Cyber attack: Hackney residents’ anger over ongoing council tax ‘mess’

The fallout from the cyber attack on Hackney Council nearly four years ago continues as residents report alarming council tax bills despite long periods of no communication from the Town Hall.

In October 2020, the council fell victim to a hack on its IT systems, with cyber criminals accessing and encrypting 440,000 files.

The attack affected at least 280,000 residents and council staff, and cost the Town Hall over £12m in 2021.

Stephen Bonner, deputy chief of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), described the hack as “a clear and avoidable error” by the council, citing a failure to effectively implement protective measures.

As the council scrambled to recover its services, residents reportedly stopped receiving physical council tax bills and communications regarding their payments. 

Initially, they thought this was due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, but in the months and years since have been confronted by steep debts, poor explanations and legal threats.

One resident described an agonising back-and-forth with council officials. 

After leaving her Stoke Newington flat in June 2023 after six years, Danielle Collavino received an outstanding tax bill for the period between 2020-23, despite no correspondence from the council since 2020.

Collavino provided bank statements to the council as evidence that the bill was inaccurate, having made regular payments throughout her tenure at the property. But they were dismissed by staff—even as they failed to give her clear information on how much she owed.

Speaking to the Citizen, she said: “Throughout my time at the Stoke Newington flat, I paid my tax regularly, and I would check off my physical bill each month. 

“I remember not receiving a physical bill sometime around the pandemic but thought it may have been a result of limited physical capacity at the council. I wondered if other residents had experienced it at the time.”

She said that although she had provided statements showing she had paid her bills in full, these have been ignored by the council.

“Once the council gave me the amount they felt I’d owed, I got my bank to print out evidence of the payments. Based on the amount owing, there was £482.16 that hadn’t been accounted for.”

Seeking further information, she contacted the council over the phone and in person, but reported further obstacles. Phone calls were repeatedly cut off and Collavino claims she received contradictory advice from staff.

Unable to resolve the issue over the phone, she went to the Town Hall in late May, where she was told that council tax matters were only dealt with over the phone. 

The following day, she managed to get through to two phone operators.

“After I provided evidence that I had paid my debts, the operators admitted that the council’s records were ‘a complete mess’, and they advised me to attend Hackney Council’s offices to go through all the documentation.

“But during my visit to the offices on 28 May, I was told these matters can only be dealt with by telephone,” Ms. Collavino said.

After once again being cut off, a legal expert spoke to another council operator on her behalf, but to no effect. 

“The last operator said, and I quote, ‘Nothing more can be done… if you don’t pay, you’ll be taken to court.’”

In hope of more clarification, she contacted the mayor’s office, which responded on 4 July. 

In emails seen by the Citizen, the mayor’s representative apologised for a “regrettable” level of service, but reinforced the council’s claim over the debt amount.

She asked for audio recordings from the mayor’s office of her calls with the council bill operatives to use in court, but was declined as no evidence was available.

“Hackney Council sent me a final warning on payment this week,” she said. “I have paid an instalment but will respond today to let them know that I am doing this despite me not owing them any more monies whilst I raise a claim with the Ombudsman.”

Collavino maintains the council has changed the debt without providing calculations or explanation, providing breakdowns “at odds” with previous breakdowns. 

“I think this incorrect billing is a larger problem, and they don’t know what residents may owe them. 

“It would seem that after the cyber attack, the council doesn’t have adequate billing records, evidenced by the new billing breakdown they gave me after I proved that I’ve paid any outstanding amount in full.”

Voicing her concerns on the Stoke Newington Facebook group, ‘Stokey Folks’, Collavino was met by others in similar circumstances. 

In a comment replying to her Facebook post, resident Alexandra Marshall said: “[The council] cancelled my direct debit, then didn’t take any money for about two years or longer despite me calling up to try and pay. Then they tried to take the entire amount owed in one lump sum.”

User Phoebe Riordan said: “We keep getting emails saying we are very overdue—yet no initial email or letter saying it is due in the first place? I keep trying to see a full record of what we owe and when but this doesn’t seem to be available.”

Another resident commented that the council had lost his billing records but is currently taking legal action against him as he has closed the bank accounts that the payments were made from.

Chris Cerveza, who formerly ran Ridley Road Social Club in Dalston, said he had also been threatened with legal action after a dispute over his receiving warning notices of unpaid bills—despite the council admitting it no longer had his records.

“We paid every single bill we ever received within days. Two years ago, we were confronted with notices of unpaid bills, at which point we contacted the council, who said they have no record of our payment.”

Chris’s bank account with relevant payment records from that period had, however, been closed. This has forced him onto a repayment plan for allegedly unpaid bills, but he hopes that he will be reimbursed once he has recovered the physical bank statements from that time.

“It’s completely out of order. I don’t know how a local authority can lose track of its finances to that degree and threaten to sue people despite having no reconciliations to back it up,” he said.

In July this year, Hackney Mayor Caroline Woodley said the council “deeply regrets” the impact of the criminal cyber attack, and expressed her gratitude to residents for their patience while services were impacted.

“The mayor stated to the ICO as part of the cyber attack breach that the council’s priority is to its residents,” Collavino said. 

“However, this is at odds with their dealings. Their role is to be transparent, accountable and treat its citizens with respect. The fact that I asked many times to be seen in person and denied, only to be threatened with court action, is a sad indictment.”

The Citizen asked the council why it was not willing to sit down and discuss Collavino’s case despite her repeated claim that she can prove she has already paid her debt in full.

The council responded: “We have reviewed Danielle’s council tax account and can confirm that all of the payments that she has provided banking evidence for are reflected on her outstanding balance.

“We have sent an updated council tax statement to Danielle and have asked her to provide evidence if there are any payments that aren’t reflected on the statement, which we will investigate further.”

The response did not address the question of changing debt amounts.

Collavino said: “I’ve now paid the full amount as of June 2024, but the council are saying I still owe them.”

Addressing the wider reports of inconsistent billing and lost data, a spokesperson for the Town Hall stressed that it has a legal obligation to collect council tax.

“[It] makes up more than £136 million of our revenue, which funds foster carers, pays for the ever-growing cost of supporting older and disabled people, and puts a roof over the heads of families hit hardest by the housing crisis,” they said.

The spokesperson also acknowledged that the cyber attack in 2020 had caused delays in bills being issued, and that recovery action was also delayed.

They explained that the council had been working to rebuild its system, and that it had repeatedly asked anyone who needs help with paying council tax to contact them through the council website.

“This help includes setting affordable repayment plans in place for any arrears due and offering a 90 per cent reduction for those least able to pay,” they said.

The spokesperson also rebuffed claims that the council was not being transparent about tax bill calculations and notices as “untrue”.

“Bills show which council tax band residential addresses in Hackney fall into, as well as any reliefs applied and any payments made,” they said.

“If a resident believes they have made payments that are not reflected on their account, details of how and when they were paid will enable the council to establish if it has been received. We are unable to determine payments without specific details.

“Residents who believe they have received council tax notices which do not accurately reflect payments made, reliefs due or periods of liability should contact us and we will respond to queries and work with residents to resolve any issues.”

Residents who need help paying council tax can find out more and contact the council at hackney.gov.uk/contact-us-council-tax.