The Isle of Wight Council has apologised to former Islanders who had more than £1,000 taken out of their bank account by accident.
Richard and Mary Young used to live in Ryde but sold their property and moved off the Island six months ago.
Wrongly charged £1,024
Last month, the couple were looking through their bank statements when they noticed the Isle of Wight council had wrongly charged them £1,024 in council tax for the property they no longer owned nor lived in.
It has taken them more than two weeks to get the money back after delays in being refunded. They said it amounted to stealing.
Mr and Mrs Young said they are both in their 70s and didn’t want the hassle, but were thankful they were in a stable financial position that this could happen to them and not others who might feel the pinch more.
IWC: ‘Learning outcomes’ have been identified
An Isle of Wight council spokesperson has apologised to Mr and Mrs Young and said ‘learning outcomes’ have been identified to prevent a similar situation from happening in the future.
The spokesperson said when the couple told the authority they were moving, it was not clear whether they still owned the property or had sold it.
Land Registry still showed them as owners
The council tax team worked on the basis the house had been sold and started to investigate who the new owner was, but the Land Registry still showed Mr and Mrs Young — which was not the case.
Due to that, the council tax account was reopened, the couple billed and payment was taken, the spokesperson said.
A week’s delay in authorising the refund
When Mr and Mrs Young contacted the council to query the payment and the account was closed on the same day, it was not noticed a ‘due payment’ had not been stopped, they said.
The council said there was also a week’s delay in authorising the refund, but it has now been processed.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
Image: TaxRebate.org.uk under CC BY 2.0
