Hi all,

I have just woke today to find that scott and co have been into my bank account and a total of £3900 has been set aside for them.

This is a council tax debt that has built up over the years.

I recently had to give up work due to ill health,

I received an amount of £5000 from my pension company,

which i planned to hold onto for funeral expenses as i dont have life insurance.

I am now left with the measly sum off £800 to my name.

I receive ESA and am currently awaiting a tribunal regarding a PIP claim.

When i worked I was paying an amount off my wages to scott and co via wage arrestment, that stopped in August.

Scott and co said they sent letters out but I never received such letters.

I suffer from depression and now with my latest illness, the last thing on my mind was anything to do with council tax.

I have called scott and co and they said there is nothing i can do to stop this now that the amount has been set aside.

Is there any advice as to what I can do, can I stop this,

I have offered to pay a monthly amount but they still insist the £3900 will be taken, thnx in advance for any advice

Allan

How? Do they have card details, a direct debit?

get in touch with your bank pronto and have whatever they have done reversed as an unauthorised transaction.

When i first noticed this morning i called my bank, they in turn told me to contact scott and co

When I called Scott and Co I did set up a direct debit for the amount of £30 a month and made a payment of £30 today, can I authorise my bank to stop this

Typical bank fob off, call them back and ask them what type of transaction it is and that you have not authorised any such payment, its your banks job to do that, dont settle for any fob offs.

Scott and co wont do anything about it, they instigated the transaction.

Just called bank and they said its a legal process and they have to adhere by it by law, I was told again to contact Scott and Co, which ive done 4 times already today and there, according to them, is nothing i can do to reverse this action

I must add that payment has not been taken but the funds have been " set aside"

Sorry for so many ramblings, im in panic mode as that money was being kept to help with funeral expenses, im now apparently left with nothing but my benefits, surely this cant be happening

Sorry for so many ramblings, im in panic mode as that money was being kept to help with funeral expenses, im now apparently left with nothing but my benefits, surely this cant be happening

Scott & Co would have needed to go to court to gain their authority to do what they have done. Ask for details of which court dealt with such an application.

You should have had letters through the post, before your account was touched.

I have no recollection of any such letters,

no one has been to door to hand them to me personally,

according to scott and co,

either personally handed over or put through letter box.

As I said, my mental and physical health has taken over my concerns this past year,

I gather there is nothing I can now do about this?

dipped into my life savings, suppose if i was in a better place mentally and physically this wouldnt have happened.

Is it worth getting legal advice or can I kiss my savings goodbye

Ask Scott & Co for copies of court authorisation for this arrestment.

I believe, from what ive so far read online, that I can put in a "notice of objection" to Sheriff, I will,however, need to get details from Scott and Co which Court is dealing with this, do I write a personal letter to the Court

Just called bank and they said its a legal process and they have to adhere by it by law, I was told again to contact Scott and Co, which ive done 4 times already today and there, according to them, is nothing i can do to reverse this action

What legal process are they referring to? Very difficult to give advice with sketchy info.

What legal process are they referring to? Very difficult to give advice with sketchy info.

Think this one is under Scottish law. so need the Scottish contingent to check in imho.

Sorry for "sketchy" info, I am only going by what I have been told, yes, it will be under Scottish law as im in Scotland, I shouldve mentioned that earlier. I had no warning or communication that anything like this was going to happen,I just noticed on checking my bank account this morning. Im just looking for advice if I can dispute the arrestment and have it taken off. Im no legal expert which is why i am here for some advice. I understand the info is not in detail but if theres anything you need to know I can reply to the best of my ability, thnx again for responses

As this relates to Council Tax arrears and you have gone through income changes, as well as health/benefit issues, you really need to contact the Council to ask for their assistance. Scott & Co act on behalf of the Council and it is the Council who instructed Scott & Co on what enforcement measures they should undertake.

I am not sure that on an internet forum, that we can know what actions have been taken by the Council and Scott & Co up until now. If you contacted the Council with full information about your circumstances, it gives the Council opportunity to look into it and respond. Perhaps some of the money arrested by Scott & Co, can be released back to you.

they cant do anything without a court order so you are not telling us everything. Hiding behind your illness has got you into this trouble so stop it now and provide something that can help people help you or you will get nowhere. You can check with your local court to see if they have been granted an order, as it is for council tax it wont be anywhere else.

Thnx ericsbrother, I am not hiding behind anything, especially my illness. I

did not receive any court order or recall receiving such.

If there was and obviously there appears to be, some court order issued,

I was not aware of it or any action being taken until today.

Maybe it was a mistake on my part even mentioning my illness, so for that I apologise.

At the end of the day, I came here for advice and described the situation as best I could with the information I currently have.

I shall seek advice via CAB, thnx for your attention, have a good evening

Has the bank called it "arrestment"?

No not as such,im presuming its an arrestment as I did not authorise such a payment. From what info I have, the amount stated above has been set aside, the money is still in my account as such, but my account balance and account available shows the different amounts. I was informed by Scott and Co that some sort of mandate would be sent to me, I have then to sign it so the funds can be released to them. If I do not sign this mandate, the funds will be released by the bank to Scott and Co 14 weeks later

Has the bank called it "arrestment"?

See this thread

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?329776-Council-tax-debt-and-bank-account-arrestment

It appears that if you are in receipt of benefits, that the arrestment might not be allowed.

Thanks Uncleb, you just beat me to the link i was going to post

Thnx for link. I have been receiving tax credits for the past couple of years, this of course stopped when I officially retired from my job due to ill health.

I was receiving sick pay from my work for a total of 26 weeks I think it was.

I was off work since Oct 2015,I then filled out an SSP1 form and started receiving esa from job centre.

As I no longer worked, I decided to cash in my pension early, which is why I had money in my account or did.

I may try and phone Council and see if I they can take the debt back and accept a monthly payment towards arrears, failing that I will hopefully get advice from the local CAB, I appreciate everyones advice in this matter

Certainly worth trying to get the council to take it back and oay monthly, no guarantee they will tho.

Thnx Martin

Certainly worth trying to get the council to take it back and oay monthly, no guarantee they will tho.

moved to the Scotland forum.

the key to what has happened is in post 1

"When i worked I was paying an amount off my wages to scott and co via wage arrestment, that stopped in August"

you already have had court dealings and letters and stuff and that's how you came to agreeing the £30PCM arrestment to scott and Co.

you failed to continue to pay this

so the full amount outstanding automatically becomes due and they don't have to do anything or send you anything before they do arrest your bank account

you broke a court agreement you signed up to.

CAB are pretty much useless in Scotland sadly, which council is this please?

if you are on benefits or have been receiving them

theres every possibility that as you are in Scotland you should have been entitled to a CTAX reduction

are the council aware of you mental health issues? if not you need to tell them that too.

you cant be classed as vulnerable unless they know

go ring the council in the morning and they might be able to sort this out.

but sadly its of your own doing.

scott & co [sheriffs for the court] appear to have done nowt wrong at all here

and no for anybody reading

you cant 'claim it back' or block the payment

this is SCOTTISH LAW

Hi,

I only set up direct debit this morning after I called Scott and Co,

I was of the understanding that this is what was required of me to stop the arrestment.

As far as I am aware, I receive council tax reduction as I am now in receipt of full housing benefit.

As far as I am aware the council are aware of my mental health,

the reason being they housed me several years ago, my health being one of the factors.

It is Kingdom Housing Assc. that I am housed with, so deal with Fife Council.

I am aware that this may be my own doing, although completely unintentional, as I have appeared to have missed any letters that were sent to me.

I will call Fife Council in the morning and see if they can offer me advice in this.

I appreciate your response, thnx