What’s the worst bill you currently hate to pay?

Poppyred

We live on Anglesey, North Wales. Having received our latest rates bill, one resident published the Council’s staffs earnings which has left me flabbergasted. 4 staff members are on over £100,000 a year! We are a tiny island, absolutely ridiculous!!

Wow, that’s an outrageous salary for council staff on such a tiny island ! What is the population of Anglesey - lovely place to stop off before the ferry to Dublin .. is it the wind farm costs??

I remember my mum (we are going back some time now) complaining about her council tax bills. Yes she had got stuck in a 4 bedroom house and paying for that but she grumbled what do I get for it.

My sister pointed out that she had 4 children gone through free education including free nursery care and free university grants on all 4 from the council. All 4 children had careers serving the public.

What goes around comes around.

We live on Anglesey, North Wales. Having received our latest rates bill, one resident published the Council’s staffs earnings which has left me flabbergasted. 4 staff members are on over £100,000 a year! We are a tiny island, absolutely ridiculous!!

Mine is a bill for gas and electricity for the past five months that will be arriving any day soon. I have being staying in my static caravan on a caravan site while my house is being built and the park owner only issues the bills at certain times of the year with no option to pay a monthly direct debit. Unit costs are high - electricity around 60p per unit and calor gas 70p per unit. To prevent burst pipes and keep the van above 6 degrees it has been necessary to have the heating on until recently so I am reckoning on around £1000 (and the caravan never reached above 13 degrees on any day so it was a very long, cold winter!) No washing machine, no fridge or freezer, minimal lamps on, loads of layers of clothes, etc. Honestly wouldn't mind paying the money had I been even remotely warm but I think I was cold every day from October till mid March! Last two weeks have been blissful.

Water.

I live on the coast near a number of rivers that flow from the Weald to the sea and see first hand what they are doing to our waterways.

I resent every penny I pour into the company’s coffers that should have been used to regenerate the infrastructure but instead has been used to line their pockets.

Of the four things listed in the OP, it's Council Tax for me.

What I particularly dislike about it is that the council tax bands do not reliably represent people's ability to pay.
For example, social housing is often allocated in a way that offers tenants little or no choice of property, but is certainly not always in the lowest band.

Despite the discomfort, we have a certain amount of control over how much we spend on the rest.

After the single person discount my council tax is £225 a month. I’m in a village with virtually no public transport, I live on a lane with no pavement or street lights (but its fair share of potholes), and I bitterly resent that this bill takes almost a quarter of my monthly income.

I don’t resent tv license as I watch tv a lot when I m ‘home alone’
I resent the water bill as they are not cleaning up our rivers and seas enough and make massive gains the rest I just pay up and try not to think about it

Jaxjacky

Trouble is GG13 it doesn’t go directly for that, it goes into a big pot for all sorts and then divvied out to The Department for Transport, even more annoying

Exactly JaxJacky

Council tax. Having worked for the council I know how much taxpayers money is wasted.

Trouble is GG13 it doesn’t go directly for that, it goes into a big pot for all sorts and then divvied out to The Department for Transport, even more annoying

Road Tax - our roads are horrendous, pot holes everywhere 🤬

Wasn't it the poll tax that did for Thatcher? People were charged per adult rather than house size. It would have suited me as a single person in a large house but basically unfair.

Maintenance costs on my old property are huge which is why I shall be downsizing soon.

There is a lot of wastage in town halls, I agree witzend.
Last week I received a cheque for £2 from my council for a class that had to be cancelled. I should have framed it.

I am happy to pay for all these services to be honest...
I do wish the utilities weren't privately owned though

council tax, single person rate is now £239 per month. A very unfair tax, it should be based on the number of adults who can work and all old properties should be re-valued

MorningMist

If you were £350 in debit with your old energy provider that is a debt you have to pay them yogitree. No new provider would take that on.

I got that the wrong way round, I think!

I hate them all but they have to be paid so pay all by DD then I don't worry about missing a payment.

I can't understand my water bills though, when my adult children left home I thought the water bills would be reduced due to much less water being used , eg 3/4 showers a day every day but the price remained the same and has gone up yearly ever since . [Hmm]

If you were £350 in debit with your old energy provider that is a debt you have to pay them yogitree. No new provider would take that on.

yogitree

I HATE paying BBC licence. It infuriates me, but my biggest out of these is the heating which is approx 2K a year. It is very necessary though here in Scotland.

On an aside, I used MSE to swap for cheaper energy but didn't realise they didn't 't 'swap' over the negative balance to the new company so ended up with an extra bill for £350! Not a happy bunny!

Is that £350 what your old provider owe you because you were in credit with them yogitree?
They should refund that.

I'm astonished at your car insurance quote, silverlining!
DH was quoted nearly £800 for a 1.3 litre, 4 year old quite ordinary vehicle. He has had no accidents. That was with his usual provider so he shopped around and did find a better offer, but why is it necessary to do this?

It's like that advert - Brand new customers only are the ones who get the better deal.
😡

I HATE paying BBC licence. It infuriates me, but my biggest out of these is the heating which is approx 2K a year. It is very necessary though here in Scotland.

On an aside, I used MSE to swap for cheaper energy but didn't realise they didn't 't 'swap' over the negative balance to the new company so ended up with an extra bill for £350! Not a happy bunny!

Unlike the other bills mentioned here, your income tax bill will only have risen if your income has risen David. And you will know what your income is, what tax bracket you’re in and therefore how much you will have to pay. No surprises. Or are you hinting at how well off you are?

fancythat

Out of just those 4, yes Council Tax.

I looked into once, living off grid.
Unless we sold the property, Council tax still had to be paid.
Not many ways that are elible for not paying it.

We lived off grid for 20 years. Our council tax was calculated in the mooring fees.

No question, the one I fear is Income Tax

Ducking for cover now!

Our city council is responsible for benefits, building control, car parks, community events, community safety, Council Tax, economic development, environmental health, housing, licensing, markets, museums, city parks, planning, sports, street cleaning, waste collection.

Our county council is responsible for: adult social care, education and other child services, highways maintenance and sustainable transport, climate, environment, waste reduction and recycling, public health, libraries, coroners, registrars and country parks.

The library service costs the county council here around 16 million a year, around £45,000 a day. We have 74 libraries in cities, towns and villages plus 3 mobile libaries. I use library services extensively. We are part of the Library Consortium, a group of 23 public library authorities giving residents access to a huge range of books and resources not just those in local county stock. Then there are the extensive e-resources, e-books, e-audiobooks, newpapers magazines, reference materials etc.

I express costs as a daily amount to try to keep perspective when all around are moaning. Council tax is £6.40 a day. My choice for living in a house that’s too big for me. I could reduce that to £3.50 a day if I moved to a band B.

Energy, water, TV Licence total £3.50 a day - less than the price of a cup of coffee in town.

Council tax = less than two cups of coffee, or coffee and cake, or just 40p more than the cost of the 3 mile round trip into town on the bus if I didn’t have a government-funded pensioner bus pass.

My car insurance is due for renewal. I’ve just had the quote which includes RAC breakdown cover (including home start) worth £75 if you buy it separately. My car is old so it’s worth having that for peace of mind. The total is £209 which includes £45 Intermediary Services Fee which is the broker fee for for arranging, servicing, and renewing the policy. So the cost of insuring the car itself only £89. The premium has gone up by £9.00 for the year or 2.5p per day. I can live with that! Only a couple of quotes fractionally cheaper so I’m staying put this year.