Due to various bouts of unemployment, low wages and general lack of funds over a prolonged period my local council sneakily slapped an attachment of earnings order on me

( i was asked for a full breakdown of my income and outgoings , and they said they would use it to work out a manageable repayment schedule that would help me to pay off my quite considerable backlog of council tax debt ) ..

Unfortunately for them, the company i worked for, as a van driver/courier ,for considerably less than the minimum wage regarded me as self employed

.the AofE order couldn't be enforced ,

without further communication i have now found myself served with 6 onesource bailiffs notices running into thousands of pounds , plus 6 x £235-00 enforcement fees

But the original AofE i was issue considerably less than the minimum wage was for only £256.14 .

.. i also find it strange that the liability order date is given as 17th june 2010 ...

. but the AofE is dated as 15/3/ 2016 ...

Any help would be greatly appreciated as i'm now being threatened with schedule 12,section15 TCE 2007 enforcement , as yet i have not engaged with onesource as i am unfortunately out of work again, thanks

Spacing added etc

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I think you need to contact the council concerned and ask for full details of all the liability orders they have obtained over the years.

You should have had many letters through the post from the council, including Magistrates Summons advising of hearing dates for the liability orders.

Have you moved address often over the years and have not received the correspondence ? It seems a bit odd, that the council have not taken this further. Why have you not contacted the council for any help e.g council tax benefit when unemployed or on reduced income ?

Can you advise of your current circumstances. Do you live in a home you own or is it rented ? Do you own any goods that could be seized by enforcement officers to sell to cover the amount owed ? Do you own a car that is parked near where you live ?

More information is needed to enable advice to be offered.

Due to various bouts of unemployment, low wages and general lack of funds over a prolonged period my local council sneakily slapped an attachment of earnings order on me.

 

Unfortunately for them, the company i worked for, as a van driver/courier ,for considerably less than the minimum wage regarded me as self employed, the AofE order couldn't be enforced ,

 

Without further communication i have now found myself served with 6 'One Source' bailiffs notices running into thousands of pounds , plus 6 x £235-00 enforcement fees

 

But the original AofE i was issue considerably less than the minimum wage was for only £256.14 ... i also find it strange that the liability order date is given as 17th june 2010 ...

. but the AofE is dated as 15/3/ 2016 ...

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated as i'm now being threatened with schedule 12,section15 TCE 2007 enforcement , as yet i have not engaged with onesource as i am unfortunately out of work again, thanks

Almost certainly you need to be speaking with the council to establish how much each Liability Order is for.

You also need to ask the council to confirm the DATE that they sent EACH account to the enforcement company (in this case; One Source). Just so that you are aware, 'One Source' is the local authorities 'in house' bailiff provider.

I am very concerned at your comment that EACH account has attracted an 'enforcement fee' of £235. I will reserve comment on this matter until we have answers to the above questions.

Sorry, I forgot to address the matter of one Liability Order being obtained in 2010 and an 'Attachment of Earnings' not being attempted until 2016. There is nothing wrong with this at all.

Are you currently working, and have you claimed Council Tax refief(benefit) on low income grounds, it and Housing Benefit are not dependent on a claim for JSA/ESA etc, low income or Zero income if Sanctioned also qualifies a claim for those.

You need to find out the dates for each Liability Order, but enforcing six at once seems unduly harsh and may not be correct.. How adding £1500 in fees will help pay the debts is beyond any reason, but then Enforcement is a blunt tool.

You should try asking for a Section 13A relief - they have to at least consider the application - http://lgfa92.co.uk/section-13a-write-off/

As an aside -it's worth being careful over employers stating you're self employed. HMRC are getting very tight on that as employers often tell people they are self employed when, legally, they are employees (and thus losing out on employment rights).

You should try asking for a Section 13A relief - they have to at least consider the application - http://lgfa92.co.uk/section-13a-write-off/

 

As an aside -it's worth being careful over employers stating you're self employed. HMRC are getting very tight on that as employers often tell people they are self employed when, legally, they are employees (and thus losing out on employment rights).

And falling foul of IR 35 which means effectively being double taxed on the same earnings.