I fell behind with my council tax payments and had a bailiff knocking on the door. He said if I didn't let him in, I'd have to pay the full balance (about £500) in one go and would not be allowed to pay by instalments. I didn't let him in.

I then contacted the Council Tax people and offered to pay them by Direct Debit - I can afford to pay that way again but they said 'It's in the hands of the Bailiffs you have to go through them now'.

I can't afford to pay off the entire bill in one fell swoop but I can in instalments. Is my only option to allow them to come into my house?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated and thanks for reading.

Lil.

Do you know if this has gone to court?

Try in some way to get payment to the council, you can do this online by making direct payments if you have the facility. I must admit that delaying or confusing things with regard payments and making them does sometimes bring results.

I have had an occasion where you can totally **** the bailiff off by making payments to the council even after the bailiff called!!

Never heard from them again and no mention of their charges.

Their are lots of people on here who will help draft letters and check out the templates too.

Keep your chin up! There is hope for us all if we stick together.

SHERLOCK

Hi, as far as I know it hasn't gone to court, it's only recent that the Bailiff called and it was his first visit. The Council say I can't pay by instalments anymore and I have to sort it out with the bailiff.

The bailiff says I can't pay them by instalments unless I allow them to come into my house, something it looks as if i'm going to have to let them do. Is that wise though?

The bailiff is not telling you the truth. You should write to both the bailiffs

company and send a copy to the Council complaining about the bailiffs

behaviour which is according to the OFT using deceitful business practices.

He does not need access to your house to arrange a payment

plan-do not let him in.

DO NOT let them into your house lil,you let them in and they can get in without your permission next time,hes lying to you and you dont even have to open the door to him...there are lots of posts on here to help you but dont believe everything they tell you...good luck

Louise

Hi lilmissbossyuk

Firstly, welcome to CAG, secondly don't panic.

There's lots of help and advice to be had here, or just a "listening ear" to sound off to if that's what's needed.

Now. DO NOT LET A BAILIFF INTO YOUR HOUSE, NOT FOR ANY REASON.

If you let a bailiff in then he has a right of entry on subsequent occasions, by force if necessary. If you don't let him in he can do nothing.

Make sure that you do not leave any windows or doors open at any time. A bailiff does not have to have you actually let him in, all he needs is "peaceful entry" which basically means not breaking in. Bailiffs are allowed to enter through an open window or door and that counts as peacefull entry. So be carefull on that point.

Next, start making payments to the council but make sure it's proveable, i.e. cheque. Don't send cash or postal orders. Pay as much as you can afford but don't overstretch yourself and keep up the payments. If it ends up going to court then the fact that you have been making payments will stand you in very good stead with the judge.

Send a polite but strong letter of complaint about the bailiffs methods to the council and to trading standards.

Keep us informed.

Remember, don't let the bailiff in and keep doors and windows locked shut, including upstairs windows.

Pete

National Debtline England & Wales, for FREE CONFIDENTIAL and INDEPENDENT ADVICE call 0808 808 4000

contact these people Lil they are very helpful and will send you a info pack and talk to you on the phone.

Never ever let the baliffs into your house. They have no legal right to enter providing you do not let them in.

If you invite them in under any condition they can seize your possesions or make a list called a walking possesion which means they can take them at any time,

The Council can make an agreement with you but you need to try to get to speak with a dept head or manager of the collections dept not a junior admin clerk.

I honestly can't thank you people enough

innocenti, sherlock, lookinforinfo, louise35, number6 and peanuts, what a relief to be able to hear advice about this.

I owe about £500 and I think I can afford to pay that off over 3 months, if I send the council cheques for say £170 a month will that get me off the hook? What about when the bailiff calls back because he said on his letter that I already owe them £50 in charges just for them calling out and that will be the same amount again if they have to call out a second time?

he is being very heavy handed and using every trick in the book including lying and being threatening to frighten you into paying. He may be nice and say ok but may I just come in to use your phone to call my office etc .Don't let them in!

When he comes do not open the door even a crack on the chain. Talk through the door.

Tell him you are in contact with the Council ( mention the name of the person in Rates dept) tell him you are arranging payment of the debt and that you will be sending an immediate payment of £..

Then go upstairs until he is gone.

If he persists and makes a scene or threatens you in any way ask him for his office number and tell him you are going to make a formal complaint about him .

Try to have someone with you to give you confidence.

Whatever you do, do ring the Rates Dept and insist on speaking to a manager or head of the debt dealing with your rates. Ask specifically for them and get their name.DON'T give them a load of old flannel or excuses. just apologise for the delay in paying say you have had some recent financial difficulties but you would like to make an immediate payment today of £170.00 followed by 2x further payments of £170.00 on 7th December & 7th Jan

Next ring citizens advice and do ring the National Debtline first thing this morning.

he is being very heavy handed and using every trick in the book including lying and being threatening to frighten you into paying. He may be nice and say ok but may I just come in to use your phone to call my office etc .Don't let them in!

When he comes do not open the door even a crack on the chain. Talk through the door.

Tell him you are in contact with the Council ( mention the name of the person in Rates dept) tell him you are arranging payment of the debt and that you will be sending an immediate payment of £..

 

Then go upstairs until he is gone.

If he persists and makes a scene or threatens you in any way ask him for his office number and tell him you are going to make a formal complaint about him .

 

Try to have someone with you to give you confidence.

 

Whatever you do, do ring the Rates Dept and insist on speaking to a manager or head of the debt dealing with your rates. Ask specifically for them and get their name.DON'T give them a load of old flannel or excuses. just apologise for the delay in paying say you have had some recent financial difficulties but you would like to make an immediate payment today of £170.00 followed by 2x further payments of £170.00 on 7th December & 7th Jan

 

Next ring citizens advice and do ring the National Debtline first thing this morning.

I concur with peanuts advice.

Cannot be repeated often enough - do not let a bailiff in for ANY reason, not even into your porch. If possible do not even open the door to them and do not fall for any subterfuge such as "can I use your phone?", "can I just use your loo?", etc. Keep all doors and windows locked shut at all times. Bailiffs are powerless unless you let them in.

Do as Peanuts says.

Pete

Also make sure you have no goods of value outside, keep garages and sheds etc securely locked and if at all possible don't park your car anywhere near your house.

A bailiff could take / clamp your car and they will have done a DVLA search so they'll know make, model and reg number and as a last resort the bailiff will drive around the area looking for it. Keep it in a locked garage or park it well away from your house to reduce that possibility.

Pete

hi there im new to this i did let the baliffs take details of wot was in my home and made an arrangement to pay but since then we have had our home repossesed and didnt av any were to stay for 2mnths untill now but i couldnt make payments to them as we was trying to get a depositt for our new rented home but they dont have our new address should i inform them or not and is the levey they took of wot possetions we had still valid means thou its not the same address thats on there levey

any help would be gr8ful

Do you know if this has gone to court?

OF COURSE ITS GONE TO COURT BAILIFFS CANT ACT WITHOUT IT GOING,THATS WHEN THE COUNCILS PASS IT ON TO THE BAILIFF COMPANY

Hi, I wonder if someone can help me. I lived in a property in 2001 with two other people and when we left the property and went our seperate ways, the council tax on the property hadn't been paid. I received a baliffs letter in 2008 with all three of our names but under my address. I contacted the company and they said I was liable for all of the amount (£300). I said I couldn't pay and said that I would pay my 3rd (£100) which I did. I have no forwarding address for the two others but only email addresses. They both ignored my emails. I then receive a letter yesterday telling me that they had tried to enter my property and the bill is now £400. That's £200 for the actual council tax arrears and £200 for posting a letter through my door. The citizens advice burea told me to pay it and that they could force entry by law into my property. I have tried to reason with Rossendales but they have said I have till the 28th August to pay in full..Has anyone got any advice?????

Hi, A baliff cannot force entry into your home. He can only come in if you let him.

They tried this with me and I told them to ...... I had threats shouted through the letter box etc., we will follow you the usual stuff. I wrote a strong letter to the Bailiff company and sent a letter to the council and said I was reporting the Bailiff for acting incorrectly.

They never came back

Contact the council again, and explain again.

Bub1

they cannot force entry into your property. Contact the council and speak to them before you talk to the bailiff company.

Did you ever get a magistrate liability order for that council tax? if not tell the council that and they have to take the debt back and negotiate with you.

For more info check this site.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bailiffs-sheriff-officers/58550-council-tax-bailiffs-43.html

Hello

I also need help with bailiffs calling to collect council tax.

It turns out they are billing me for 12 calls to my property in my absence at £25 each, they apparently justify this because I have 4 separate outstanding bills - I have moved house a lot in the last few years.

The total amount comes to about £2500. I have absolutely no savings and earn about £800 a month, which is entirely spent on household bills, I haven't had a luxury item more expensive than a chocolate bar in years.

I have written to the firm offering to pay by instalments, I thought I could manage to scrape together about £25 a month, any more and I would be unable to keep up with rent. The firm replied saying that this amount was totally unacceptable.

Thus far, the bailiffs have not gained entry to my flat, and I have not signed anything.

Can I write directly to the council? I understand that if I'd got in touch with them sooner I could have got my council tax bill reduced, is it too late to have the total amount owing reduced retrospectively? What should I say to the council, are there any template letters available?