Sorry i didn't explain myself, the small claims court only costs about £25, I wasn't referring to the maximum you can claim.

why not try the small claims court its only £25 about?

I just saw the update you paid on the 8th october after the bailiffs visit on the 3rd and the 6th. It appears the you are liable for the first and second visit but not for the visits on the 15th as you had already paid the council tax bill. Since you only recieved the letter the 27th november could they be lying about the breakdown to build up their case.

I suppose you paid your council tax 2 weeks before the bailiffs came, was the second payment, how many weeks before did you make the first payment?. I think since you have paid the amount before the bailiffs visit the bailiffs charges are in fact uncollectable. I think its a good idea if you go to a small claims court and take this matter to court for £25. You can piont out in the court case that they are overcharging you when you only owe £40, £25 for the first visit and £10 for the second. Try to contest these charges since you had paid the council long before the visit and you got these charges because the council called the bailiffs after you had paid them in full. if the judge finds the case in your favour then the bailiffs will be in serious trouble if the don't obey the law. Judges can do miracles to thugs like these that don't follow the law. i would sue for compensation for harassment and hope you win the case

I'm beginning to wonder if the council messed up and the bills you paid wern't being put onto your account due to error of the council's accounting. Its just that a council tax bill for £1000 appears to be the full bill without anything being reduced. When you didn't recieve the bill for the month, why didn't email the council since you work late hours and can't call them? Email them with transaction statements showing the council that you don't owe the full amount and they will reduce the bill accordingly with the payments you made. I hope since the months bill got lost in the post they will be compasionate and let you pay by installments. I pay in advance and i've paid until february. If you pay with online banking, you save yourself a visit to the town hall. I pay via bacs, but you can also pay by card. Do an online search and search for the name of your council online and it should deliver you a result, go to the council's website and find the option to pay your council bill with card, or email your council asking for the account number and sort code to which is available on the original bill. Who want's to go out in the cold?? hope my advice helps.

Legally you can submit a claim and claim back the charges from your bank. For this reason i have always made my payments manually when the money arrives, so nothing can bounce.

If you set up a continuous mandate with your credit card and they still bill you when you are no longer a customer, you can perform a chargeback.

To cancel your direct debit just login to your bank and not the credit card online account and cancel it their, but notify the credit card company about this aswell.