What Is It With Thursdays?

This morning we had a visit from the bailiffs. My mum would turn in her grave with the shame.

It all started about 18 months ago when Graham started a new job. When he signed off from Jobseekers he was given a form to sign to request 5 weeks continuation of rent and council tax benefit. So we didn't pay any rent or council tax for 5 weeks. It was months later that we learnt he wasn't entitled to the five weeks continuation because he hadn't been out of work for 6 months previously, and we were faced with a £600+ debt.

The rent is paid but the council tax was still ongoing. I was paying every month so I was surprised when I got a letter from the Bailiffs saying that I hadn't been keeping up with the payments and unless I paid the full amount they would be around to collect. I owed £298 (I'm pretty sure the original bill was less than that?) Anyway, I made some calls and apparently even though I'd been paying monthly I hadn't been paying on the correct day and I'd paid 3 days late 3 months in a row so my account had been handed over to the bailiffs. Perhaps if they had let me know I was supposed to be paying on a particular day every month I would have been more meticulous with the payments.
After being transferred to someone else I made another arrangement to pay £51 a month for the next 6 months, the payments had to be made on the same date every month. I've paid 3 months now so I was suprised when the bailiffs turned up, well completely shocked more like.

So I argued, showed my receipts, and the man was actually quite nice about it. He could see my mistake. I'd been paying the money to the council tax office when I should have been making it to the bailiffs. Perhaps someone should have told me that in the beginning? After another call I discovered that when they transferred me to someone else on my last call to the council tax office they had actually transferred me to the bailiffs office so it was with them I'd made the agreement of payment. I hadn't known that?

Anyway, the bailiffs left with nothing and I just have to continue my payments to the correct office, with the addition of some extra fees....£160 extra fees!!

Where is that bloody lottery win?