Hi Thanks for the responses, I've been waiting for information back from the Bailiffs and have finally received a letter from them today: "We would like to confirm that all fees have been raised and applied correctly in accordance with the Council Tax (Admin and Enforcement) Regs 1992 - Reg 45 (as amended). Please find below a breakdown of debt and fees as requested: Council Debt: £283 Visit fees: £42.50 Levy fees: £32.00 Enforcement fee: £140.00 Total Balance: £497.50 Paid: £283 Outstanding: £214.50 In response to your letter dated 07.10.08 I would like to advise that although the balance that was outstanding with our client has been settled this has not released you from your obligation to pay the fees which you have incurred. Newlyn PLC received a liability order dated 08.11.07 issued by our client (London B.of Ealing) for non payment of a government debt. The Liability order states as certified bailiffs we can charge for the administration and enforcement of the debt as per the regulations above. The levy fee incurred on your file will unfortunatly not be removed, Newlyn PLC have received no instructions from our client to do so and as such you are still liable to pay for this and other fees that you have incurred. I strongly recommend you call our offices to arrange payment in full; failure to do so will result in further enforcement action and fees being incurred." Where do I go from here?

Right I took the bull by the horns and visited the council this afternoon. Turns out the £283 was not for outstanding council tax per se but for outstanding court costs etc (I wish they'd just told me that in November when I queried it as I could have saved myself a further £98). I got a glance of the system and it showed: Costs £80, £3 for something else and £15 for something else (not sure what for, admin?) So my question is this, if additional charges are applied to the account over and above the council tax, should I not have been entitled to a breakdown detailing these before receiving a court summons for them? Anyhow the council accepted payment to settle the arrears and adviced I contact the bailiffs requesting a breakdown of charges (echoing useful information received on this site). I will do so today by fax and recorded del.

Thanks for the help Scatz, for some reason I couldn't work out how to start a new thread ... doh! Have started one now "Outstanding Council Tax/Bailiffs charges" ...

Hi I'm new to the site so If I haven't posted this in the correct way apologies but could really do with some advice. In Nov 2007 I receive a court summons for outstanding council tax for £542, I assumed this was a mistake as I was up to date with my monthly payments so contacted the council to raise a dispute. I also confirmed that I wished to attend court to contest it but due to the short notice couldn't get time off work. Their response was confusing quoting me different outstanding figures first it was £89, then £66 at which point they also confirmed they would withdraw court action if I brought my account up to date before the court date (this was an email helpfully received at 23:00 the night before the hearing so too late to do anything). I continued to query the amount and sent them my list of payments over the past few years (I have been in arrears in the past) and asked for a breakdown from them as I was more than willing to pay if they could show how and why I was in arrears. I heard nothing more, so smugly thought I'd proved the error was theirs! They went to court anyway and I got a liability order for £521, still unable to understand this amount I continued to make my monthly payments and stupidly forgot about the issue until I received another red letter from them a couple of months ago demanding £283 (I know I should have gone back to the council but still thought it was their error). Yesterday i received a hand delivered letter (I was in at the time) containing 2 letters (both dated Oct 2nd), a "take formal notice" letter plus a "notice of distress" which has my car registration as the inventory of seized goods. The amounts due are listed as £283 Council Tax and a total amount listed simply as "total payable (inc. fees)" of £497.50. The notice of distress has a hand written date of 06/10/08 as well as the date on the top of the notice and also is signed but is only a very small squiggle which looks more like a cross or an s. Apologies for the length of this I just wanted to get all the facts down. Where do I go from here, I barely slept last night thinking my car was going to be taken? (unfortunatly it's in my name but it's used only by my partner who needs it for job interviews as he's unemployed at the moment so we can't afford to lose it) I can probably just afford to pay the council the £283, although am i still within my rights to ask what this amount comprises of? (I emailed them asking again for a breakdown - as mentioned previously I have been in arrears in the past so would hazzard a guess that these may be old court costs/admin charges). Also £215 bailiff charges for delivering a letter ... can they do this?

Hi I'm new to the site so If I haven't posted this in the correct way apologies but could really do with some advice. In Nov 2007 I receive a court summons for outstanding council tax for £542, I assumed this was a mistake as I was up to date with my monthly payments so contacted the council to raise a dispute. I also confirmed that I wished to attend court to contest it but due to the short notice couldn't get time off work. Their response was confusing quoting me different outstanding figures first it was £89, then £66 at which point they also confirmed they would withdraw court action if I brought my account up to date before the court date (this was an email helpfully received at 23:00 the night before the hearing so too late to do anything). I continued to query the amount and sent them my list of payments over the past few years (I have been in arrears in the past) and asked for a breakdown from them as I was more than willing to pay if they could show how and why I was in arrears. I heard nothing more, so smugly thought I'd proved the error was theirs! They went to court anyway and I got a liability order for £521, still unable to understand this amount I continued to make my monthly payments and stupidly forgot about the issue until I received another red letter from them a couple of months ago demanding £283 (I know I should have gone back to the council but still thought it was their error). Yesterday i received a hand delivered letter (I was in at the time) containing 2 letters (both dated Oct 2nd), a "take formal notice" letter plus a "notice of distress" which has my car registration as the inventory of seized goods. The amounts due are listed as £283 Council Tax and a total amount listed simply as "total payable (inc. fees)" of £497.50. The notice of distress has a hand written date of 06/10/08 as well as the date on the top of the notice and also is signed but is only a very small squiggle which looks more like a cross or an s. Apologies for the length of this I just wanted to get all the facts down. Where do I go from here, I barely slept last night thinking my car was going to be taken? (unfortunatly it's in my name but it's used only by my partner who needs it for job interviews as he's unemployed at the moment so we can't afford to lose it) I can probably just afford to pay the council the £283, although am i still within my rights to ask what this amount comprises of? (I emailed them asking again for a breakdown - as mentioned previously I have been in arrears in the past so would hazzard a guess that these may be old court costs/admin charges). Also £215 bailiff charges for delivering a letter ... can they do this?