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Please help. Notice of Commital to Prison recieved re council tax
I really hope someone might be able to help please. I'm in a right mess with council tax and really don't know what to do.
Sorry if things get a bit confused, i'm so worried by this that my head is all over the place.
In the early summer of 2007 i got in a bit of a mess financially and stopped paying council tax. Stupid i know but i just thought i would be able to catch up later. Anyway, i then got a letter asking for my income details so i could make an arrangement. On the form i also had to include my work details which i did. Next letter from them was a notice of attachment of earnings for an amount i couldn't afford but that i didn't think i had a choice over as it was taken direct from payroll. Anyway, i lost my job due to illness in October 2007 and since then have been receiving full council tax benefit. Then mid June this year, i received a letter from the enforcement section of council saying that i had to contact them to pay £500+ or make an arrangement with them. Now the amount sounded about right seeing as it was only about 4 months when i didn't pay so i sent a letter which i found on here stating that i wasn't refusing to pay but due to my circumstances i could only pay £10 a month. I also asked for a statement of what i owed. I heard nothing back from them but they did cash my initial cheque for £10.
Then, on the 9th July a hand delivered notice was posted through letter box with bailiff Removal Notice on it stating that to avoid bailiff action, i had to pay £2115.84 immediately! Another notice was delivered the next day entitled Notice of Commital to Prison stating that i had to pay £1588.26 immediately! Our postbox is separate to our flat so i don't check it every day and didn't get these until yesterday. I've got no idea where the amounts have come from, what they relate to (i.e our current address or another maybe) or what to do. I no longer receive council tax benefit, in fact i receive nothing except tax credits and my husband's take home pay is £700 per month. We have a daughter under 2 and i am pregnant with my 2nd so are really struggling financially.
Re: Please help. Notice of Commital to Prison recieved re council tax
Hi and welcome - who was the notice of commital to prison from? If it was from the bailiff then it is merely a very nasty threat as it has to go to court before you can be commited to prison and that is only for willfully not payingt not for being unable to pay.
What do you think the outstounding debt amount is for? How much have you paid off?
We are here to help so hopefully that will let you be a bit calmer
Re: Please help. Notice of Commital to Prison recieved re council tax
Just to confirm that : the notice for commital to prison is just a nasty threat and can be ignored. It is intended to frighten you - and, sadly, seems to have achieved its purpose.
You can only be sent to prison for non-payment of council tax if you persistently and wilfully refuse to pay - do you recall seeing stories in the papers about OAPs protesting about CT and being sent to prison? They deliberately refused to pay (on principle) which is why they ended in the clink.
Your circumstances are entirely different and the chances of your being sent to prison are nil.
As to the amounts supposedly being charged in fees these are just fiction. bailiffs are allowed to charge fees according to a well-defined schedule and the amounts you are quoting are simply figments of their imagination.
At this point you should ask the council to take the debt back - you have grounds on the basis of your circumstances. If they do this will get the bailiffs off your back.
If the council won't do this then you should see your local Citizens Advice Bureau. In fact do this anyway - 'a problem shared is a problem halved'.
The CAB will have a better idea of exactly how your local council will handle things (councils tend to vary quite a lot in their attitudes).
But cheer up! Things are not nearly as bad as they seem (except the bailiffs themselves).
Re: Please help. Notice of Commital to Prison recieved re council tax
Oh, one small point : you will need to move quickly.
bailiffs are legally entitled to force entry to your property in the case of council tax arrears and you should get something done before that happens.
Re: Please help. Notice of Commital to Prison recieved re council tax
bailiffs are NOT allowed to force entry for the collection of council tax arrears unless they have gained peaceful entry before. The can enter through an open window or door though.
Re: Please help. Notice of Commital to Prison recieved re council tax
Kilic
I am sending you a private message as I am very disturbed indeed at the wording of the letter that you have received as I suspect that your letter would warrant a serious complaint to the Office of Fair Trading. Our office have recently seen a number of such letters and with the credit crunch really starting to be felt, many more people will be receiving similar letters.
Yes, it is a threat, and no a bailiff has neither the powere or right to take any action leading to committal.
I am away from my office until tomorrow when I can advise further but do not allow the bailiff to enter your home and make sure that you do not keep a vehicle on your driveway as the bailiff could well try to levy distress on it.
Re: Please help. Notice of Commital to Prison recieved re council tax
Go to see the council, if you can, and make a formal complaint.
Ask the council to take the debt back from the bailiffs and don't let them fob you off.
Remind them that they are legally responsible for the agents they employ i.e the bailiffs.
Tell them that the bailiffs are abusing their powers and acting illegally and show them one of the committal letters to prove it.
Ask to speak to a manager if need be and go above him if need be.
Make sure the council get the message that you will not tolerate this behaviour by the bailiffs and that if this goes to court, you will make the magistrate aware of the lack of help by the council in sorting this matter and failing to correct or stop the unacceptable behavior of their agents.
Re: Please help. Notice of Commital to Prison recieved re council tax
Thanks very much for all the replies. It definitely makes me feel better knowing there all great people like you lot to help
In all honesty, i'm not at all worried about the bailiff's. I live in a 3rd floor flat so the chances of them getting through a window are nil and my car is registered in my mam's name so they definitely won't be getting that. The only things i have in my house which are worth anything are on hp anyway and i understand they can't take these?
It was more the 'commital notice' i was worried about but i'm a bir more relaxed about that now. So should i just continue sending the £10 cheque to the council along with another letter asking for a Breakdown of what they think i owe? They never bothered replying last time though just kept the cheque. I don't think they are using a private bailiff firm, i beleive it's in house as the letters have the council logo and address on them but the phone number isn't theirs.
Saffronflowers - I'm not sure how much i've paid off, i've got mountains of paperwork for different things so i'll have to dig through them to find the payslips from work showing the amounts coming off. I have a strange feeling that they are including an alleged debt from a previous address although they've made no reference to this. A few years ago i moved abroad and at the time i rented my flat out to a friend. When she moved out the property was empty until i returned (which the council were aware of) I was then sent a letter 2 days after i moved back here, but while flat was still empty, with a council tax bill. I contacted them asking why i had a bill when the property was unoccupied and the reply i got was that an officer had visited the flat and it 'looked' occupied and so i was liable for the bill! I disputed this as the blinds were shut permanently the time it was empty so there was no way it could have looked occupied. I heard nothing more and then just forgot about it. A few months later i moved to the address i'm at now. I'm now starting to wonder if they've just added this onto the debt from my current address.
Please help. Notice of Commital to Prison recieved re council tax
Removal Notice on it stating that to avoid bailiff
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