update on my situation, ive started to pay the council direct via the internet, im awaiting 4 a reply from the bailiffs, doubt that wud happen, but i did manage to find a missing bailiff letter, Notice of seizure of goods, the bailiff must of posted when he took details of my car (see original post) and the charges on there are a little bit confusing and unreadable - council tax + court costs = £1194.46, attendance to levy fee = £24.50, levy fee = £59.00, redemption of goods fee (head H) = £24.50 total = £1302.46 am i right in saying that the levy fee and the redemption of goods fee are unreasonable and also the attendance fee shud b £18? as it was the second visit, even tho the only thing he managed to levy was my car which is on hire purchase!

thank you for replying, will try ur advice, most appreciated!

hi all, basically ive been trying to sell my house as we live in a 2 bed with 4 children - 7 months to 6 years old, 2 boys 5yr & 6yr and 2 girls 7months and 3 yrs, so we need to move to a bigger house. i do work fulltime but iam struggling financially, i had our house on the market 4 £109,950 and my mortgage is at 106k which is in arrears of about 7k, i have had a couple of offers but nowhere near my mortgage amount, i dont really want to walk away from the house as i know i wud have to pay back the shortfall. the mortgage company have been good so far, and i am trying to pay back the arrears but it is affecting my family life. i know the easy answer is to stay put but it is affecting our kids and our relationship quite badly, ive tried going to the council for help but they cant help as i own my house, and i may have made myself intentionally homeless if the house is repossesed or if i walk way. ive looked in2 renting but the upfront costs is alot more than i expected, i cant get a loan as im nearly in negative equity and have a very bad credit rating. i have a loan secured on the house, 10k, which ironically isnt in arrears, so i suppose i am in negative equity. wot i wud like to know is wot is our options now? i dont want the house to be repossed or declare myself bankrupt, which i think maybe our only option, and somehow come up with the money to start renting but i know that i wud still have more debt to pay aswell as the high monthly rental costs! any advice wud b most appreciated many thanx in advance

thank u for replying and confirming my actions to be within the law, i have sent bristow & sutor a message telling em of my intentions on wot im going to do next!, ie pay the council direct, i will contact em on monday aswell demanding a statement, thats gonna b fun! i will also inform the council of wot i will b doing! i will post a message of what happens! once again thank you to both of u for replying, most appreciated, i can sleep soundly 2nite even with a smile on my face! happy dayz!

hi all, ok basically i messed up with paying my council tax, i admit i buried my head in the sand hoping it wud go away! yeah right how stupid am i! I have had financial hardship during the last 12 months cuz of the current economic climit, i have 4 kids all under 6 youngest being 7 months and an 8 yr from a previous, to which i do pay csa. ive had to reduce my hours so i earn less and no overtime available but i have now got my head out of the sand and want to sort it out so heres how things have developed i owe £1194.46 not incl court costs, unsure of wot these are as i have lost the paperwork the first time a bailiff came i ignored him, and didnt answer the door, he posted a letter with a charge of £24.50 with total of £1314.46, later on that day i phoned the debt collectors office, Bristow and Sutor and made an offer £80 per month to which i cud afford, they said no thats not enough, they wanted £400 odd. i then phoned the council asking to take the debt back so i cud pay them instead, they said no! so just b4 xmas the bailiff turned up again just as we were getting in my car he said that he wanted the full payment or to come in my house to make a list of goods to b sold, i said no i have to go out, so i drove off and as i did i saw him right down my car reg, my car is on hp so i know they cant touch it, didnt post anything in my door! then i had a letter 'notification prior to sale of goods' saying i had to pay £1302.46, which is less than what was stated on previous letter! i then phoned em again to try and reoffer my original offer but said no! i explained that the car was the only thing that was written down and that it was on hp so cant touch it! then the other day a bailiff turned up with a van, i was at work, my partner thankfully didnt answer the door, he posted a letter 'A Bailiff removal team visited today to remove goods for sale by public auction' and a charge of £180! excessive or wot! and a total of £1482.46:eek: my partner phoned me at work gave me his number so i phoned him, he was not interested in wot i was saying just wanted the money or my stuff! so i then looked on the internet for advice, glad i did, i now know i have rights with dealing with bailiffs for council tax arrears. so when i got home i phoned the bailiff again saying that i know my rights and u havent got a list for leving! to which, for some strange reason, he told me he had a bond on his head £10,000! why he said this to me i do not know, i wasnt threatening him, in fact i was very polite, i asked him if he cud send the debt back to the council, he said no, so i told him that i was going to pay directly to the council anyway, the amount that i offered in the first place. i then phoned the council asking to take the debt back, they said no! wot wud be the best thing to do now? i want to pay off my debt! but not to the bailiffs but to the council! hopefully this wud avoid their charges, if not how do i go about reducing the charges? and as u can c the totals dont add up from the figures on the 3 documents that they have given me. also are the council or bailiffs obliged to accept my offer of repayment? also any advice on how to word letters to council, councillor and bailiffs wud b very appreciated. sorry its so long winded and probably useless info but really am frying my head over this, many thanx in advance for any help!