RESIDENTS across the district have seen Council Tax payments taken early from their accounts due to an error by Wealden District Council.
A total of 17,594 households and 324 business rates customers have been affected, as payments due on the 1st of the month were taken on 27th December instead.
Residents have been taking to social media to warn others of the early payments being taken from bank accounts, which have put some overdrawn, according to posts on Facebook.
Hailsham News has seen an email sent to Wealden Councillors by co-leader Rachel Millward after residents discovered the early payments.
The email stated: “At Bank Holidays, the next available working day is defaulted and needs to be manually changed. This was not changed by the person uploading the BACS file on this occasion which has created this error.
Our staff worked with our Bank and BACS to try and stop the collection, but on the afternoon of the 24th, they confirmed they were unable to do so. Clearly, the worst possible timing. Our bank and BACS issued a service alert to all banks to advise that we have had an error so that the customer banks are all aware and can assist the customer where possible.”
Mlllward confirmed any residents who have been hit with bank fees because of the error, will be refunded by Wealden District Council.
Wealden’s Contact Centre and Revenues Teams are being ‘staffed up’ to handle the anticipated high call volumes on Jan 2nd when phone lines re-open and advisors will be able to talk residents through the options on refunds, payments and next steps, according to the email.
The email concluded: “The Revenues teams apologise profusely for the inconvenience and concern to our residents at what is often an already stressful time. A comprehensive post-mortem will be conducted in January to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Councillor Michael Lunn, Conservative member for Hadlow Down and Rotherfield contacted Rachel Millward after residents discovered the mistake, asking for answers. Mr Lunn said: “One of the most basic responsibilities of a District Council is to collect Council Tax & Business rates. This has had a significant impact on our residents during the most financially demanding time of the year for working families, small local firms, those on benefits, or hard-up pensioners still reeling from the withdrawal of winter fuel payments.
We discovered that the council knew about the problem, but had no contingency for effectively communicating with residents through existing available channels. There will have been an economic impact on those without arranged overdraft facilities. A full and independent enquiry is needed with a report brought to the next Audit, Finance & Governance Committee.”
