Idd sega over Tom. I have the money to pay this comnig years C.T in full when it lands. Never.....EVER again. Thanks for the help guys.

We already spoke to the council, they say as far was they are concerned, its all paid.

Ok, I went on their site and e-mailed them via that. I received an e-mail back from them stating "You will need to do that via the coucil as we have handed the account back to them" So the website is saying we owe £0. They have said the account has been handed back to the council. So surely we don't have to pay them anything?

My wife spoke to the council and they basicly told her she needs to pay it. But when she went online to the companies site, the balance was showing as £0. So the bailif is chasing us for money that isn't shown up as being owed. I am a little confused :S Also I am of the understanding that due to my wife being pregnant, the bailifs have to hand the account back to the council anyway as not to cause her stress. Can anyone confirm that?

All his letters have been hand delievered. Not once has 1 had a stamp on. I'll check the dates on the letters, compare them with the date when we cleared what we owed on the c.tax, then get back to you. Thanks guys, in advance.

This is the 2nd time in 12 months I am posting here. Also the 2nd time I made the mistake of leaving the c.tax to the wife. In Nov last year we had Philips Specialist Bailiffs sending us mail stating we had not paid our c.tax & that we owed them over £350 for it. I found out from my wife that we only owed the c.tax sum of £113. So I went down to the council 1 stop shop and paid this amount. We got another letter from the bailiff posted by hand to our home. I then phoned the bailiff in question 'Paul' and informed him that the debt had been cleared direct to the council and that I wouldn't be paying him anything. He asked how much I paid them, I instructed him that it was 'paid'. He wouldn't leave it at that so I told him I paid what we owed which was £113. He stated that wasn't the amount our account with him showed as owing, to which I replied "I don't care, the council gave me a receipt stating that my debt to them was now clear". A heated exchange later, which involved him threatening to come to my house to see just how big a man I was and me leaving to do the shopping.... Well since then, we have had several more letters stating our c.tax is unpaid and we own the sum of £42.50. The letters clearly state we owe it for c.tax but we know the council state we owe them nothing. Now what is worrying me now is that the letter states "We may re-attend your premises with a locksmith". That has be scared. I have a 5 month pregnant wife and a 6 year old daughter. Do I have to pay him the money to leave us alone? The council say we owe them nothing, so I am guessing they / 'Paul' are trying to get some sort of payment for fees from us. Do I have a right to ask them for a breakdown of the fees? DO i have to pay these fees? If I continue to ignore these letters, can he come back and break into our home with a locksmith? Is he making claims, fruadulent claims by saying we haven't paid our council tax? I can afford to pay it no problem but why should I if I don't have to. Look forward to any advice you can give. Mick.

Thanks so much for ur advice and help. If your out in town on Sat Night, I'll be more than happy to buy u a pint or 2. We;ll be in the Bar Bar from 2100, big group of us for my birthday. Thanks again.

I spoke to the bailiff today as we received yet another letter stating that he was going to remove goods to cover the unpaid debt. As this annoyed me so much I phoned him to state that it had been paid. He stated he knows and that they are chasing up costs. I qouted him from Council Tax (administration and enforcement) Regulations 1992 Section 45 subsection 3 : If, before any goods are seized, the appropriate amount (including charges arising up to the time of the payment or tender) is paid or tendered to the authority, the authority shall accept the amount and the levy shall not be proceeded with. I told him he can not take anything from our house without us letting him in or invited him in. I stated we will not be paying these costs. He said to me that they are regualted by the council and that the council had not took the case back and therefore if we don't pay the costs we will have to pay more and more costs. I informed him that he will never gain access to our home. I also informed him we had taken advice with regards this matter and he replied "I can see that" Then hung up on me. Have I made the matter worse by doing this? What happens about them trying to chase up us paying their costs?

Just seen ur in Merseyside so ofc you know where Bootle is. New Strand Office.

It was in Bootle (Liverpool) the 1 Stop Shop. We only have the Equita mail address & phone number. the bailiff, we only have his mobile number, such a rude man to say the least.

Wow, thanks alot for the great response. No I did not let him in, he didn't even say he was a bailiff. In the 1 Stop Shop, I had to deal with a very rude woman. I told her what was happening and she said she didn't know how much I owed, I told her I wanted to clear it and she demanded the £318 to which I pulled out of my wallet and slapped down for her to pick up. She had all the info right in front of her. I will get my wife to write the letter tonight and get it posted in the morning. Should I phone the bailiff to instruct him of what we are doing and that he will not be able to threaten us for money that he can not claim we owe? Once again, thanks.

Hi, My partner and I fell behind on our council tax. The debt was handed over to Equita Certicated Baififfs. Unknown to me, they sent 3 letters to my partner stating she needed to pay our C.T. She ignored these. The bailiff called to our home, he asked for my partner and I said she wasn't home. He left a folded piece of paper for her and left. After he left I open it up to my horror I seen that he was a bailiff. This was around 23rd Feb 09. After a heated debate I got my parnter to phone him and tell him it would be paid direct to the council at the end of Feb. Our outstanding council tax was £318. I paid this in full in the 1 stop shop. We recieved another letter 4 weeks after paying the outstand debt saying we hadn't paid it and that Equita would call to our home to remove goods. My partner called them and stated it had been paid. To which they stated they know, they are billing us for their charges of £212. None of the letters we received from them told us they would be added charges nor did the letter from the bailiff stat he would be adding charges. Is this legal to do this? We paid the outstanding debt to the council at the end of Feb and we're still being threatening by this company. The letter we recieved today states they are going to call to remove items to cover the outstanding council tax bill. It does not mention any charges yet again. We are at a lose with this, any advise is greatly needed. I am in fear of leaving my house unless I am collecting my daughter from school incase they call when she is with me. I made a thread on this in the wrong section, after reading some of ur replies I decided to post it here also. Really do need some advice, fast!

They haven't mentioned a warrent in any letter what so ever either. Does that mean they don't have 1? Surely they have to state that they are charging us? And give us a break down of the price of this charge? If we continue to refuse to pay, what can happen?

Hi, My partner and I fell behind on our council tax. The debt was handed over to Equita Certicated Baififfs. Unknown to me, they sent 3 letters to my partner stating she needed to pay our C.T. She ignored these. The bailiff called to our home, he asked for my partner and I said she wasn't home. He left a folded piece of paper for her and left. After he left I open it up to my horror I seen that he was a bailiff. This was around 23rd Feb 09. After a heated debate I got my parnter to phone him and tell him it would be paid direct to the council at the end of Feb. Our outstanding council tax was £318. I paid this in full in the 1 stop shop. We recieved another letter 4 weeks after paying the outstand debt saying we hadn't paid it and that Equita would call to our home to remove goods. My partner called them and stated it had been paid. To which they stated they know, they are billing us for their charges of £212. None of the letters we received from them told us they would be added charges nor did the letter from the bailiff stat he would be adding charges. Is this legal to do this? We paid the outstanding debt to the council at the end of Feb and we're still being threatening by this company. The letter we recieved today states they are going to call to remove items to cover the outstanding council tax bill. It does not mention any charges yet again. We are at a lose with this, any advise is greatly needed. I am in fear of leaving my house unless I am collecting my daughter from school incase they call when she is with me.