Help Needed - Local Council - Gross Negligence, Victimisation.... you name it

[damo1312]

Hi everyone, I really hope that someone can help here..

I won't go into details as to where (lets just say that I'm right next to the UK's newest National Park)... but my local Council has seemed to be attempting to do its level best to further increase the immense emotional stress I have suffered since a major family bereavement (almost two years ago, as of 2nd January) and have otherwise made things even worse than they need to be.. to the point where I almost feel as if they are taking advantage of it.

It has come to the point where their victimisation ha almost left me at my wits end.

To cut a long story very short, I began a major complaint against them last January, and I had simply had enough of their conduct.

I wrote to their Complaints Dept (the Complaint was 9 pages of A4... with 30 odd copies of correspondence as Appendices)..

when they side-stepped all of the issues that I raised in this (and ignored my circumstances completely) I refused to accept their findings, and sent a rejection letter reiterating my issues... and they again attempted to completely ignore any issues outside of their narrow remits, irrespective of circumstances I my in depth dialogue with them. So I wrote to my Local Councillor, who also appears to be in their pockets, as he barely bothered to answer at all.

To make matters worse (as the situation had caused rent arrears, and they ignored the reasons) they applied for a Possession Order, which I was determined to fight; the Defence (as follows) will hopefully flesh out the situation more than me re-typing it:

NB - Please be warned - Sorry that this Defence is long, but has been copied and pasted in its entirety so that it's all here, just in case ...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

29.

PLEASE NOTE - THIS SECTION OF THE DEFENCE HAS BEEN TYPED, AS SEVERE MAJOR DEPRESSION MEANS THAT MY HANDWRITING DETERIORATES RAPIDLY IF MADE TO HAND-WRITE EXTENSIVELY

I HAVE SIGNED AND DATED THESE SHEETS AS PROOF THAT IT IS IN MY OWN WORDING, AND TRUE TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE

THE FOLLOWING ALSO SERVES AS MY REASONING FOR REQUESTING THAT ANY POSSESSION ORDER BE DELAYED, AND MY REASONS AS TO WHY HAVING TO LEAVE THE PROPERTY WOULD CAUSE SEVERE (AND POSSIBLY LIFE-THREATENING) HARDSHIP

- Loss of Mother (Heart Attack due to Respiratory Failure) in mine and brother's arms at former residence (*, ****** Close, ******) at 7am on 2nd January 2005 (Council notified by other brother within a few days)

- Have had to act as Sole Executor to Mother's Estate (which was a Negative Estate, with several unscrupulous creditors; 50 or so items of correspondence sent by myself since bereavement)

- Lost job (due to lack of understanding on part of Employer) in August 2005

- As mine and my mother's finances were interlinked, mine have now collapsed as well, leaving me having to deal with Harassment from Creditors (who have been kept informed throughout; although some are being helpful, most are ignoring the situation; over 130 items of correspondence sent by myself since bereavement attempting to resolve issues / enforce my rights)

- Diagnosed as Clinically Depressed several times since 2001 (most recently from bereavement onwards; this SERIOUSLY limits my verbal communication, both in terms of clarity and a strong tendency to break under duress when stressed, leaving me to put all correspondence with Council / Creditors in writing wherever possible)

- Depression has forced me to exist on Incapacity Benefit (made permanent August 2006) even though I do not wish to stay on such permanently (or indeed for any longer than necessary)

- Depression means that even this written correspondence takes me considerably longer than is my norm to complete (e.g. Complaints to Council, as substantial, often take weeks or even months to fully complete)

- Brother I live with suffers from serious asthma (with several near fatal episodes, most recent prior to mother's last hospitalisation in November 2004) which constantly effect his health severely

- Fell and fractured my right clavicle extensively July 2nd 2005 (hindering all forms of correspondence), general ability to function with depression severely compromised (and had an ever-increasing ‘snowball’ effect since)

- Elder sister (non-resident) recovering from Breast Cancer, also heavily depressed

- Financial Demands of Council and Creditors mean that am often forced to exist without adequate nutrition / heating for days at a time; the Council, in particular, has been informed of this several times in writing (most recently when I reiterated
the point to my Local Councillor on 12th September 2006, (first made in writing to the Council on December 11th 2005))

- The Department for Work and Pensions consistently failed to make decisions concerning my Benefit Claims with due diligence / efficiency during Summer 2005, and as such seriously eroded the situation further; despite being informed of this (on 22nd September 2005, by letter), the Council (to my knowledge) has refused to corroborate any of this with the DWP (or at least, have failed to inform me if they have, despite being asked to do so)

- Continued Harassment (i.e. by ignoring circumstances of which they have been kept thoroughly up to date as often as I am able) means that Creditors / the Council have in fact exacerbated the very situations that they are purportedly attempting to remedy

THAT WHICH FOLLOWS LISTS VARIOUS INTERMITTENT FAILURES / ALLEGED BREACHES OF TENANCY ON THE PART OF THE COUNCIL. THESE IN NO MANNER WHATSOEVER IMPLY THAT RENT WAS / HAS EVER BEEN WITHHELD (AS WE HAVE ALWAYS PAID AT A LEVEL THAT IS AT THE MAXIMUM WE COULD POSSIBLY AFFORD, AND IN FACT WAS SO HIGH THAT IT IS UNDERMINING OUR HEALTH AND OFTEN FORCING US TO EAT INADEQUATELY). IT MERELY STANDS (AND IS INCLUDED) TO SHOW THE INJUSTICE OF THE COUNCIL'S HEAVY-HANDEDNESS IN THIS CASE

- In-depth Complaint concerning Council Conduct (9 pages of A4, together with substantial appendices, at my expense) sent to Council 10th January 2006; this was based upon the Council's actions being carried out in a hurried, bureaucratic and
un-sympathetic manner, without any real regard for the circumstances, nor their aftermath or repercussions

- All issues raised side-stepped, follow up complaints also rebuffed without adequate explanation (or else ignored entirely; two in-depth items of correspondence sent by me since, 3rd March 2006 to Council again, 12th September 2006 to Local Councillor; neither adequately addressed any issues raised, and as such Complaint remains ongoing)

- In order to originally obtain the Tenancy of ** ****** Close, ****** (in May 2005), the Council insisted that I sign a form stating that 'In Accepting the Tenancy, the Council will assume that you are satisfied that the fittings in the property are in good order' despite refusing to allow me prior entry to confirm this (and despite my being informed, by the Council, that the property had been vacant for some time)

- The property turned out to be unfit for habitation as it was (light-fittings were hanging from the ceiling, several windows were faulty and no window keys were provided - the light-fittings were the only faults rectified promptly)

- As the Council insisted that the property had been checked prior to my first entry (upon my first entry, the property was locked, with no sign of forced entry) the presence of these faults (with witnesses) means that only previous tenants (who as such, must have had keys) could have caused the damage, and as such, it is my belief that it was necessary for both sets of locks (front and rear, as both provide direct access to the property) to be replaced in order to properly ensure that the Council had fulfilled its obligations under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act (the Right to Respect for Private and Family Life) and also that the Council were failing in its obligations by allowing for Harassment under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 by virtue of negligence (as the property was insecure until such point as both offending locks had been changed); it took the Council well over a year to fulfil this obligation in full, and they failed to fulfil their legal obligations within the intervening offending period

- The Council took an inordinate amount of time (in the region of two weeks) to replace Window keys (as no windows could be opened without them) during very hot weather (making the property unbearably hot with no ventilation; this also seriously
endangered my brother's health, suffering as he does from severe asthma) whilst simultaneously meaning that there was no secondary means of escape in a fire; although I have not had the chance to put this to the legal test as of yet, it is my
belief that this failure meant that the property was unfit for human habitation during the offending period as set out in Section 10 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985

- The Council have always denied any liability during the offending periods (where they failed to live up to their responsibilities as given in the two paragraphs above)

- The two other defective windows still have not been repaired (despite the fault being brought to the Council's attention by at least the date of my initial complaint, and a works order, ********** being raised on 8th March 2006, with no attempt to
fulfil this having been made apparent as of the date of this Defence)

- The Council has (by acting as it has and ignoring the effect of said actions), seriously hindered and otherwise undermined the process both of my executing my mother's estate, and rectifying my own financial situation (as the two were inextricably linked)

- The Council did not see fit to give me the same level of notice to accept the new property (** ****** Close, ******) as it was expecting me to provide for vacating the old (* ****** Close, ******)

- The Council has consistently ignored the situation as concerns financial difficulties, and has made no attempt to differentiate between a refusal pay to pay (which appears to be the insinuation behind the punitive stance that it takes) and my actual inability to pay (which it has made no attempt to verify by means of, say, a Financial Statement or the like, or by any other means of corroboration, for that matter); it is well aware of the unusual and severe circumstances (which by August of last year, included my collar bone fracture and subsequent loss of my job) and their horrendous ramifications, and yet continue to act in a bureaucratic, unsympathetic manner with no apparent interest other than imposition of their perceived financial 'bottom line'

- I still have not received a formal apology for any of the Council's actions, nor any form of renumeration to compensate for said actions, nor any form of explanation as to their moral basis (at least when they have acted in a manner that, for the reasons I have stated, appear to either breach the Tenancy or worse, possibly the Law)

- The overall Catch 22 has been caused because, having been led to believe that the Council would never actually countenance a figure that I could conceivably pay, I have been forced to agree to amounts that were never realistically possible, and the
Council has been determined to distort this into 'my breaking agreements' (when I have been unable to meet them) that they have only ever accepted when set at an artificially high level (and again ignoring the effects of my Clinical Depression in
making such decisions when forced to verbally)

- Additionally, although the Court Proceedings for Possession letter was dated 17th August, it was not posted until the 4th September (as evidenced by the postmark on the envelope, which remains in my possession); I still have not been given a satisfactory explanation as to why such an important communication was withheld in this manner

- I have been retrospectively informed that had my brother been added to the tenancy, that this would have lessened the financial burden considerably (as the manner in which the Benefits are worked out would take this into account in my favour).
The Council's refusal to countenance my brother's inclusion on the tenancy (knowing the positive effect that such would have upon the owed figure) whilst withholding such information would appear to be, in my view, intimidatory

- Due to the nature of the Council's total disregard for the situation, I must petition the Court for a request that the £219.50 fee which has been added to the Rent Account be removed (as it was only added by virtue of the fact that the Council took this action without a balanced appraisal of the facts or otherwise choosing to ignore them, whilst also not accepting any liability for their actions)

- As stated by my responses to Questions 2 & 4 of this Defence Form, I am unsure as to whether the breaches that I have alleged that the Council have made effect either the weekly rent figure that they are claiming or the amount of rent outstanding; this notwithstanding, I will pay the amount I have agreed with them (4 weeks current rent for the entirety of the time that I remain a Council tenant, plus £15 towards the arrears, every four weeks) unless either this Court uses its prerogative to adjust the figure, or else should any future Court Action I take result in a Judgement altering the figure

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite all of the above, the Judge appeared to completely ignore everything I had said, and merely 'rubber-stamped' the Council's viewpoint;

Citizen's Advice informed me that I would be given 5 minutes to give my Defence; this never occurred;

Despite my stating that Depression meant that I was very poor verbally, the Judge appeared to ignore this (and what I had written) and made me answer questions that showed that he appeared to have ignored my Defence and as such, would appear to have seriously undermined my limited ability to defend myself;

Despite my specifically requesting that the Council's costs be dismissed (due to the intimidatory manner in which they had bopught the case to which they relate) they were awarded them anyway, with no reference to my points being made;

Due to the Council's Conduct, I sent in a request for a Postponement of Possession Order several weeks prior to my hearing; this was sent Recorded Delivery and was received, but appears to have been completely ignored;

I was unable to find out whether the Council's Claim in their Possession Order that I had 'not paid money lawfully due' was correct, i.e whether or not, due to their serious breaches of tenancy, I should have been able to demand some form of rebate, and am unsure as to whether the Court was negligent in merely ignoring this fact; the Judge merely asked 'whether I disputed the amount owing, to which I was forced to reply (as I could not, due to my condition and a complete lack of resources, find out otherwise) that I did not know;

All in all, I feel that the Court system had simply 'rubber-stamped' the Council's wishes, completely ignored my situation (and made any Defence I entered pointless) and appear to imply that the Council is unnaccountable, that their actions should be condoned, and that my ilness and circumstances count for nothing

I am just trying to work out what to do here, as I am beginning to lose hope here. My hearing was on 4th December, and the repayments are destroying my life, and I feel that I was coerced into them under duress by both the Council and the Court.

I think my options are:

1) Complain to HMCS about the way this case has been handled;
2) Appeal the original Judgement;
3) Take legal action against the Council for its failures, and insist that any compensation won is applied to my Rent Account

what does anyone else think?

I just think that it is scandalous that Local Authorities can simply ride roughshod over those they feel they can take advantage of, and the Court then simply condones this behaviour....

It unfortunately looks as if Mental Illness counts for nothing in the Courts, and I really do not know how to approach this now...

Let me know if anything needs fleshing out to make it more understandable

Thanks everyone

[stan5131]

This is a very sad state of affairs. I have no experience in this field but hopefully someone else will post here to help you. Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone and do not give up hope.

[damo1312]

Thanks Stansfield..

it really does help, and means just as much as a particular piece of advice would..

Hopefully, yes, someone may have some ideas... if I hadn't been through this myself, I'd think that it couldn't possibly happen...

[callumsgran]

In case he doesn't see this thread pm JonCris and supply link to this thread, he may well be able to help with some advice

[blacksheep1979]

I'm sorry its late and so didn't read all of your post - but my first comment would to be to keep everything a lot shorter and only include the bare necessities. Things like breaking of your collar bone aren't 100% relevant and only bog the reader down and more likely to skim and ignore other very important points. ie a 9 page complaint may have seemed little more than a rant to whoever first opened it, especially if all in bullet points. You need to put a concise arguement together explaining why you want something done including brief details of what has happened and what you expect them to do about it.

As to the court tbh your defense isn't much of a legal defense its all circumstantial and something that a normal person could have dealt with, all the broken bones and illnesses by family members would have been seen as nothing more than an excuse by the judge and unless you brought in a medical statement saying you were unfit to be questioned in such a way then a judge was going to proceed with his normal methods of gaining information.

[damo1312]

Hi cillitbanger..

thanks, I'll give him a bell...

[damo1312]

Hi blacksheep1979,

thanks for your comments, and let me emphasize that I do thank you for your comments, but simply as general points of issue (and these are emphatically NOT directed at you personally, so please don't take offence):

- Appreciate the point about the bare necessities; however, as the bulk of the post was simply a copy and paste of the Defence, I thought it best to put that down in a complete form, so as not to be misleading;

- As concerns the collarbone, did you mean as concerns the original Defence, or the fact that it was part of what I copied over? From a Defence point of view, I must disagree about it being irrelevant, as it was indeed very relevant to this issue, as it had a very strong bearing on the circumstances and thus the outcome;

- With respect, a 9-page complaint merely showed that the complaints were many and varied, and perfectly understandable repurcussions of depression menat that they had built up over the preceding year. I have, respectfully, had to deal with considerably more from an administrative point of view than a Council employee (my brother works at a high level within the same Council, and has confirmed as such), on top of which, they are paid to take notice, whereas I am not to defend myself; if they choose to ignore any points (however in depth) then I would be remiss in my repsonsibilities (and my duties to myself) if I did not pursue them until they did;

- Again, concerning the point about concise argument, are we talking re the Council, or for the forum? Hopefully I have answered my reasoning as concerns posting all info on the Forum, but again, as concerns the Council, the length (or lack therof) is not an excuse for them to ignore the points raised (legally, morally or otherwise) as, I will reiterate, they are paid to fulfil their responsibilites, whereas I am not

Again, sorry if this is a 'rant', but I have seen far longer single posts on here, so didn't think anything of it...

[JonCris]

blacksheep which part of the country are you & are you on benefits

[damo1312]

Hi JonCris..

(soz, think wires a little crossed there, blacksheep was one of those who replied to this thread)

Down in Hampshire, and yes, I recieve Incapacity Benefit (Higher Rate), Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit... (though I TRULY hope not for much longer)

Thanks


damo

[JonCris]

PM me again

[MARTIN3030]

A shocking story and one that has seen you knocked from pillar to post.
Lets hope its not too late to get you help here.
As Jon is assisting you I will not post too much so as to save confusion.
One person I would be considering contacting here though is the local Ombudsman who I am sure from what you say,will take up the issues that you have with the council,and perhaps is the only one they take any notice of.
Seems the CAB have fell short here and presumably the housing advice people that you were talking to.
A pity you did not come here earlier,although there is a wealth of information here that hopefully even at this stage,can begin to address these issues and get some justice for you.

[iwannabedebtfree]

as you have already tried to get your complaint dealt withat a local level, the above thread is quite right, i think sending a copy of complain to the LGO (local government ombudsman), along with any evidence and further information is the best way forward for you. The LGO does have the obligation to request you council recompense you if they find in your favour.

Just out of interest, you advised on your court claim re: disrepair issues, did any housing advice agencies give advice on counter-claiming re: disrepair?

[blacksheep1979]

damo - I'm just saying after being in court and having seen excuses along those lines, the judge doesn't take a very bright view of them - they tend to go down the - didn't it heal well enough after a couple of weeks? why didn't you get someone else to write/type for you? couldn't you type one handed etc. And in the end anything that sways the judges view towards him seeing you as someone who is chancing it or using anything you can as an excuse is going to help the other party.