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If you or or your parents don't feel able to properly take this on then it might be worth getting one of their elected Councillors on board. They can do a very good job of holding council officers to account and I know from experience that, when a Councillor starts asking questions, council departments do tend to sharpen things up a bit.
Even if you sort this yourself, might be worth raising it with a Councillor as it could be the case that the council are taking this approach with a lot of residents, some of whom won't be able to fight it.
Newly elected Reform councillors in charge by any chance?
Seems scammy to me. Especially the threat of bailiffs. Bailiffs are appointed by the courts and not summoned by council jobsworths.
The OP didn't mention bailiffs.
debt collectors != bailiffs
debt collectors != bailiffs
I mean, technically you're right, but in common speak I think that's splitting hairs a little...
Speak to the council via the medium of a formal complaint so they have to deal with it correctly.
Phonecalls and conversations have a habit of not being documented or 'forgotten'.
I think that's bad advice! Yes the complaints department will make sure there is a response in a set time and document the response - but in my experience a "formal" approach is likely to make them more entrenched, and as you actually have nothing to complain about other than perhaps the tone of the letter the council, if they believe they are correct, will not change its position.
You can have a phone call and take notes, then send a copy of those notes to the council. If it's a scam (and as presented by the OP it does sound like it) then you'll probably know quicker with a phone call. If it's real, people are more likely to be frank on the phone than in a response which goes through the scrutiny of a complaints official (who removes certain words/phrases).
Moreover, once you get nowhere with the complaint, your next stage is presumably the ombudsman, which will take months. IF your phonecalls get nowhere, or commitments to send photos etc don't materialise, THEN you have grounds for a complaint. Right now, you'll just get laughed at (internally) and then an unhelpful formal response just before the time limit expires.
debt collectors != bailiffs
I mean, technically you're right, but in common speak I think that's splitting hairs a little...
No he's 100% right. The council raise invoices all the time which when unpaid they can, and will, pass to debt collection agencies without going to court. The vast majority of unpaid debts never go near a court.
No he's 100% right. The council raise invoices all the time which when unpaid they can, and will, pass to debt collection agencies without going to court. The vast majority of unpaid debts never go near a court.
Absolutely, but in day-to-day speak people commonly use the terms interchangeably (or is that just me).
" It's also a busy used for parking due to nearby schools and train stations so anyone could have driven their car / SUV / delivery van onto the pavement and damaged the pavement."
Its their property, (the councils), so surely the burden of proof of WHO damaged it is theirs. I dont see how they have a leg to stand on, unless they have a video of the slabs acutally being damaged, and your parents are visible as the culprits.
Did your parents ring the number on the letter or get the councils number from somewhere else (off the website)? I would certainly do some more digging, but even if it is real i would be telling them to get in the sea, this seems positively predatory.
Probably go and read the context of the posts you were replying to again - starting with Oceanskippers.No he's 100% right. The council raise invoices all the time which when unpaid they can, and will, pass to debt collection agencies without going to court. The vast majority of unpaid debts never go near a court.
Absolutely, but in day-to-day speak people commonly use the terms interchangeably (or is that just me).
Probably go and read the context of the posts you were replying to again - starting with Oceanskippers.
Thanks. I'd somehow missed a few posts. Either the forum's glitching, or I am, probably the latter 🙂
Thank you folks for the feedback and help, I really appreciate it.
I'm going round my parents house tonight to have a look at the letter the council have sent and check what what phone number my mum rang to make sure it really is from the council.
If it all looks legit my next steps are:
- Ask for the photos of the damaged paving slabs (if not already in the letter).
- Compare council photos with family photos taken outside of the house and google street view. Hopefully these photos help to prove damage was there before.
- If family photos are no help then, we will push back on the council to provide evidence the damage was caused by my parents (or sub contractors) as it could easily have been done by any other member of the public.
- I will also take photos of the road to show the whole road is generally in bad shape and in similar condition to outside my parents house indicating its just natural wear and tear on the pavement.
- In addition to the above find out who the local councillor is and get in touch with them to see if they can make the council see sense and behave better.
Does that all sound correct anything I've missed?
Sounds sensible to me. Hope you make progress.
Does that all sound correct anything I've missed?
It's reasonable, but it seems like you are doing a lot of work, at most it would seem to be the contractor's liabilty. I'll again suggest that your parents may have legal cover in their home insurance. I'm not fan of those types of policy but its the sort of thing older people do add without thinking - and I'd bet a letter from a lawyer sees some back peddling, unless there's something we don't know.
Oh, and while we're at it....
When YOUR contractor's truck was travelling TO the property that you own (passing over land for which you have no responsibility for) they also... [add heinous crime as required] and YOUR liable (for their actions) - pay up.
All seems very odd for a council to br behaving like this.
Any progress on this?