Hi We started renting a beautiful home in December. We pay £1,800 a month for the house which is a hell of a lot of money. We have had a letter saying building works begin on a patch of land next to our garden next week and the foundations mean they will have to take down our fence and work in our garden! We both work from home which will be impossible with the noise. We also have a dog who will go berserk at the builders in the garden and she wont be able to go outside. We are absolutely gutted that our dream home has become such a nightmare and we will not be able to use the garden for over 2 months! Well, we can, but not privately! Any advice on if we can refuse to pay rent? or at least get a reduction? The landlord knew about this and did not tell us before we moved in. My other concern is that our garden will now be completely overlooked by the new house. Any advice please?

Hi, I took it to a stage 2 yes and it was rejected again. They completely ignored all of my points and at that point I didn't feel like I would get anywhere with the ombudsman either. The bailiff used a police officer to get in to my home, told the police that there had been a disturbance which was untrue, I didn't even answer the door or speak to him. The officer came to my door and told me I HAD to open the door, which I now know is of course not true. I was obviously scared at the time so listened to the police officer. The bailiff then removed a number of items, including toys that belonged to my son, and placed them all on my front drive, obviously as a way of embarrassing me in to paying, then eventually took my car. At every point, I said I would pay what was owed but he ignored me. The bailiff was also aggressive and threatened to forcefully take my phone off me in front of the officer, yet she did nothing. I complained to the police and the council at the time and got an apology off the police but nothing off the council who are still maintaining that they followed procedure and if I have an issue with the fees that were taken from the sale of my car, then I have to complain to Marstons. I did this at the time and it was ignored. The whole thing became so stressful that I left it there. lost my car and my means of work transportation. To now face the same 'arrears' when I went through all of that, is just disgusting. At the time, I think, If I remember correctly that I offered to pay the full amount to the council and they just wouldnt accept it and said I HAD to deal with the bailiff who at that point had probably added on attendance fees, removal fees etc etc which I couldn't afford. I remember at the time that I checked what they could legally charge me for letters, attending etc etc and the fees were way above that. Also, on two of the outstanding bills, two other people are named, yet the council are not pursuing them. It's just bullying to be honest! What I also have an issue with, is that for each outstanding account, even though 4 are with marstons, 4 with another agency and 1 with another, they have added on separate fees for each account rather than one fee!

Hi I'm pulling my hair out with an ongoing council tax issue or issue's' rather ! I recently received 8 letters from my local council about old council tax bills dating as far back as 2008! The bills are for a number of different properties (I've moved around a lot) A couple of them are final small bills that I've missed after moving out, another is for a shared property where I paid my share and unfortunately someone else didn't and another is for two months after I moved out of a property. In 2012, my car was seized unfairly (I used it for self employment at the time and the bailiff used very dodgy means to remove it) to cover a £217 bill, the car was worth £3k and sold for £700, only £200 of that went to the council. On the day he took it, I rang the council while he was there to offer payment of the £217 and they refused to accept it. After receiving the letters recently, i have raised an issue (not an official complaint yet) to say that I do not owe them said council tax, number 1 because they took a £3k car and got nothing for it even though I offered payment and the bailiffs took so much for illegal fees at the time and also because the other property was shared and they can chase the other person on the bill. I can also provide evidence of moving out of the other property. I have been going back and forth with the council for a couple of weeks now who are refusing to listen to me and keep repeating that I am liable for all properties and accounts. The total outstanding is nearly £2000. They refuse to acknowledge that they did anything wrong in taking my car and actually said if I had offered to pay the bailiff or the council they would've much rather have accepted it, which is rubbish! When I received the letters, I contacted them immediately and asked that any further bailiff action was placed on hold while they investigated my points but the council ignored me and I have received numerous letters from THREE different bailiff agencies adding on further fees so the outstanding now totals £3,200!!! Its insane. My time to make an arrangement was up with one agency so I have had to agree to make payments of £400 a month to clear the £1,400 that they hold otherwise they would've visited my property. Another agency have given me 7 days. How is this OK? They have already taken a car which they should not have done ( I complained at the time and obviously my complaint was not upheld!) There are other people named on two of the bills yet they aren't being pursued. I have provided evidence of not living in one property in the time they claim but they have ignored it. I read something about a liability order only lasting 12 months? Is there anything I can do? I would even be willing to just take the council tax arrears on the chin and pay the council, but I cannot afford to pay £1,200 on top of that in bailiff fees! help!

Sorry for the delay, I've been poorly. I originally got the letter in September, then I was away for a few weeks emailed the council on my return to challenge the amount. Then when that was resolved I tried to get in touch with Marstons to sort it out. I will have phone records showing all the calls hopefully, where do I challenge this fee, to the council or Marstons? won't they just ignore it and tell me I have to pay it!?

I kid you not, I have the phone records to prove it, every single time I tried to call, which was probably 3-4 times a week on average, I could not get through. I didn't ask them to place a hold on it as I didn't know that was an option. Ultimately I'm happy to pay what I owe, but no one will accept my payment! And yes, of course it was the right number.

Thank you. No idea what happened to the formatting of my post ha!

Hi I have a council tax bill outstanding that has been passed to Marstons. They wrote to me about it and the amount seemed wrong I disputed it with the council. Once that had been settled, I have tried continuously to get in touch with Marstons probably for about 4 weeks, and each time been on hold for at least 30 minutes. I finally got through on Friday and was told my account had been passed to a bailiff and I would have to speak to him. I rang the man who was rude, aggressive and abrupt. I offered to make two payments (the debt is £1000) as I couldn't afford to pay it one go. He said OK but he would still attend my property and add £235 to the arrears. I asked why as I had just offered to pay him and he said because he could. I said very calmly that no one would be in and we wouldn't open the door anyway he started shouting that that was it, I couldn't pay in two payments any longer and he would 'see me Monday'. I once again asked for an explanation as to why he wouldn't accept my payment offer and he shouted 'goodbye' and put the phone down! I tried calling Marstons back but once again couldn't get through I emailed and complained about his conduct and offered to phone and pay via the office. The bailiff has since attended twice and put letters through the door, but I will not ring him again to be shouted at thank you. I have also emailed the council to offer payment directly and as you'd expect they said I have to deal with Marstons. Obviously he's attended so they can add money on and I will not pay the £235. Just wanted to check where I stand legally? If neither the council or Marstons will accept my payment offer, what am I actually meant to do!?