Hi there,

had a terrifying experience this morning.

My mum has received an official letter from Walker Love, hand posted through her door, saying she has 14 days to pay roughly 15 thousand pounds in council tax arrears or she will be subject to the usual procedures, bank account arrested, made bankrupt etc etc.

This is terrifying, but also confusing.

1) this is supposedly unpaid council tax for a property dating back to 2001

2) the property was vacated in 2005

3) my dad died in 2005 and his considerable debts were handled by a lawyer at the time.

There has been no mention of any monies still owed, since 2006 - until today.

4) My mum is 71, flat broke with no savings and only has her modest state pension.

5) She is currently being assessed for possible Alzheimer's Disease - but is still 'with it' enough to be able to read the letter and have a breakdown, which she did this morning.

6) How is she liable for this, and how have the costs continues to accrue for all these years?

7) WHY has there been no mention of this until now, when the debt has reached a frankly laughable and unplayable amount?

8) Where do I start in terms of tackling this for her, as she neither mentally, emotionally or financially capable of dealing with any of this?

I have read bits and bobs about not communicating with Walker Love, not letting them access her property etc etc

she can't realistically afford to repay anything of this money and she can't handle someone turning up to her door.

I live 40 miles away and work 12 hour shifts so it's hard for me to deal with any doorstep harassment.

At present, my mum lives in a council property and has very little by way of possessions, no savings, and lives week to week on her meagre pension.

Any advice would be really helpful guys

- my poor mum is frantic and we don't know what to do.

She went through absolute hell after my dad died, due to all his debts which she knew nothing about

. She lost everything and had a massive mental breakdown.

I can't let this happen again.

I just don't understand where this has come from.

No mention of it for years and years and then whack!

"You have two weeks to pay us 15 grand."

First important thing to note. There is no forced entry for council tax, therefore no door should be opened to anyone attending your mothers home. Never invite anyone into a home to discuss any council tax liability. If bailiffs have enforcement powers, then if they cannot access someones home, they are restriced to goods outside e.g. car, items in a shed, items in a separate garage.

You say vacated. Was it sold at some point or let to tenants ? What happened betweem 2001 and when it was sold or let out.

A council tax liability order (LO) from 2001 or other date may still be valid. They don't expire. So provided a LO was obtained the council can try to enforce the debt.

Given your mothers health, perhaps a power of attorney needs to be obtained by you now, so you can deal with this io her behalf. As that will take awhile, type out a letter headed letter of authority for your mum to sign, just stating that I Mrs A Jones of X address authorise my Son Mr A Brown of X address to deal with all communcations from Walker Love and X council authority in regard to an alleged Council Tax liability. Then get her to sign and date it. Then add your signature and date.

Once you have authority to deal with, then send the letter of authority or power of attorney to Walker Love and the Council concerned, with a covering letter explaining the position. It might be an idea to phone Walker Love just to explain and say you are writing to them and the council. Make sure they are aware your Mum is vulnerable through a health condition.

When you have the authority, also send the council a Data Protection subject access request, with a copy of the letter of authority. Ask them for all council tax records for the period your Mum owned the house.

I note you live 40 miles away, but I think you will need to deal with this somehow, unless someone lives nearer to her that can help. It needs to be dealt with.

Nb. Your Mum would be jointly responsible for Council tax and it would not have been written off when your Dad died. Would not matter if only your Dads name was shown on the bills.

Thanks for your reply, UB67.

My parents lived in the house from 1994 until 2005.

Dad died in January of that year and my mum moved out in the June.

She went into Council Housing and the house was sold around the January of 2006.

Lawyers acting on behalf of my mum handled the sale of the property and subsequent debts left by my father.

My poor mum had nothing to do with this.

My dad took responsibility for the mortgage and council tax.

He was in over his head and my mum didn't know a thing about it until after his death.

It's a very upsetting predicament for my mum to be facing at this stage of her life.

What's puzzling me is why has it taken until 2017 for Sheriff Officers to show up at her door.

I'm acting on the little information I have at the moment.

This debt looks enforceable, but is absolutely unpayable.

She has nothing but the state pension she lives on.

I will act upon your advice and post any updates as and when the situation progresses.

Thanks for your advice.

Hello there, I'm sorry to hear about your Mum's problems.

You mention sheriffs, are we talking about Scotland please?

HB

I think it is, as Walker Love deal with Scotish cases.

Council Tax issues same in Scotland or very similar ?

Yes this is Scottish

And yes they can do all they say

Scotland is totally different to E&W

Ignore the previous advice

They can and WILL Arrest bank account freeze assets and go for sequestration of any property.

I would contact the council concerned first thing Monday

Moving to to the Scottish forum

 

They can and WILL Arrest bank account freeze assets and go for sequestration of any property.

 

I would contact the council concerned first thing Monday

 

Moving to to the Scottish forum

The lady being chased lives in a council house, with no assets and just state pension income.

Is there an application process to wipe this debt ?

yes through the council

I can apply through the council to have the debt wiped?

that's down to them to sort out

but you MUST contact them and tell them what you have told us here.

they instigated the action

they are the people that can sort it.

walker love are only acting upon their instructions.

the council are the ones to deal with

most are very understanding .

its simply that no contact has been made

and they are trying to offset the budget cuts/losses from central govt.

I know this seems strange

but its not as big-a -deal as it appears to be.

This gives me a glimmer of hope,but I'm not going to get carried away. Will contact the council asap and see how it goes.

Contact the elected head of her local council, and her local councillors. Call and email them, they will quite possibly be able to sort this for you rapidly.

Local Councillor happens to sit on the Scottish Forum Against Poverty. He was annoyed to hear of the situation and has vowed to fight it "every step of the way."

This is a positive start, let's see what he comes up with over the next week.

Excellent news, follow them up, you would be amazed how much influence they have on these matters. I would also recommend contacting the actual head of the council too. It's quite possible they will be able to put an end to this problem.

Also one other thing,

Either search on line for your local council's code of practice, around collecting ctax debts, or if you can't find it give them a call, asking them to send a copy.

Without a shadow of a doubt you will find a clause listing vulnerable people who Bailiffs are not as a solution for collecting a debt, such as pregnant women, chronic illness sufferers etc.

I would say a single, elderly, possibly ill/disabled lady would fall into that category. Be prepared to send the council a doctors / consultant's note if necessary.

This will get the bailiffs of her case, at least.

I got busted and stupid (Bristow & Sutor ) of our backs because my wife was off work chronically ill at the time. Any questions on this, let me know!

no such thing as bailiffs in scotland

Sounds like a better place all around to live

no but they do have some ****ty property laws of their own.

no such thing as bailiffs in scotland

Hey guys great news,

local councillor got the debt wiped!!

I don't know the ins and outs yet as my sister took up the fight

- she stays in that area

- but she just messaged me to say the case has been closed.

I can barely wrap my head around it, but if this is indeed the case, I'm absolutely dumbfounded, and really relieved for my mum.

I won't believe it until I have it in writing, but that really is fantastic news!

Thanks to all for feedback and advice, we're all very grateful.

Excellent news !!

lets us know the ins and outs

I would expect as post 11

dx

Just on this thread.

Where legally does someone stand with council tax?

I assume from reading that it's enforceable, under all methods and that no-one in Scotland has any defence against denial, dispute or other, i.e. if they say you owe it, they are going to take it from you, one way or another?

I have obtained a demand for a large sum of money, not even owed, in my belief, nor any evidence to prove, just a piece of paper and some shady people collecting for them. Rather intimidating, but what are the routes of resolution if an amount is in dispute or a method to postpone action until dialogue is established to mutually provide a solution to the alleged debt?

start your own thread and tell us wht it is about. People dont get demands out of the blue without the council having a belief that their is a liability, even if they are wrong about that. A belief that it isnt owed is just as vague and all of the comments about proof are immaterial if the law has been followed, even erroneously so tell us all