10 working days to process and you may still need to contact us to arrange a payment. You can request a refund through your bank under the Direct Debit Guarantee https://www.directdebit.co.uk/direct-debit-guarantee/

How long does it take for a refund to come through? 

It will depend on your bank, but it could be 10 working days.

Is my January payment still due?

If your Direct Debit was collected in error on 27 December and is not being refunded, then your January Council Tax instalment has been paid.  If you are in doubt, you can call our Council Tax team to check on 01323 443 385.

Can Wealden refund my payment? 

Yes we can, however as with the above, the January payment will still be due and payable.

I cancelled my Direct Debit and the payment didn’t go out of my bank, what do I need to do?

As the payment was not collected / not made, then the January instalment will still be due and payable.  You can contact our Council Tax team through 01323 443 385 or our customer services team on 01323 443322 which can take a payment from you. Alternatively you can make a payment through the following methods:

https://www.wealden.gov.uk/make-a-payment/

https://www.wealden.gov.uk/make-a-payment/other-ways-to-pay/

Will this affect my credit file? 

No, we do not report Council Tax payments to the Credit Bureaus and we informed all banks on 24 December of our error.

I have been charged fees by my bank because of this payment being taken on the wrong day – will you refund me? 

Yes, we will refund any charges incurred because of the Direct Debit being taken early. However, you will need to supply proof of the charges and submit them to localtax@wealden.gov.uk.  Please title the email ‘DD error’ as this will enable us to prioritise your correspondence.

How do I make a payment?

Please use these links:

https://www.wealden.gov.uk/make-a-payment/

https://www.wealden.gov.uk/make-a-payment/other-ways-to-pay/