Partly due to ill health initially I have a series of unpaid council tax demands which are in the hands of a company that uses bailiffs.

I am now well and I have family help to get back on my feet,

The bailiffs have never been allowed into my property

and I have not allowed myself to be intimidated by them by false verbal or written threats.

They have NEVER been allowed access!

As this is not my own money I would appreciate some help and guidance so that I get this right.

We consider the bailiffs to be unscrupulous people who use deceptive tactics that prey on the ignorant, vulnerable and less able in society and as a result have no desire to reward them for their bullying.

My intention is to pay the council directly.

I haven't calculated the exact amount but it is several thousand pounds.

I have no faith or trust in the scoundrels who have harassed me and all I can currently put my hands on in documentation is a series of letters sent in one envelope all with the same vain threats and differing amounts of money.

I need to verify the details.

I would appreciate guidance and confirmation of the sense of my plan of action.

Firstly

I would contact the council expressing my wish to deal with the debt, without at this stage offering to pay it all.

I would ask what I owe and for details of the debts, dates etc.

I can't be explicit about paying it all because until I am given the money I don't have it and I don't want to give the impression that I have spare money when I do not.

I would then just pay the money.

I would appreciate guidance on how this should be done.

Could the payment come from my benefactor's account, as a cheque for example?

Are there any fees to the bailiff company that are unavoidable?

Can I avoid rewarding them directly by just paying the council?

I doubt you will get away with not paying enforcement fees sadly

but get ALL the info FIRST and comeback here

then we can properly advise.

First of all establish from the Council how much was owing etc

.

You need to speak to someone at the Council and ask the following questions:

1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you

2 - the dates they were obtained

3 - the addresses they were for

4 - the period of time each covers

5 - how much each one was for

6 - how much is still outstanding

7 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement

8 - the dates & amounts of any payments

...........................

.

Next you need to send off for a breakdown of the charges the Bailiff applied.

.

Here's an example,

use and ADAPT at will and best sent initially by email backed up by a copy in the post.

.

"From:

My Name

My Address

.

To:

Acme Bailiff Co

Bailiff House

.

Ref: Account No: 123456

.

Dear Sir

.

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.

.

This includes:

a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.

b - the reason for the fee.

c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.

d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were Certificated at.

e - the date of the Certification.

.

This is NOT a Subject Access Request

uest under the Data Protection Act S7 1998

so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

.

I require this information within 14 days.

.

Yours faithfully

.

Ripped off customer"

.

The bailiffs have never been allowed into my property and I have not allowed myself to be intimidated by them by false verbal or written threats.

 

We consider the bailiffs to be unscrupulous people who use deceptive tactics that prey on the ignorant, vulnerable and less able in society and as a result have no desire to reward them for their bullying.

 

My intention is to pay the council directly. I haven't calculated the exact amount but it is several thousand pounds.

 

I have no faith or trust in the scoundrels who have harassed me and all I can currently put my hands on in documentation is a series of letters sent in one envelope all with the same vain threats and differing amounts of money.

 

Firstly, I would contact the council expressing my wish to deal with the debt, without at this stage offering to pay it all.

 

I can't be explicit about paying it all because until I am given the money I don't have it and I don't want to give the impression that I have spare money when I do not. I would then just pay the money. I would appreciate guidance on how this should be done.

 

Are there any fees to the bailiff company that are unavoidable?

 

Can I avoid rewarding them directly by just paying the council?

I notice that you mention that you have received some letter from a firm of bailiffs. Are these recent letters or from a while ago?

If recent, then you need to be aware that if you were to pay the council direct (minus bailiff fees) then in the majority of cases, the council will forward your payment onto the relevant enforcement company so that they can deduct their fees etc.

You may wish to read the following decision from the Local Government Ombudsman which addresses your query (and others points of interest as well).

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?477356-Local-Government-Ombudsman-(LGO)-decision....Vulnerability-...Paying-the-council-direct...Pro-Rata-distribution-and-more.

An email to your local elected head of the council can't hurt either

Dear XYZ,

I wonder if you can help, hopefully I am contacting the correct person.

Put simply, I got behind on the Council Tax because of illness and inability to work. I'm now back working and would like to start paying off my arrears. I completely understand the importance of paying back this sum, however I have been visited by bailiffs who want to charge me an extra £375 in their fees. I'm quite happy to make a solid arrangement to pay back the council tax but my weekly income is only £xyz per month, this fee means I would need to either not eat or fall into rent arrears for the month!

I can supply you with all details necessary if need be,

Kind Regards'

This is what worked for me! You should be able to find your local council details on the web. Talking to anyone in the contact centre is a waste of time, they are so poorly trained they have no idea of their own vunerable person policy. It took the head of the council less than half an hour to sort it for me , by the way!

regards

Jonathan

bet the bailiffs and the council CTAX dept are run by Capita?