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Preston residents who incurred bank charges as a result of council tax being taken from their accounts earlier than it should have been will not be left out of pocket, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands.
It comes after the monthly direct debit payments due to be made to the authority on 1st October were wrongly handed over a day earlier.
Anybody who noticed the error when it occurred on Monday (30 September) and followed council advice to alert their bank that day would have had the instalment immediately reimbursed. In that scenario, they will likely have avoided any overdraft fees, even if the premature payment briefly tipped them into the red.
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However, those who only spotted the error subsequently were advised by the authority to submit what is known as a ‘direct debit indemnity claim’ with their bank in order to have the money returned within 24 hours.
But the LDRS has been told that only the council tax instalment itself will be reimbursed via that process – not any charges levied for going overdrawn. It also means the October council tax bill is still owed by those who lodged an indemnity claim.
The city council says anybody who has been financially disadvantaged as a result of the error should get in touch with the authority directly.
In a statement to the LDRS, a spokesperson said: “We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. If money has been taken from your account, you will need to submit a direct debit indemnity claim with your bank and you will usually receive the money back within 24 hours.
“If you are experiencing any further issues, please raise your concerns through our online compliments and complaints form, where we are on hand to help.”
Anybody who filed an indemnity claim – and so had their October council tax credited back to their account – should get in touch with the city council to arrange to make a one-off standalone payment for the month.
Alternatively, the authority will seek to recoup any outstanding council tax at the end of the financial year next spring.
Direct debit arrangements will, in any case, continue as normal in November.
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