Summary Warrant

[Marky Boy]

Hi there,

I was wondering if somebody would be kind enough to offer me some advice.

I have received some letters from BCW saying they have obtained a summary warrant against me and that they have gained permission to arrest my bank account. There a 3 letters in all I received, but they were sent to my mums house and not mine, so I have not replied yet as I only recently received them.

This is from a 1999 C/Tax debt for £600 with Glasgow council. The thing is I was a student at the time and I have told the council this before. I sent them a letter and a confirmation letter from the university telling them this and that is the last I heard of it until now. I still have the original confirmation letter from the university saying I was a student at that time.

I can’t afford to pay this right now and they obviously don’t have any of my contact details.

What do I do now? It's all very very worrying. Please help

[wino]

How long ago did you talk to someone about this debt or pay anything towards it?

I am wondering if it could be statute barred if it has been over 6 years.

[Marky Boy]

I have never paid anything towards this as I dispute it. And the last I heard would have been over 5 years ago, possibly longer. I'd have to check my files.

It just pees me off that they can come about making all these threats without actually personally making contact with me first.

[PGH7447]

are council tax debts covered by the stat barred rule?

If so it is 5 years in Scotland

[veryweary]

Hello,
I don't think council tax is covered by the stat bar legislation.

Why don't you get back in touch with Glasgow Council , explain why you don't think the bill is correct, and arrange to resend the confirmation from the Uni. Or ask advice at CAB, someone there may phone them on your behalf?.

I wouldn't sit on this if they do have your bank/employment details , as they do arrest bank accounts and earnings for unpaid council tax.

[Marky Boy]

Hi all,
I had a look at this and it would appear that council tax is not stat barred until 20 years :o

I'm trying to think of a strategy now on how to deal with this.

There are a few things that I am unsure of:

- Who do I deal with, BCW or Glasgow Council?
- Why are they only bothering me about this now?
- I was a student so I was not liable surely?
- If the worst comes to the worst can I pay by instalments, and who to?
- Do I contact them by phone or I writing?

They don't have my employer or bank details (that I know of) to do anything at the moment but I still want this out of the way.

Thanks for all your advice

Mark

[PGH7447]

Originally Posted by Marky Boy

Hi all,
I
I'm trying to think of a strategy now on how to deal with this.

There are a few things that I am unsure of:

- Who do I deal with, BCW or Glasgow Council? Glasgow Council, BCW would not listen anyway
- Why are they only bothering me about this now? They will have been told to or have been on a cheap debt buying trip
- I was a student so I was not liable surely? Need to confirm with the student advisory body - try this link
Council Tax and students

- If the worst comes to the worst can I pay by instalments, and who to? Pay the council and cut out BCW just to spite them
- Do I contact them by phone or I writing? always in writing, then you have a paper trail of events

Good Luck

[Marky Boy]

Thanks for that. I will write to Glasgow council in the first instance to confirm what the debt is actually for. I will then take it from there, whilst ignoring BCW (Scumbags).

Ta

Mark

[GLC]

You may now be able to seek a time to pay order from the changes introduced to the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 from the Bankruptcy & Diligence etc., (Scotland) Act 2007. Govan Law Centre has posted free information on how to do this for summary warrant debts - in Scotland - at counciltaxdebt.info

[Marky Boy]

Good shout GLC,

I hadn't heard of this before. This may be exactly what i was looking for.

Many Thanks.

[IdaInFife]

If you write to the council and ask for a breakdown. I take it (sorry never been a student) you got housing benefit if so once you get the dates from the council , write to your local HB and CT beneifts office and start an appeal for these dates. You will need to send any evidence you have i.e letter sfrom uni etc.

Some people think that because it says on ct and hb award letters they should appeal within a certain amount of time (6 weeks) that after that you have no options. This is untrue. i appealed for a CT bill 3 years prior and got the result i wanted.

Get years/dates that they say you are you due. Put it in writing to you Hb and CT office with as much evidence as you can and send a letter to BCW to say account in dispute.

ida x

[Dipply75]

Hi Marky Boy, I would defo check out the time to pay order, the rules did change as GLC said. They should not be able to just fire in and arrest anything, you should be able to apply for a time to pay order and pay what you can afford, not what they want!

It would not surprise me in the least if BCW are trying to ignore this little change in the law, I am waiting on another certain company trying it with me lol.

Would be interested to see how you get on with them, good luck!