Thread: stouffy & Council tax ***WON***

Hi

I can't seem to find a link to open a new thread and really need some help please

I have council tax arrears of £2,000 and made an arrangement with equita to pay £250 per month until Feb 2010 and then pay the balance in March when i receive a bonus from work.

I paid my first two months and found that i couldn't afford as much in November, so called to ask whether I could skip November and pay in December, they were rude and unhelpful and basically said no, I was strapped again in December but didn't call them to let them know as I couldn't cope with the inevitable unhelpful response.

Today a bailiff called at my home, my partner was in but didn't let him in, what shoudl i do? what can i do? Can I revert back to the council and pay them or should I continue trying to pay off equita, I can't afford to pay anything for anotehr 2 weeks and I know they will not be accepting of that.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks guys
x

Thanks for that, still not sure what to do as I'm in a panic so not thinking straight, should I call the bailiff to try and make an arrangement or send the letter and/or contact the council, also what can they charge me legally as they have whacked a fair bit on top (need to check the letters for exact amount) but if you could give me some guidance that would be great.
Thanks
x

No worries, Stouffy, that's understandable. If you click on the link Hallowitch provided, scroll to the bottom left, click on 'new thread' and it'll open up pretty much like adding a post here. The only extra needed is to give it a title..
Rae.

Thanks for your response, I am still going through p/w and will post charges once I am able to figure them out.

My car is parked outside, will they know that the car belongs to me if it's not for a car related debt or do I need to park it elsewhere? I won't let him onto the house so hopefully that will be OK.

I called the council today and they confirmed that the order is for £2600, so far equita have forwarded to the council £251 of the £500 I have paid to them. They also confirmed that I would have to deal with them (Equita) directly unless they passed the debt back to the council.

What are my next steps, should I call the bailiff or leave it and forward the letter to them , I am happy to make an arrangement from the end of this month but I know that won't be accetable to them as they would want immediate payment. If the council insist on me dealing with the bailiff then I guess I have no choice.

Won't call him tonight will wait for advice from someone here

Thanks again for your help on advance.

Cx

Hi Ploddertom

Thanks so much for your advice, it does unnnerve me a little to not pay the bailiff but to pay the council will the debt reduce if I do that stilll, I am more than happy to do that, but don't want to be watching my back in case he turns up again which am sure he will. I have no finance on the car it's worth about £400.

Once they realise I am paying the council should they leave me alone after a while?

Thanks again, still really panicking but I know I am not the only one in this position.
C
x

No they haven't been to my house, they 'visited' me for the first time today, my partner wouldn't let them in, and nothing on the car at the moment, what happens when they levy the car do they take it?

Hallowitch, you live up to your name! I was just mulling over the fact that I have read somewhere - but have no idea where - that councils [all or some I don't know] have agreements in their contract that unless the car will substantially reduce the sum owed it should not be levied.
I hope someone can clarify...
Rae.

OK right I've gone through my paperwork (which is a mission in itself), I have actually only paid them £251 to date, this is the amount the council have confirmed they recieved (is that a good thing?) Also looking at all the notices they have sent there is no mention of any of their fees on any of them , they just say that any action they take may involve me in considerable further expense. The notice I recieved today says
"Payment is due in full in 24 hours" " I have attended today with the intention of removing your goods and chattels as necessary to discharge the outstanding C Tax iability order and any additional Enforcement Costs Incurred" < still no mention of what their costs are! it then says "Please note - NO further arrangements are acceptable and payment is now required in full by Clear funds only. I will re attend your address with immediate effect and may REMOVE goods even in your absece. SHould you wish to avoid this distressing course of action, contact me immediately on the telephone number below to arrange prompt payment of your debt. No contact will be taken as your refusal to pay"

So what now, shall I pay the council and hope for the best or try and reason with this monster!

Thanks again for you help x

Stouffy

You will get loads more advice today, I'm sure but for now I will tell you what I have done so far.

We owe allmost and identical amount to you (well we did a month ago)

We have so far sent a letter to the council making them an offer of payment and asking them to recall account from bailiffs.

Have sent a letter to bailiffs telling them that we will not deal with them.

Received letter back from bailiffs - council put action on hold until 4/1 then they are coming to get me apparently.

Received letter back from Council, wont recall Bailiffs.

Sent another email to council to ask why they are willing to accept my payments but still let their dogs loose.

Received email from council, they will never refuse money but will not recall bailiffs.

Formal complaint sent in to council which will now be looked at by someone higher up in the chain.

Whilst all these letters/emails have been going to and fro we have been making regular weekly payments and have now paid allmost a quarter of the amount owed.

The bailiffs havent called again yet but I cant say that I am enjoying life at the moment because I am sure that they wont have given up yet.

However after being ripped off, intimidated and threatened by a Bailiff previously, I reckon that living in continual stress (wondering if/when they will call again) for another couple of months or so whilst I make these payments has got to be better than the alternative.

Also whilst I think on - check if you come under any of the vunerable classifications, sorry I havent got time to post link at the moment. If you have alook through some other threads you will find all details there.

Also check if you are entitled to council tax relief

Good luck with it, hang on in there, pay the council and dont pay/communicate with Bailiffs.

Originally Posted by hallowitch

I'M sure i read it somewhere too cant remember either where i read it

I try to save things that i read that could be useful in my favourites but i either cant find them or loose them

I really am going to have to bite the bullet and get get my daughter to do a database or whether you call it so that i don't loose thing and they are easy to find I'm sure she can come up with something for me thats easy to use

The general principle is that if a bailiff were to remove goods (whether this is a sofa, computer or more importantly a vehicle) he needs to ensure that the item would raise sufficient money to pay a large proportion of the debt after their fees were paid.

With council tax, bailiff fees are deducted FIRST from any payment made so if for instance there is a debt of £1,500 and a bailiff were to take a vehicle that would raise approx £500 at auction he would know that this would incur an "attending to remove fee" of approx £150, fees for a low loader ( possibly another £150) additional fees for storage of normally £20 per day, auctioneers costs of £50 and form these rough figures you can see that selling the vehicle would merely raise sufficient to pay bailiff fees only . In addition, of course a vehicle has been taken and the debtor may well not be able to go to work.

The bailiff would be accused of removing and selling a vehicle to raise bailiff fees for his company and NOT to pay towards the debt.

The regulations state as we that if there are sufficient goods on which to levy the bailiff should return the account back to the local authority as NULLA BONO (this means nil effects...or no goods on which to levy to cover the debt)/