Have you got an account set up with the council?
When I had to renew our subscription last year, I got an e mail & did it by logging in & paying.
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Hi Rhys and welcome to the forum!
I looked back on my order (I’d had one in 2018 but let is lapse), and I had to set-up and validate my email address, and then I could pay. This was in November last year, and I got the bin roughly a month later I think, maybe it was a bit longer.
So I’d say if you can, maybe set-up your account again (or a new one) and pay anf it should start up again. I have a feeling it’s March to March, so you might want to check as I don’t think you get a discount for statting even with one month left…
Good luck!
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Yep - last year the subscription ended 31st March, but reminders and renewals weren’t sent until the end of July due to Covid. I did mange to renew online and my brown bin has thankfully kept up with things.
@rhys - that sounds like a real nuisance. If current subscriptions are to end on 31st March this year, hopefully they have got to fix things soon… 
Thanks all for the replies. If I don’t resolve this over the phone in March, I’ll have a go at setting up an online subscription when April rolls around. I’ve never used the online account management before but perhaps it’s the way to go!
I’m struggling because the last time I looked at the website there was no option to pay for year April 21- March 22. I think I may have to call to try to see what’s going on. It takes time to deliver the bin, so if you can’t set it up before April, you don’t get a full year because you lose a month while they deliver the bin.
Received a somewhat brutal letter today (7th feb) dated 24th Jan, telling me that my “subscription remains unpaid following the previous reminders” What reminders?! I have checked my email and can’t see anything. “If payment is not received by 31st Jan the contract will be terminated” - hopefully there is some flexibility since the letter arrived a week later than that date.
I’ve tried to pay online, but it doesn’t work.
I’ll give them a call tomorrow.
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Think I’ve read elsewhere these were sent in error.
I got something similar by email last year and they then sent out a correction email.
Think renewals are April to March so timing sounds wrong.
I’ve not go anything re this.
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I got the same letter, addressed to ‘The Occupier’ but was able to pay £80 online to renew. There doesn’t seem to be any account of previous payments, so no idea if it was necessary or not.
I also didn’t see any reminder either, but letters sent to ‘The Occupier’ have a high chance of going straight to recycling with the other junk mail. I would have noticed an email from Lewisham if I got one though.
I also got the threatening “reminder” and had similar thoughts about the likelihood of it being accidentally recycled. I have paid via the website despite reservations.
I also received this extremely rude letter. Payment was delayed early on in lockdown and it looks as though the system has not been properly updated. I was able to pay on line. What is slightly troubling is that the effect of this unpleasant letter might be a whole set of payments which makes it look like a successful strategy. I think there would be some point in everyone sending a letter in response saying how disappointed they are that this rude letter is considered in any way appropriate.
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I, and all my neighbours with brown bins, got the same letter despite having paid for last year already. I hope that those of you double-paying are compensated.
I emailed them on Saturday:
Subject: Garden Waste 2021 Subscription
To: gardenwaste@lewisham.gov.ukI received a letter to my home address telling me that my garden waste subscription would be cancelled as I had not paid for 2021/22
The letter was addressed to The Resident,
I subscribed to the service in March 2021, with payment being taken from my bank on 23rd March 2021 and a brown bin provided shortly after that (at the end of March 2021 or beginning of April 2021). The payment made on that date was clearly for the period 1st April 2021 - 31st March 2022. Please can you confirm that I am not in arrears for the period 2021/2022 and that you will not be removing my brown bin.
When the opportunity to renew comes through I will be happy to pay the fees for 2022/2023, but I will not be paying twice for 2021/22.
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It seems from the Next Door app rather a lot of people got these rather rude letters. Getting through by phone is a bit challenging, I did send an email and got a reply saying I last paid in Dec 2020 for 20/21 but I haven’t yet paid for 21/22. I am going to double check my credit card bills to see if I haven’t already paid it. The letter was addressed to “the resident” & I did nearly chuck it assuming it was from an estate agent…
Yet another fine mess created by a council not fit for purpose.
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John Paschoud (one of the Perry Vale councillors) has commented on the Next Door post that @Suze has referred to above that he’s been told these letters are some sort of admin/computer error and that the Council definitely doesn’t want to repossess thousands of brown bins! Apparently the Mayor is looking into it urgently!
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I also received the letter (dated 24th January and received on 4 February - consolation to know my post deliveries aren’t as bad as DevonishForester’s!).
I checked my bank statements and I last paid the subscription in January 2021, so thought maybe that was in arrears for 2020/21 (I seem to remember getting a letter from them about delays during the first year of Covid). I paid £80 online on Friday but now I don’t know if I’ve paid twice for last year or whether I’m up to date. Not confident that Lewisham will know either…
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Unfortunately I also can’t find any useful account of brown bin payments on the Lewisham website either. In fact looking there, it has ‘In Progress’ things going back to 2016 - a real mess.
I got this in September last year (by email):
Dear resident,
As a subscriber to our Garden Waste collection service, we are contacting you to let you know that your subscription came to an end on March 31 2021. In order to continue getting your garden waste collected, you will need to renew your subscription.
What do I need to do now?
You can renew your subscription by visiting our website.If you renew your subscription now, you can continue to receive your garden waste collections of grass, leaves, small branches etc. with no break in your collections. For a full list of what you can put in your bin please visit our website.
Please note we are unable to accept payment by cheque/postal order or PayPal.
What happens if I don’t renew?
If we haven’t heard from you within 14 days of this email you will no longer be able to receive collections for your garden waste and we will remove the garden waste bin from your property without further notice and you will need to make alternative arrangements to dispose of your garden waste.
Renew today
The price for a subscription from April 1 until March 31 2022 is £80.Visit our website for more information on our terms and conditions.
Yours faithfully,
Garden waste subscription team
Followed by this the next day:
Dear customer,
I can confirm that payment and renewal was successful regarding your garden waste subscription renewal. Please ignore the reminder e-mail.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require further assistance.
Kind regards,
Garden Waste Team
I suspect the system has gone wrong somewhere and they just don’t know. They’d be better just renewing for this year, especially as they overcharge many people for the full year even if they only use it for a few months.
The second email came from someone’s direct email as opposed to the main Lewisham Council one.
Hi all,
Yes, we (councillors) are aware of this. First of all, many apologies that this has been happening - it has clearly created confusion and I agree that the letters should have been better worded.
Officers say that the letters were only sent to households which hadn’t paid for 21/22 - this was certainly the intention - but will be going over everything again from Monday to make sure this was the case. It also seems that while some people did receive reminder letters, a number didn’t, which also needs looking into as I agree that people should be given sufficient notice.
I understand that the payment period will be extended until the end of February and that a new letter will be sent out ASAP to confirm this.
I also understand that a clarification will be posted to Lewisham Council’s website - I will link to it when it has.
If you have more specific queries, feel free to email us (my email is cllr_sophie.davis@lewisham.gov.uk).
Sophie
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I tried calling, but my call got disconnected after eight minutes before I spoke with anyone. So I emailed, but since my email (from last Monday) has not been responded to I’ve tried again and managed to pay online. What confused me previously was the tiny YES/NO onscreen buttons. The YES has a solid line and looks like it has been pre-selected as a default, but you still have to select it with the mouse. Very poor user interface. And not acceptable that there isn’t a statement of previous payments - if there is, how do you find it?
I haven’t been able to find a list of past payments either. I have sent an email asking to check if I still have an active subscription. But am not confident if getting a reply anytime soon by the looks of things.