ty so much xx

Hello there I am very very sorry to barge in on someones thread, I am in need of help urgently in the same subject I know how to reply to a thread but I dont know how to start one of my own would some send me in the right direction sorry John I am readng yours with interest and apologise for barging in. x

yes your right when i looked at it i realised sorry! I thought you wanted advice and I thought that was the purpose of me explaining my situation so you could take bits from it for dealing with your own as you asked for help, however you are correct and no hijack was intended, and I will certainly invade it anymore just that you have had no other advice? kaijays

update to last post; nobody from swalec contacted and certainly not a manager, as they stated they would, I rang again and again told no managers available (do they exist i started thinking), so i left it a few days and have rang them demaning a manager as the avisor cant help with complaint, I got hold of a young man called russell who did everything he could even though he could not get hold of a manager himself and rang me back a few hours later explaining what he had done, he has cancelled the prepaid meter instalation and has forms being posted to me first class, so that I can go on the government tariff (if you spend more than 10% of your income on fuel), and he has put my account on hold until it is resolved, he is getting me on a lower tariff which is in place for 2 yrs, I will be able to keep my direct debit payments quite low, he has committed to ringing me back next week, he has so far done exactly what he says on the tin and is an example of how customer services should be, I am still a little mad as I wante a gesture of good will but so far none forthcoming I expected them as it was there mistake to offer a small gsture at least, as I am stll having to repay £575 quid, well we will c how it goes.

Hi I am currently experiencing a similar problem wth swalec who belong to scottish and southern energy, I have both gas and elec with then and pay by direct debit, when i moved into this property 3 years ago I owed nothing on either bill, I had token meters taken out so i could carry on with the direct debit my gas was set at 37 and elec at 37, my accounts are reviewed every six months, I recently had a letter stating that due to the fuel price increases in august 2008 my direct debit for gas would rise from 38 to 66 quid per month from april 09, I disputed this as I was not oweing much and this levels out in the summer, then I had a letter stating I was £1,140.15p in CREDIT with my elec so I rang them and asked them for a refund they they said I owed them £575.00 for electric and I was indeed in arrears???? I have never had a letter stating I am in arrears my account is supposed to be reviewed every six months (aug to feb) by them I asked for previous bills only to be sent an online bill dating back to the day I moved in and it is showing that my direct debit was never enough, I cancelled both gas and elec direct debits immediately, I rang swalec and complained nd now they want me to agree a direct debit for £72 quid for elec or a token meter set at £15 per week for arrears and usuage will be extra I do not have this kind of money, I looked at one of the bills and saw that in "our commitment to you" statement it says if we have let you down speak to an adviser, if the adviser is unable to deal with it then ask for a manager, this is what I did the adviser could not help and I asked for a manager yesterday, the adviser had me on hold for 10 mins and then said no managers are available, I asked that they ring me back still no call??? I again rang today and still no manager??? but I was informed it was my fault??????? ha ha,what happened to the customer is always right, so I rang consumer direct who advised me to put it in writing, however the guy there did say as a rule of thumb if the debt was accumalated over a number of years they have to let you take the same amount of time to pay it off, i.e as mine had been accumalating to over 500 quid for over a 3 yr period they need to let me pay it off over the same time period, however swalec has admitted to me that the issue only came to light when i rang and asked for my refund, and it was a system error, what was actually showing on my bill and letters that I received was what I had previously paid not what i owed, thus meaning I was never informed of any arrears, I am not satisfied that I am solely liable for all of this debt and I intend to make this clear using their own statements on letting custmers down, I also have an adress fo them in Perth to write a letter of complaint I was advised to sk for a gesture of good will which will probably be pennies, Swalec also stated they would send me the Tariff pack for the government initiative for fuel for people on benefits, this has not arrived either, so I am now going to follow their complaints procdure to the letter. Hope this helps you in some way.

if you look at my previous posts i had written to the bailiff for a complete breakdown of costs reply never received i re-wrote and today i received a letter containing the following: Council tax arrears £652.34 First visit £22.50 Second visit £16.50 Levy £41.00 Van attendance fee £105.00 I was in the property when the letters to say they had called were simply pushed through the door and no one knocked i was actually cleaning right behind the door and the letter was simply pushed through. I also had a reply from the council saying if i made payments of 100.00 off the arrears and 80.00 off this years, per month £180.00 which i cannot afford then after a few payments they would consider recalling back from bailiff infact the letter was short and direct quoting "i have just read the contents of your letter". with a direct debit mandate attached for julys payment. as they said they cannot set it up until August so therefore i have to pay £180.00 now and then £180.00 in two days, i cant do it. i dont earn that, i am part time and only earn just over £500.00? i do claim family credit but this goes on chid care as they only pay me 70% towards it, and to top it all the nuisance neighbour drugged up to the eyeballs wants to keep arguing with me and i am so stressed out, so i got to pay to live here and put uo with that all the time. I do not know where to go from here? advice would be appreciated please. Kaijays

i wrote over a week ago to bailiff telling them i know my rights and asking for a breakdown of charges, and the council explaining that the bailiffs have been posting letters through door and not knocking adding on charges, i have had no reply so far, if i do not get a reply by monday i will send it again. I did email a welsh assembly member through the welsh assembly website asking why these bailiffs are allowed to do this to people and why the council can authorise this for a service not even received as yet? etc....i know it got there and i have heard nothing no acknowledgement or anything. sick to death of this. I am due to go into hospital on 24th and the council have ordered me to court on 25th this is in another town and is quite a travel for me. Another thing i did not mention is that i am disabled and if i am sick i do not get paid so i never get a full salary at the end of the month, as our sick pay is done on a rolling year basis and i have had a lot of sick due to my illness this is why but i dont seem to be able to claim any other money when this happens i have been there nearly twenty years and have had this ilness for 4 years, i work in the civil service and i feel like jacking it in and claiming the bloody dole? which is one thing i vowed never to do infact for the past 4 years i have struggled to get there, to keep a roof over my kids head as i am the only breadwinner. its costing mo than i earn for the childcare? I dont even claim disability, as i did not feel i was disabled enough and others needed it more than me, dear god where have i gone wrong. Maybe i should take up drugs, kill the bailiff and i could get off because i would be deemed as addicted and needed help.? theres a thought for ya!

i tried my local councillor and guess what they did not want to know? anyhow i dont suppose they are all the same and might help. something stinks the way they can do what they want, you got drug dealers and murderers walking the streets and the council tax office got more power than the police?

if you read my previousw post you will see i wrote to the bailiffs and the council this was well over a week ago the first repsonse was another standard letter from the bailiffs saying they are going to get in my property, the next a letter saying i got to go to court on 25th June, i am in hospital on 24th? i have had no direct response to either of my letters, funny though i came home today and a man knocked the door asking for the previous tenants saying he was the bailiff? they have been gone a while, then another man knocked the door asking for the previous tennant saying it was an inland revenue matter? strange all this, has anyone got any advice on what to do about my replies from council and bailiff how long should i wait.

thankyou for that WATCHER i will take a look at those posts. kaijays

Derek be careful they are unscrupulous and cannot be trusted? what did u sign? my advice would be to pay by cheque, you could be right about taking money from your card. Try and get it back with the council, write them a letter and ask them if they can take it back do not let the bailiffs into your house at whatever cost. someone else on here i am sure will have more information and will/might be able to help you. I am trying to think of a way we could all get together and make a complaint about these bailiffs and their actions.

Yes they get paid by the charges they impose i have a problem with £146.00 charges flor visit made while i was in the house and they did not even knock the door or ring the bell then added fees? I wrote to council and bailiff letters sent last weekend offering repayment schedule and made two payments yesterday in council office one for outstanding amount from last year which is why the bailiffs are coming and one for this years? today i had a letter saying i have to go to court in another town at end of july this is from the council for this years tax as i am 24 days overdue with it, and yesterday i had a letter from the bailiff saying that they are going to get goods whether i am in or not? as in my letter i put i knew my rights and they would not gain access. now i dont know what to do. so this is gonna be another bailiff job and more charges i cannot afford them?

i am glad to see that some people have gotten a great result with their council tax demands, i am keeping all this information as i feel that something has got to be done with the way that bailiffs are acting and also some councils, i have three demands outstanding i have sent a letter last week to the bailiffs stating i know my rights and that they will not gain entry to my property only to receive a letter today stating that they will be arriving at my property whether i am in or not to take goods, obviously the repayment schedule i offered is unacceptable i have not received a reply back from council but what i did do was pay a visit to the council tax office today and i made two payments over the counter one for this years and one for an accoun that is at the bailiffs nothing was said and the payment was accepted? i do not believe that anyone knows what they are doing there? but this is exactly what i wanted i have point blank refused in both letter to pay the bailiffs fees of £146.00 for visits to my home whereby i was in the house and they simply posted this through the door to say they had tried to make contact they did not nock the door or ring the bell, and simply added these fees which are not legal either as after two visits how dis they arrive at £146.00? i have not refuted liability or refused to pay the council tax arrears. so i will keep you posted, anyone need help please keep posting someone one here will help you like they helped me.

HERBIE Can you let me know how to pm someone on here as i was hoping that you could check the name of the bailiff company i have problems with if at all possible. many thanks

Hi POWELLL thanks for the advice i know that the original council tax bill was for £600.00 and now i got a bailiffs letter which they pushed throught the door without even knocking as i was in and watched it for £757.00? when i phoned that number today given me by the trading standards they said this was excessive charging. Casbah i have been claiming WFTC for a few years but i did have my older daughter who is now nearly twenty living with me for a while and this was taken into consideration even though she was on a low income and only paid me a small amount of keep, she nmoved out a while ago so i will get the forms for the council tax rebate. Emma i hope that number i gave you is helpful i know its stressful i have a condition which is exasperated by stress and its taken its toll on me, i been off sick for a few days due to this. I forgot to mention earlier that i was not getting paid properly in work due to a computer error and went three months without correct money, how can i find out if this Bailiff company are legal/registered or whatever they got to be, i am starting to feel a bit better now i have been on here and now i am in the fighting back mood. he he he thanks all for help i hope i can help someone too, i have bookmarked this site for future reference.

Thankyou Casbah for the advice, since i posted i phoned trading standards although they were not interestd and put me through to some legal consumer line, i spoke to a very nice man who advised me to write a letter to the bailiff and the council, which i will do i also contacted a local government officer by email asking why this sort of behaviour from the council is allowed? i have done some research on line today and come up with a lot of useful tips especially from this site its brilliant! Casbah what did you mean by asking the council for a rebate? could you please explain this so i can try it. To the lady that posted after me i think it was Emma someone will help you, i got a telephone number that may be able to help you they give you legal advice? 0845 345 4345 a chap there advised me not to open the door at all, he said they cannot do anything other than pass it back to the council, which is what i want really. I thankyou once again Casbah and goodluck Emma. xxxx

Hi i certainly need help with my council tax account, i got into financial trouble a few years ago, no excuses mainly due to ill health, i got into arrears with council tax at a previous address the council sent the bailiffs i managed to make an arrangement on that one and am still paying it off at a rate of £20.00 per month direct to the council. For last years council i did not manage to pay it all off and the council instigated the bailiffs without even telling me? i thought it was for the one before and ignored it until they knocked, i did not let them in and refused to discuss it with them on the door. they have already added 200.00 quid on top of the 600.00 i owed. i rang te bailiffs to make an arrangement but they said i would have to pay it all in one go by this friday? i rang the council and explained that they are adding more charges and i simply cannot afford to pay it they just said and i quote "what do u want us to do about it"? i asked for them to call it back but they refused, and then said as i have missed one payment for this year they are also sending this years to the bailiff next week, it appears that if you are in any arrears you cannot miss any payments, i simply cannot afford to pay all this and am at my wits end, I am a single mother of two children working part-time. I also pay £30.50 per day child care costs to enable me to earn £500.00 per month i do get help with this from child tax credit but they only pay me so much towards it. I did expalin to the council i was on low income she added it up and said you get £***.** per week and you cannot afford to pay your bills? well no quite frankly when you take into consideration that i pay nearly $500.00 per month on childcare, and my rent is £300.00 per month, i dont get left with much and then i have to pay gas, elec, water rates, food etc. can anyone suggest a way forward for me to try and get it cleared. i would appreciate it as it has made me ill.