It clearly stated on one of the letters from the bailiff "I have called today to collect the sum of £285.50 being the amount now due in respect of Council Tax owing to.... As yet I have not removed any goods. I will however be returning on or after the 14th/10 when I will expect to collect the sum quoted above" Phoenix are now trying to say that this figure is what the bailiff COULD have increased it to. The actual money owing being £119.50. I'm sick and tired of it now. How do they get away with this rubbish? It clearly states he want £285.50 from me. No? This is this them clearly trying to backtrack isn't it? Throwing in a few clever words that they think will confuse me? Every time I read the words Phoenix Collections, I just get frustrated and wound up. They KNOW their bailiff was trying to pull a fast one. Infuriates me. I will have the money tomorrow to pay the council directly. I will not be sad to see the back of these idiots.

...and I still don't understand where they get the £259.50 from... could anyone explain? ...and it was queried which is the whole point of these threads!

"The bailiff inadvertantly entered the wrong figure..." Yes of course he did. How else do they pocket themselves nice little bonuses.

What I find the most incredulous thing really is not the illegal bailiff charges applied to my debt of £109.50 (as this is expected) but the fact that the council on two seperate occasions when I went into their office refused to accept the payment of said amount unless I paid (in full) the bogus fees the bailiffs were charging at the same time. The woman we spoke to (It was the same woman both times) didn't grasp anything of the situation and clearly didn't have a clue what she was talking about. Just kept telling me that *I* didn't understand. Another thing...isn't it funny that when asked for a written breakdown of charges from the bailiff...the next correspondence I get is a letter with all the charges knocked off. (Except for the suspect extra tenner for what we believe to be for a broken agreement) Still don't have that breakdown either even though they've been asked for one three times now. Once by email and twice by letter. I think threatening with the ombudsman is definately on the cards here. Thoughts? While i'm here many thanks to you all for your help on this matter and for Microchip fighting my corner.

Hello all. I'm the friend of Microchip that has been having the bailiff problems. I would just like to thank each and every one of you for your time and advice. It has been invaluable and very much appreciated. I'd got myself into such a twist over this and always thought that bailiffs had the power to do whatever they liked. I suppose most just panic and don't question things...just pay to get them off their backs. Now I see they will try it on at every chance and when stood up to they back down rather quickly. I suppose they just don't expect people to have done their homework by seeking advice from people such as yourselves. Even though it's not quite over yet I feel much less in knots and see light at the end of the tunnel. No it's not a huge initial debt...but when you see how thick and fast the charges get banged on...it's a bit frightening. Thankyou again.