£100k of ‘uncollectable debt’ written off by Peterborough City Council

The authority said the decision to write off £116,128 is being taken after a “lengthy process to recover the outstanding money” with “all avenues having been exhausted”.

Some of the debt has been outstanding since at least 2008.

The write-off is only for debts which total at least £10,000.

The council said: “It is acknowledged that given the high volume and value of invoices and bills issued there will always be a requirement to write off an element of debt as uncollectable.”

The money being written off is 0.018 per cent of the total debt the council is owed over the same period.

It is also far lower than the amount (£2.157 million) the council announced it was writing off last March.

Out of the £116,128 which will not be recovered, £77,285 is due to “recovery action being exhausted”.

A further £11,544 is due to the individual being made insolvent or bankrupt, while £27,299 is because they have died with no further income to come from their estate.

“The council is committed to taking all appropriate action necessary before considering a debt for write off,” the authority added.

“This includes multiple written reminder letters early in the recovery process, telephone call follow ups, senior management dialogue with counterparts and, where necessary, court and enforcement agent action.

“It can take several years before all actions have been undertaken.

“Despite our best endeavours it is inevitable that a small percentage of debt will not be collected and will ultimately have to be written off.

“It is very common for large organisations in both the public and private sectors to incur debt and the council is no different in that respect.

“Writing off debt is standard practice and recommended as part of good budget management.”