Hi all, first time poster so please bear with me and i will do my best to make sense.

I moved in to my current property in October,

in December I received two letters regrding non payment of council tax for my previous property informing me that a liability order had been made against me in June 2016 and June 2017 and that all their efforts including council enforcement officers had failed and they were looking at getting an attatchment of earnings.

I ignored the letters as i was happy for them to have an attatchment of earnings.

After speaking with my work I discovered that an atttchment of earnings for both the letters had been obtained (and sure enough money was deducted from January so all well and good I thought)

However when I returned home yesterday there was a "control of goods" letter through my door (the letter is dated a week agao)

- hand delivered (plese see attatchment)

I called the council and this is wht i have discovered

- I have 5 liability orders against me!

2014 (attatchment of earnings)

2015 (attachment of earnings)

2016 (set monthly plan up)

2017 (set monthly plan up)

2018 (Newlyns) liability order June 18

I am told for the Newlyns I have to deal with them directly.

After doing some reading I believe I should of received some form of correspndance from Newlyns before a control of goods letter ie notice of enforcement etc

obviously with the letter through my door it has more than doubled the amount of the originl debt.

I know not to let them in and they cant take anything etc

(Only have my partners car on the driveway which is registered and owned by her fathers business)

I am hoping for some advice on what to do now regarding the Newlys letter

Sorry it was long winded,

I was trying to give as much detail as I could

the debt is for a property I lived at on my own and I have only lived with my partner since November 2018 in a new property

- not sure if that is relevent but thought i best add it

as you've so many it might be a mute point but..

are the council aware of your correct address?

yes, as the council letters in December are ddressd to my current ddress

Is the address you live at now the same as the address Newlyn have for your unpaid Council Tax?

Newlyn posted the letter to my current address

the letter has my current address on it in the top left and the "property detials" for the debt are my previous address (which is where the debt is for)

In that case the Notice of Enforcement has gone to your old address and they have traced you to your current one/

would i be right in thinking that due to them tracing me to my new address tht that proves they havent given me notice of enforcement, as in, if they found out i hve new ddress then they cnt argue they unknowingly sent it to a previous address and tht notice of enforcement is still valid?

re they not in breach of the following?

Paragraph 7(1) of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 states;

(1)An enforcement agent may not take control of goods unless the debtor has been given notice.

Regulation 6(1) of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 states;

Minimum period of notice

6.—(1) Subject to paragraph (3), notice of enforcement must be given to the debtor not less than 7 clear days before the enforcement agent takes control of the debtor’s goods

sorry my A button is somewhat tempramental as you can see

traced you afterwards when they got no response

should they not have sent a notice of enforcemnt or some other form of correspondance to my new address (which they clearly have) before just turning up with a control of goods letter?

whats my options regrding this

If they didn't know your new address than they are OK sending correspondence and bailiffs to your last known address.

Eveidently they know my new address as they posted a control of goods letter through the door yesterday (dated 3/1/19)

So surely tracing me to my new residance means they have that address to send correspondence to given a lack of reply frok correspondence that may have sent to previous address.

Seems to me they've just rocked up and posted a control of goods letter through the door and that's all I have and the letter itself looks like a template I could knock up.

So I have no options as they've followed the correct procedures even though this is first contact I've had from them?

the notice of enforcement is sent to the last known address that the council had for you.

that gives you 7 days to do 'something' else thre bailiffs think its £75 fee is added to the debt.

then without a response they will trace you and pers serve the above that costs £235 = total fees they can add is £310

I think they have to serve NOA to correct address?

The above info is incorrect.

The council are only obliged to send correspondance to your last known address.

However, the bailiff must send correspondance to your present address. Until they have served a NOE to your present address and given you seven clear days, they cannot move onto the enforcement stage.

Can you confirm whether a NOE letter with a £75 charge has ever been sent to your present address?

The only correspondence I have had from Newyn is the control of goods letter through the door yesterday nothing else (except a text tonight saying "You IGNORED our Removal Notice the REMOVAL UNIT is operating in **** ***. Call NEWLYN NOW on 01604633001 to arrange. Ref: *******")

I had two letters in December to my present address from the council so they obviously have this address as my last known address.

The charges must total £353.43 as that is the difference between what the council told me the debt amount is and the total on the newlyn letter

In that case the bailiff cannot charge the £235 enforcement fee. My suggestion is to get on to the council tomorrow, explain that the bailiff has added the enforcement stage fee without giving you a notice of enforcement. You suspect that they sent it to your previous address but legislation is clear in that it must be sent to your usual address. The legislation is the Taking Control of Goods Regulation 2013 part 8(1):

8.—(1) Notice of enforcement must be given—

 

(a) by post addressed to the debtor at the place, or one of the places, where the debtor usually lives or carries on a trade or business;

Thanks, i will compose some dort of letter for the council.

I am however concerned this baliff will rock up when I am at work and my partne/kids are home.

Can i mke the baliffs bck off given the situation with the letters or lack of letters etc

Hide any car, keep all doors locked and tell your wife not to let the bailiff in he might claim he as a right to force entry, not so for Council Tax.

i will also compose a letter for newlyn pointing out the lack of NOE meaning the control of goods letter is invalid/unenforceable (isn't it?)

From elsewhere:

Different enforcement address

If after an initial attendance, the debtor is found to have moved to a different address, enforcement can take place at that address, provided a new notice of enforcement (NoE) is sent to the debtor there.

If the creditor has reason to believe that the debtor may have moved, it may be worthwhile undertaking a trace before starting enforcement action, so that the NoE is sent to the correct address first time round.

well bottom line is no NOE has ever been received at my current address and thats the basis of my letter bsically

yes..as I thought, thanks to RT

as I said..

With council tax enforcement, a local authority are required to use the 'last known' address.

Did you notify the local authority of your forwarding address when you moved in october?

the local authority which i assume is the council wrote to me at my current address at the beginnin of December.

Newlyns posted by hand a letter 8th January (dated 2nd january)

As i registred on the electrol role and registered the council tx for this property in October I assume that counts as informinmg them of my forwarding address.

I don't understand why they can claim its ok to post the NOE (IF THEY DID) to my previous address when it is clear they both have my bew address as they have both used it to deliver correspondance

good you have proof. [assuming current and then councils are the same?]

now use it to your advantage.

poss even a complaint straight to the council ceo if your council ctax dept is run by capita .

forgive my naivity but a complaint about what exactly?

tbh i thought i would need to contct newlyn as a priority given tht they have said they will return and i dont wnt the kids scaring etc