Hi folks. Just a quick one. I've recently been made redundant, and Rosendale's bailiffs are swift on their heels coming to collect debts. The problem is I owe money to three creditors: HMRC, a parking fine, and a court fine. Rosendales are collecting the debts on behalf of all three clients. My question is, is this allowed? I thought a single agency can only chase an individual for the debts of one client; or have I misconstrued information somewhere? We're struggling terribly financially at the moment and Rosendale's agents are visiting at least once or twice a week. Three different Rosendales bods for three different debts. If I pay one then I still lose out to the other two. I'm in a no-win situation here and feel it's wholly unfair that I'm being harassed to the extent I am at the moment. To add, I've also got a disabled teenage daughter who's 19 years old living with us and she's about to have her first child any day now. The pressure we're under just to eat and pay for the roof over our heads is bad enough, and these leeches are making life almost intolerable. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. Cheers. Craig

Hi, I have a Council Tax debt from last year which had a Warrant issued in March. Can't argue about the debt, but I have not yet been able to start making repayments due to financial troubles. I only moved to this area within the last year, and in the old area the LO followed a distinct pattern of letters that took place before the matter would leave the council's books. About a month after the warrant, you'd be sent a very strongly worded letter giving you 14 days to pay. About 2 months after that, you'd get a final warning that further collections activity would commence if you didn't arrange to pay within 14 days. Rather stupidly, I assumed this was standard practice and so anticipated these letters would arrive to put the matter off for long enough for me to sort my finances out and pay them. It seems the my new LO doesn't work that way (should've guessed really when they charge £85 for a court summons vs £60 where I used to live). I had the summons issued, and today have come home to a hand delivered letter from Rossendales (it was left hanging out of the letterbox so I've put it back there for obvious reasons), with no warning at all that they were going to start bailiff action (I also find it odd they're using Rossendales when they are an LA who have outsourced their admin to Capita) Rossendales in their letter have stated that I can still pay by instalments with an initial payment of £50, but they haven't stated their costs. I'm not going to attempt to avoid the debt, but I want to make sure that I do not pay a penny more than necessary in bailiff's fees and so want to be a bit more clued up before contacting them. Can anyone confirm what the maximum fee should be for a single delivered letter, if anyone with experience of know what instalments they are likely to take, and whether an instalment plan with the bailiffs would be subject to a levy (provided their costs are not insane, I can probably borrow the money to pay them off in full within a week or 2). One thing I find a bit odd is the date of the warrant is printed on the letter, but everything else is written on by hand (even saying it's for council tax is a tick box, there are other options for Road Traffic debt etc). It also has been stapled to something else at some time. Although it's hand delivered, I'm almost the actual bailiff has not been here - my car was parked outside (it's now been moved 5 miles away) and my front facing windows were wide open all day so the seizure which they apparently intended to do could easily have been done. The full text of the letter is:

I received a letter from Rossendales bailiffs yesterday t say they're coming to my house in 24 hours t levy goods for an old council tax bill. Ive received no other letters from them and was unaware i owed the money. They are saying i owe them over £600 but when i rang the council the bill is only £280. Ive asked the council if i can deal direct with them but they said i have t take it up with the bailiffs. Ive rang the bailiff t set up a payment plan but he said they're unable to do that as he is a removal bailiff and its his job to levy goods. I will have sufficient funds t pay the £280 on the 15th and i'm wondering if i pay the council direct and not the bailiffs will the council tax bill get paid or will it go to Rossendales? I understand i will still owe Rossendales money if the council receives it but surely they wont be able to gain lawful access as i wont owe them for council tax?

hi everyone well looks like im not the only person who got a visit from a rosendales baliff today but what happened with us was wen had moved in june n owed money from the previous year so had 3 bills i rang council after getting a letter from rosendales and the lady i spoke to said there were 2 outstanding i was sent forms set up standing orders for weekly payments i done this on 24/08/2012 and on de same day recieved another letter from rosendales just pressumed it was for 1 of the 2 i had sorted wasnt actually aware there was 3 till today wen i got an unwelcome knock my 2 year old ran out in front of me and opened the door so i gad no choice but to talk he anded me a piece of paper with my partners name on it sayin 24hrs notice before returning for £1004.31 or goods to that amount if i had that sort of money laying around i obviously wouldnt be owing on my council tax ha my partner rang him n told him we were paying it by the week baliff said he would ring council to find out rang back and thats when we found out there actually was another bill we wern't aware of n said to my partner ill be back tomorrow for money or goods and hung up im now panicking as ive got a 2yo and 9mnt old n not working i rang the council they said if its not paid tomorrow it eventually comes back to them but she doesnt know how long that takes do i just take the kids out for the day tomorrow n hope he doesnt knock when i get back or can he keep calling everyday i really dont know what to do about this n dont want to be telling a 2 yo to be quiet and hid everytime someone knocks :sad:any advice would be greatly appreciated

Ok guys, here goes for a candidate for the most complicated thread going. Heres a few facts. (Jump to the end if you don't want to know the specifics.) I was unemployed from Oct 2010 till June 2011. Started working again in late June, but on about a 1/3 of what I used to have coming in, so I'm considering going down the IVA route. I fell behind with my council tax, and wrote to the council, but got no reply. I also wrote to them, explaining my wife had moved in with me, and that they needed to take off the single person discount. Again, no reply. I then got taken to court. Now, at the same time, my wife took seriously ill, and at one point the doctors seriously thought she was going to die. She was in hospital for three weeks around the time all this was going on, and to be honest, my priorities were not on the council tax. She is still off sick as I write this. The next thing, I got a reminder / demand from the council for £369 (approx) It said I had to pay £37.99 immediately, and the remainder in 28 days. I paid the £37.99 immediately. Literally, the next day, two bailiffs from Rossendales arrived at my door. They demanded money, and said I owed over £1000. I showed them the documentation I'd had from the Council, and confirmed it was for the same account. We were both confused, but that didn't stop them demanding money (Although, to be fair, they were polite and professional.) I emptied my wallet, and paid off £100. They suggested I talk to the council and Rossendales over the matter. I then wrote to Rossendales, asking about the account, and asking time to pay at £100 per month. (This was late August, btw.) I also wrote to the Council, complaining about all this. Someone from Liberata (Their agents) called me back, but as I was driving at the time, I asked them to call back. They didn't. I repeated my letter to the Council on or around the 10th of October. As I had not heard anything from either Rossendales or the council, I paid £159 to the council on the 11th online, and have the receipt for that. On the night of the 12th, I was upstairs working, when my doorbell rang repeatedly (30-40 times) When I opened the door, the guy said he was here for my stuff and was quite intimidating and (IMO) threatening. He offered no identifiaction, and literally threw a bit of paper that said that I had 24 hours to pay the full amount. No if's, no buts. PAY IT ALL NOW. Now, as I've had some experience with bailiffs and bullying before, I explained to him that if he didn't desist, I would call the police and have him arrested under section 40 of the administration of Justice Act 1970. This seemed to deter him, and he drove off, promising he would be back. I called the police, and they said that if he returned, I was to call them. Next morning, I got the same tactic. Constant ringing of the doorbell. I called the police before opening the door. I did not allow him in. He then said that he was taking the car. Now, I use / need the car for my work (both jobs), and told him that. He said he didn't care because it wasn't signwritten. The police arrived, and I expressely stated to the officer that I did was not allowing the bailiff in. He recorded that in his notebook. The police officer then asked me to retrieve a document for him, and I repeated that the bailiff was not allowed to enter the house. The officer agreed. When I turned round, the bailiff walked past the officer and claimed he had the right. The officer did nothing. I then asked the bailiff to leave, which he repeatedly refused to do. He then went about my house "levying stuff." He clearly (and in front of the police officer) stated that he was going to take EVERYTHING I had. I asked the officer to note this down in his book, which he did. I explained to both the bailiff and the police that I had two jobs. One, as a computer engineer, and one as a photographer, and that items linked to those were part of my livelyhood, and were classed as tools of the trade. The bailiff repeated that he didn't care, and was taking everything. Now, while he did not actually seized "everything" he seized ONLY items relevant to my work. He took my camera, my lighting, my tripods, etc. Even my wife's camera (Which she has a receipt for.) He also seized the car. The whole worth of the items taken is around £14000. Right. Sorry for taking so long. I've now done some research, and spoken with solicitors, etc. but to be honest, if I had enough money to pay the solicitors, I'd pay the bastards their money! My points, bearing in mind this is for council tax, so bailiffs have diferent rights, etc.: 1. Was his entry legal? My solicitor (On the free consultation I had with him) says no. He says it was classified as forced entry because I'd told him, and that I had repeated my instruction to a police officer, who then had the responsibility to prevent him entering. 2. Was the seizure ONLY of goods relating to my employment legal and fair? He claims that he has the right to take anything he wants (And told the police he intended to take everything.) 3. Was he right in taking my wife's property? She offered him receipts, but he refused to accept them. 4. The warrant itself. My understanding is that because there was a complaint / dispute over the bill, the warrant should have been suspended until the official outcome. 4. The car....... Complicated time again. I initially claimed it was tools of the trade, but then the police said it wasn't even registered to me anyway. It turns out that (By coincidence) the DVLA lost the forms I sent in (Or they were lost in the post, etc.) This was about a year ago, and really doesn't have anything to do with this case OTHER than show I didn't own the car. The only thing connecting me to the car is the insurance I have on it. So, I am now claiming that it was not my property, but my wife's (We have the Credit card receipt in her name for it, and she has now taken steps to have it registered in her name.) 5. Now, an even more complicated situation over the camera...... When researching complaints against, I came across a couple of points. A reason for having his license revoked is if the bailiff: Removes intellectual property or item covered under the copyright, designs and patents act 1988 or a computer containing the aforementioned Now, my camera had 600 plus images - of clearly verifiable commercial value - on it when seized, and my wife has 200+ images of shots of her friends and family. We both asked the bailiff if we could remove the cards, and he refused. Now, I'm quite conversaant with copyright law (Having taken courses etc on it) and each and every one of the images are classed as intellectual property and covered by the copyright act 1988. The second part, goes back to tools of the trade. From my research, the most common grounds for denying items as tools of the trade, is that they may be used by other people, or in non business related environment. The camera and lighting seized are absolutely NEVER used for anything but commercial or educational use (I am a registered student, doing a degree course in Photography) It is a highly complex camera, and classed as "Professional" in all advertising I've ever seen for it. The lighting is not simple flashguns, but professional quality studio lighting which has only ever been used in a professional context. I clearly and categorically need them ONLY for my work and studies. Nothing else. So, that's my position. Unable to work. Unable to pay the full debt, but able to pay the instalments offered. I feel the bailiff has breached / broken the law in the ways mentioned. What I need to know is: How to get redress and / or how to get my stuff back fortwith. Thanks for your patience in reading all this. D.

Hi The only place to start is at the begining. After having lots of trouble with Rosendales demanding hundrands of pounds every week managed to get my local council to talk to them and set up an agreement that I could afford to pay each week. Which I have been every week with out fail at the local post office so I had reciets. That was a year ago or a bit less. I moved house 4 weeks ago (still paying Rosendales may I add) and i had servel letters from the council in one day saying diffrent things and a letter from Rosendale saying I had defaulted and they were coming to get goods. I went strate away to my local council and asked them what was going on and what and were I should be making payments too. I also asked them how I had defaulted on my payments when I had recites to say I had paid. The person I spoke to from council tax was also confussed so left me in a side room for 40 min while they found out what was going on. They came back and told me infrontof a witness that I had defaulted cos on week I payed Rosendales the money on the saterday instead of the friday. But they said the good news is that they won't be coming out to your house becouse one of the accounts had now finished and the other one only had £68.00 left on it. They also said there was council tax left to pay on my old house. They wanted me to pay £100 to the council on the 12th of this month and then for the next 5 months on this date. And £68 to Rosendales on the 16th of this month. I asked over and over again if after I had payed the £68 I would not have to deal with Rosendales ever again and they said yes as long as I paid on time. I also asked over and over aain if they were sure that Rosendales would not come out to my house. They said yes and reashured me. So off I went happy and payed both payments on time. This morning Rosendales turned up to my house with 2 Balifs and 2 vans saying they were going to take my things. I was very shocked and conffused and told them that everything was clear. They told me it was not and the I still owe £261.71. So I said I will go and get the paper work the council have given me and all the reciets. I locked the door behind me (after learning what they can do a year ago and being on here) while I got them and showed them to the balif and he said no we have been told by the council this morning to get the money or take goods. I said to them well i need to talk to the council and they said no its money or goods can any one help you get the money? I said no but can I not at least phone the council. He said yes and they waited out side while I phoned the council. The council said they had made a mistake when they told me that the account was finished and in fact I still had £261.71 to pay. I asked them why had I not been told and given the oppertunity to pay it off in instalments or even keep paying the instulments I had being paying in the past. Their response was they had made a mistake and now the money needs to be paid. I told them that 2 balifs were on my door step wanting to take my goods and all I had done was everything the council had asked me too. They said all they could do was tell Rosendales to give me a week to come up with the money in full. I told the council I could not find that sort of money in a week and they said thats all we can do. The council spoke to Rossendales and the baliff said I will be back next friday afternoon for the full amount. You now owe £321.71. So I sai you have charged me for this visit even though it was the councils mistake and he said yes I have to charge you for this visit but I wont charge you for the visit to pick up the money in cash. They then left! I know I just can not come up with the money in a week. Does any one know were I can go from here as it was not my fault it was the councils fault and they admitted it? Also they had a levey for goods at my old house. Can that levey carry over to my new house? Everything is in such a mess and my son has already not recived his birthday precents last week as I was trying to jump through hoops to pay the £100 to the council and a few days latter £68 to Rosendales. I just don't have any money left. Please please can some one help me. Thank you