WARNING - MANILVA COUNCIL INTEREST CHARGE SCAM

In 2008 I set up a direct debit to pay the rate rates.  You do this by taking the bill, your bank details and NIE number to the council office in Manilva.

I know that the direct debit  was successfully set up as these two banking transactions below confirm.

But since then they stopped debiting me and I did not notice and have never had any bills - until this week i collected a reminder in the post.   Lots of other people seem to have then reminders too.

Now they want an interest and costs for over 200 Euros.  So I went to the council office in Manilva and they just claim no direct debit was ever created.  So I showed them my bank statements and they just shrug their shoulders and say "no record of direct debit here."  

Can anyone please suggest to whom I should write in the council to get my rates account credited for the interest and costs?

 Pete,

I have sent you a private message, I go back to the UK tomorrow so we can speak on the phone if you email me, but the question is when did you acquire the property?

You will have to pay in arrears in August for each year you have had the property.

Where are the 2009, 2010 bills? If you do not receive one you go to the office to get copies and pay admin and interest if you pay late.

Its not a scam because the onus is on you to pay whether you receive a bill or not.

If you have a DD set up it should work each year, did you bank account number change? If it did the DD may have benn rejected.

 Jeff,

Bills sent by the council never reached me. I'm only here every 4 months or so.  It seems uncollected post (not collected within two months) is thrown away (by AEA?).   It would help if AEA did not throw it away but I guess for some properties it would become a mountain of post.

Banco Popular did change my bank account number (due to a bank merger) but I have direct debits for electricity, community fees and water.  None of these other  DD's were affected by the account number change but it could be because these are all more frequently than yearly.

Very frustrasting to have set up DDs for everything and then to find council sting me for costs and interest for 200+ euros and the first I know about it is a third reminder for the 2009 bill.

Interestingly I saw lots of these 3rd reminders in the post room for other people.  Example,  for a neighbour (owner) who tried to sell and is now gone.   There is, I think, a time bomb ticking here that is yet to explode through the property market.

I have paid bill (collected from council) at the bank.  Tomorrow I will go bank to council to get the DD set up AGAIN and start the quest to see if I get the interest and charges credited.   All part of the fun of living in Spain and only getting about 1/10 of the post one should get.

 Jeff,

I guess you fly back to  the South of England?  Good luck with the journey home.  We fly Thursday to Bristol.

Pete