With regards to the council tax debt, the TaxPayers’ Alliance may be interested to learn about those of us who have attempted to pay our “debt” but have been unable to do so, thanks to  Sutton Council’s shambolic introduction of the coalition’s welfare reforms.

I am a full-time carer and, not through choice, dependent on rent and council tax benefits.

On the Saturday prior to the last bank holiday I received a letter from the revenues and benefits department.

It told me I should be aware council tax benefit ended on April 1 (I was not); that they had written to me “some time ago” to tell me I would need to contribute towards my council tax (they had not); and that I owed a month’s council tax.

It went on to say that if I did not pay I “could be summonsed to appear in court, which will incur additional costs of £130 in addition to the amount you owe for council tax”.

I would have paid the bill there and then, even if I had to borrow the money from a relative.

The problem was I had not been notified of the changes; I had not received a bill and even the letter omitted to tell me how much I was supposed to owe.

I tried to call the department as soon as it re-opened on the Tuesday. The phone system was faulty.

After four attempts totalling approximately three hours on the phone I managed to leave a message with a call handler who emailed the department on my behalf.

In the interim I contacted a national carer’s charity who examined LBS’s website. This, they told me, was out of date and, as the changes to council tax benefit are now decided council by council, they were unable to advise me further. By this time I was distraught.

An officer from the department did phone me back the next day and she was kind and helpful and promised to send me a copy of the original letter and bill (which I have yet to receive).

However, I cannot believe I am the only person whom the council has failed to inform about the changes, the amount I now need to pay and the fact that there is a replacement to council tax benefit – council tax reduction.

This is not good enough. Not only must it have caused many vulnerable people a lot of worry, it has deprived LBS’s coffers of the money people such as myself are more than willing to pay, if only we knew how much we owe.

I doubt the TaxPayers’ Alliance has sympathy for anyone claiming benefits.

Carers such as myself do not fall within the sainted bracket of “hard-working families” and, as the only thing we have the emotional energy to strive for is the continuance of the life of those we are looking after, then we must surely be scroungers.

Despite this, I certainly have no desire to owe a penny to the council. I have quite enough to worry about.

Name and address supplied.

Got something to say? Send your letter to letters@suttonguardian.co.uk.