My council are breaking the law and ignoring my complaints

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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 1,730 Contributor
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  • Nystagmite
    Nystagmite Online Community Member Posts: 595 Empowering
    I guess this isn't an issue you can grasp one bit. I'm sure you'd think differently if you were visually impaired.

    There's also a huge difference between not understanding your mail and not being able to read it because someone's far too lazy to put it in the format they're required to do so by law.

    You're right, it will cost them money. It'll cost them pence. Meanwhile, I've got to pay £174 per year for my council tax. So why on earth can't they use some of that money I'm forced to pay them to do things properly? The law states they have to do that.
  • Nystagmite
    Nystagmite Online Community Member Posts: 595 Empowering
    Username_removed said:
    1) You need to sort out who needs to do large print; make sure they know and give them a chance to comply.

    2) You need to explore other RAs like low vision aids and if they work then brilliant. If they do not then you need to explain what you’ve tried and what happened. 

    3) If neither of the above work then you get an EA 10 solicitor and explore a clai, for damages in the county court amongst other options.

    if you do anything less than this then I am happy to predict, once again, that thus will run and run.


    1) The council tax and housing benefit department have been given since February 2015 to sort this out. They occasionally do it. (ie, 3 times in 3 years. They only did it last time after I told them to either do it or I won't be paying my CT bill because I can't read what the letter says) They promised every single time and kept coming up with excuses about the lack of demand. That isn't my problem. The Equalities Act states they have to make reasonable adjustments. That being for me putting everything they send me in large print. Is that really too much to ask? And why can everyone else do it with no trouble at all?

    2) Low vision aids don't work at all. Believe me, I've tried. My local low vision clinic and the hearing and sight centre have both worked with me on and off for the last 11 years or so and tried to come up with solutions for my problems. But they can't. Not helped by the constant tiredness, the hearing difficulties (which means no text to speech software) and my sight slowly going which makes using any low vision aid difficult.
  • Nystagmite
    Nystagmite Online Community Member Posts: 595 Empowering
    But what are the exceptions? The only ones I'm aware of (health and safety and it being impossible to make an adjustment) don't apply here.

    They're well aware I live alone and I'm not taking my mail to my parents house every time it needs to be sorted.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 1,730 Contributor
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  • Nystagmite
    Nystagmite Online Community Member Posts: 595 Empowering
    Not on the priority register for water. Electricity, yes.

    Not had a problem getting any large print letters from anywhere else. Just the council.

    The only alternative that would work for me is putting everything large print. But according to the complaints I've sent over the years, this has to be done manually and apparently, there's no option for it. It takes 2 minutes to copy and paste it into Microsoft Word. 

    This has been going on for far too long and I'm getting seriously fed up of it. All I want to do is to read my own mail. Is that really too much to ask?
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 1,730 Contributor
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  • Nystagmite
    Nystagmite Online Community Member Posts: 595 Empowering
    IvecwalkI'v into their office and they've printed a copy there for me which does show they can do it.
  • Nystagmite
    Nystagmite Online Community Member Posts: 595 Empowering
    edited April 2018
    Yes actually...

    Which tells me they're ************ about their claims about it costing them far too much money.

    Not sure what exactly they expect me to do - magnifying aids don't help one bit and I'd rather not sign up, especially when there are constant reports of websites / users details being compromised. And no, I'm not (as a former bank suggested) going into their office every time I need them to do something.
  • Unknown
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  • Cantilip
    Cantilip Online Community Member Posts: 621 Empowering

    A letter. A letter? My only problem with this, having worked with document production all my life, is I cannot believe a human being can be employed who claims this is a costly exercise. Actually my only problem with this is some lazy useless so and so preying on ignorance and making out it's hard.

    Here is an A4 Word document in a small font, say Arial 7. I click on it, select it all, and change the font to Arial 18. It will therefore require more paper when printed and I must understand this will bankrupt the council. Anything on computer can be resized. It will therefore require more paper when printed. This will clearly send the Council into special measures.

    It doesn't have to be printed. Enlarge, save, attach to email, click Send.

    Wholesale for large orders A4 costs 16.29 per 2500 sheets which works out at less than 1p/sheet.

    Anything printed separately can be enlarged on a photocopier by any halfway competent admin person. If the item is a page of A4 in small print, simple positioning on the glass together with a piece of plain paper to cover superfluous bits can convert it into two pages of A4 in large print. It is really not difficult. If there were a magazine article in small print on one page, a little dexterous positioning could produce it in large print on three pages.

    Solicitors and seriousness do not strike me as the answer to such situations, more going to the local paper and making these people the subjects of total public derision.

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