Confusing council tax bills are leaving thousands of consumers in debt report warns
Many low income families are in debt to councils for unpaid water and sewerage bills according to a new report from Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS).
The Sink or Swim report outlines how hundreds of thousands of Scottish consumers are in debt because local authority billing processes are confusing and difficult to understand.
People on low incomes who are exempt from council tax are unaware that they remain liable for water and sewerage charges.
This lack of awareness leads to non-payment and significant debt and hardship particularly in areas where the council pursues the debt aggressively.
Some people are seeing deductions being made direct from their benefits - often without notice
CAS consumer spokesperson Sarah Beattie-Smith said: “Because councils send out water and sewerage bills along with council tax bills, many people don’t realise the charges are separate. The legalistic language used on the bills also doesn’t help.
“As a result, some of those who are exempt from council tax believe they are exempt from water charges as well, which is not the case. They therefore fail to pay the water bill, and over time they build up arrears, which – like any other debt - they then find difficult to pay. We have seen clients who have run up debts totalling thousands of pounds.
“This is a problem that can be fixed. We are keen to work with the Scottish Government, local authorities and Scottish Water to explore ways to help those on low income to pay their water and sewerage charges, and to avoid falling into debt.
The charity says billing should be clearer so that people don’t fall into the trap in the first place.
Where people have debts for water and sewerage charges, the debt recovery practice should take into account the consumer’s ability to pay, and should support those on low income to recover from the debt, CAS said.
Beattie-Smith continued: “Our research has found that some people are seeing deductions being made direct from their benefits - often without notice.
“It’s not enough to claim that taking direct deductions from benefits automatically helps a person to budget.
“More needs to be done by councils to find out what a person can actually afford to pay.”
