This is a long story, so I'll try and cut to the chase. Back in 2013 we moved into a property. The landlady who we were renting off asked if she could continue to be registered at the address. She agreed that she would cover all the council tax bills for the property. Two years later we received a letter from the council to "the occupiers" asking us when we moved into the property. We truthfully told them the date. Two months later, we received a massive bill from the council for two years worth of council tax, backdated to the date we moved in. We got in touch with the landlady who admitted she had not paid the council tax. We were now stuck with a £2300 debt when in fact it wasn't our debt. To add to our problem, the landlady admitted she had been illegally claiming benefits from the property whilst we were living there and she could not admit that she was due to pay the council tax as that would lay her wide open to prosecution. We contacted the council and explained the situation, but they wouldn't discuss it. As far as they ( capita ) were concerned, we were liable and they had passed the debt onto Ross and Roberts for collection. We rang Ross and Roberts, who were in fairness understanding, and they agreed a repayment plan which we stuck to like glue. In December 2015 I contacted them to make a payment and they gave us a figure which they said was the amount needed to clear off the debt. I then paid that amount and was told by the lady on the phone that the debt was now paid and we owed nothing more. They would cease any action against us. We didn't think any more about it We got a letter from the council saying we were in arrears with our council tax and they were taking us to court. I went into the offices to talk to them they told me that there was still £470 owing from the previous liability order and that they'd used my council tax payments for that year to clear this off. I explained everything about Ross and Roberts, how they said we'd paid it all off, but the woman insisted that they hadn't collected the full amount and had left £470 uncollected. That was why they were using 2016s council tax payments to clear off those arrears first. After much arguing, they agreed to cease the court action and use the money we had paid for the current years council tax. As for the £470 owing they would simply add it onto the bill and we could repay that on top of the current years council tax over the year. Owing to financial problems we fell into arrears with the council tax, and because as they put it "you have a bad history of paying" they just sent the matter to the courts and we were given another LO. When we contacted Ross and Roberts to sort out payments, they told us that there was still a LO for £470 owing which they were treating seperately, and had added £310 costs onto that bill. Not only that, they added £310 onto the amount for that current year as well. Had Ross and Roberts not told us that we had paid off the full bill, back in 2015, then we would have carried on making all the payments as planned and we wouldn't have been hit with a huge amount of fees, not only for the £470 that they incorrectly didn't collect, but also because that then had a knock on effect for the current year, and owing to us owing the grand sum of £110 for the current year, they whammed us with £310 charges for that. So if you can understand it, we ended up paying £620 in bailliff fees for two liability orders. One for £110 which I accept we owed, and £470 which Ross and Roberts had themselves told us we didn't owe it was their mistake when they didn't collect it as they should have done back when we were willingly making payments to clear off a debt that wasn't even ours in the first place as the landlady should have paid it.

In August this year I received a letter from Ross & Roberts saying that I owe council tax to Gosport Borough Council , As I left Gosport over 12 years ago I was taken aback by this. As far as I was aware the rent and c/t was all up to date. I wrote to R&R to tell them that I was disputing the claim. I sent a letter about not knowing about the debt and also about CPUTR 2008 and guidance on debt collection , also I have requested from GBC, under the FOI anything to do with this. What I want to know is: Can they still visit if its in dispute! Can they still add on any charges! Can they force entry to where I lodge and remove property (non of it I own). I ask this as Someone has been round and put a note through the door when no one was in. Two days latter they were back when my landlord was here and they have threatened him with forcing entry and remove goods . He was in such a panic about it that he gave them £500. Can they do this!!! Until the information from GBC turns up I don't know if I owe it or if they have mucked up some where. Thanks in advance

Evening all, I'm helping a friend out with a Council Tax bill which was overlooked after a misunderstanding with the paperwork. When they contacted the council to set up a direct debit they were advised they were £96.00 behind on payments so made this payment in full there and then on the phone. That was the end of the issue so they thought. However they were not advised of an underpayment of a bill in the period of 2014 - 2015 which was left outstanding and as such not aware of. In the phone call and a reminder letter they received they were not told about the overdue CT of £117.09 Needless to say I was woken up this morning to my friend in complete panic about the Bailiffs and have drafted some letters and come up with a repayment plan for their arrears and CT for the remainder of the financial year. Having looked at the payments they [the council] were requesting over 10 months 2015 - 2016. I have managed to devise settlement of the arrears and current tax years bill over the remaining 9 months of the financial year. This is roughly the same amount if they paid over 10 months without arrears. So the following letter went to the Council This was sent by Fax. A copy was sent to Ross and Robbers for their records. The same day the below Fax went to Ross and Roberts directly: Sent the same day by Fax also. I'm not sure we'll get anywhere with the 2x Fees that are in question. But both as we all know here a grossly disproportionate to the costs incurred to the Council. I wrote this with a recent judgement in mind that a summons fee of £70 was considered unreasonable. Sure I read that in the news letter from CAG some time recently. Also an additional £75 Bailiff Compliance fee for sending 1 letter second class post is ridiculous and shameful. Oh and lets not talk about the local council outsourcing operations to Capita......... Hmmm... Other than the above is there anything else they [my friend] should be doing? Or is there anything I've overlooked here? Many thanks Shark xx

Hi All, I have been helping one of employees out as he does not speak good English - and I have been in his position in the past. He has various debt which he is trying to resolve. One of these is council tax from several periods, at a previous property. One period had gone to DCA stage, a company called Ross and Roberts, the other part was threatening letters from Birmingham City Council. After trying to contact and reason with Ross and Roberts and failing due to awful tele clerks, I spoke to BCC and asked them to intervene. They worked out a repayment of 40.00 per week from the Ross and Roberts side, and 28.00 per week for the part still with Birmingham City Council. My employee paid both payments to Birmingham City Council, a total of 68.00 Per Week. As Ross and Roberts were never paid direct, that side of the debt escalated and an enforcement fee was thrown onto the amount (which was only 400 pound approx to begin with) of an additional 275.00 Ross and Robert had written to my employee saying that he needed to pay them, but the amount owed was to BCC. He didnt undertand this correctly. As it had got to this stage, the process went to enforcement. I contacted the Bailiff who stated that the minimum immediate payment would be 175.00 plus a payment plan. I contact them twice more to see if they can lower this to 100.00, but the ladty never called me back after she promised that she would. Is there anything that can be done? Rob

I hope I have posted this in the right place, need some advice as to how to proceed on this matter. I missed some payments of council tax back in 2013 which according to an email response from them totalled £208, and the 2014 tax year ahead would be £161.84, in March 2014 I emailed them and asked for a payment plan and the council said I could set up payments for both the current year and the debt spread over 12 months, £28.84 payable 1st April 2014 followed by monthly payments of £31 from May to March, I asked if I could break it down every two weeks instead so it would coincide with my housing benefit/JSA payments (I am a single mum out of work at the moment) and she was agreeable to this and said she would send me a direct debit mandate and the figures were something like £16 once a month and £14 once a month. The problem was that I sent the direct debit form back and they only took one of the amounts per month, I had an operation and was out of action for a bit so didn't really deal with it and just paid what they billed me. I missed a letter from them and now have an enforcement notice from Ross & Roberts for £251, comprised of £176 debt and a compliance fee of £75, I phoned the council and spoke to an enforcement advisor to ask if i could pay the council and he refused, I said that I had offered to pay last year and they only took one direct debit a month unlike the 2 we had agreed, he said this was due to a benefit change in March 2014 but he couldn't say what, which 'changed the figure' and I can't recall any change, my operation didn't change my JSA entitlement as I did a sicknote for 14 days. He says since I have not made efforts to pay the debt since I spoke to an advisor by phone a few months back to pay a payment that was refused by the bank (incidentally she put the mistake with the lack of withdrawal of 2 payments a month down to the fact I should have signed 2 direct debits, I told her I only received one) he won't recall it and says I should have noticed the discrepancy (I told him I had a blood clot after my op and tbh checking my bank direct debits wasn't top priority!!), my question is, what do I do now, I can't afford to pay R&R the amount in full as I don't have much, if any spare money, and am only on benefits, and I worry that they will whack on loads of charges/find an excuse to visit my home , if I offer to pay by installment, whats the best plan of action as I have seen stories of debts of a similar amount to mine turning into stupid money!!

Looking for a bit of advice please , long story short if i can . Thought wrongly i was due small business rate relief on my unit as was told i was on previous unit 2 doors away but moved to new unit same sq footage etc . council took me to court the usual scenario r&r were sent round i raher than deal with r&r phoned council and was told that i had to apply for small business tax relief again . i owed part of last yrs and this making nearly £2500 my account was put on hold until my application was dealt with and i recieved full sbtr so owe nothing other than the £85 court costs which i will pay to council later today and r&r's charges =£400 odd inc £85 court costs so my question is where do i stand on paying r&r's this back as i am being hounded 2-3 times on my home and mobile a day by bailiff concerned i have had the £70 letter and 2 visits to my work address which he hasn't levied on anything as i am not there most of the time do i just pay him and be done? Many many thanks in advance .

Today I received a visit from a Horrible woman from Ross and Roberts about outstanding council tax with Birmingham city council. I did have a payment arrangement set up with Ross and Roberts which I had been paying for the roughly the last 6 months but with receiving the current years water and council tax bills I missed Aprils payment. I was hoping to pay make two months payment later this month to catch up but they have sent out the bailiffs. My 6 month baby (Hasn't been well last couple of days) was sleeping when the agent came and starting banging on the door. I wasn't going to open the door but unfortunately she claimed she saw me through the letter box and she started shouting and banging louder and I was worried she would break the glass on the door. She shouted either I open the door or she would come in with the police and a Locksmith. I asked her if we could speak outside or in her van and that I know she can't force entry as she hasn't been inside my house before for this debt. She said she was willing to talk outside but insisted she had a right to gain entry with a Locksmith with the police in attendance. She then went and sat in her van we talked through the window. As I was willing to pay the two months installments I asked her how much was the minimum she was willing to accept to which she replied £500 and she telephoned someone for call for a removal van and told me I had 30 minutes to find a way to make a payment. otherwise she was going to add charges for the removal van. I told her let me call someone to see if I could raise the money but knowing I wouldn't be able to raise that much today I called payplan to clarify if she could gain access (Wasn't sure if the law had changed last year). When she realized who I was talking to she said I now only had 10/15 minutes to make payment and started to call (she claimed) the police and locksmith and shut the window on me. This shook me up but luckily I still had payplan on the phone who reassured me she couldn't get into the house and police wouldn't do anything unless their was a breach of peace. After 15 minutes the bailiff banged on the door and asked if I was "Going to pay" and I replied I can't she said I 5 minutes before the removal van arrived. As she walked off the drive she pointed to the neighbors car and asked if that was my car, I told it was the neighbors. She realised where I worked (I was wearing my uniform as I was getting ready to go to work) and checked the car for signs it may be mine. She then went to my other neighbors house and knocked on their door. I told she has no right to discuss my situation with them due to Data Protection Act but she told me to shut up and stepped into the neighbors house. While she was in There I left my wife and baby home and locked the door went to move my car (parked at end of road) to somewhere else in case the neighbors tell which is my car. On my way back home I phoned Ross and Roberts office and asked to complain about their agent but was told I had to complain in writing. I told them their agent was threatening to break in and was also discussing my case with other people and asked them to call her and tell her to stop but they claimed the couldn't. On returning home I informed the bailiff that I spoke to Ross and Roberts and event they said agent couldn't gain access without a warrant and that I had a right to see the warrant but she just laughed and the office would just have sent me back to her. Couple of minutes later she drove off. I was wondering if someone could advise if the bailiff had a right to talk to my neighbors as I believe I should have been protected by Data Protection Act. Also does anyone have the email address to who I could complain to, in order to get her to back off as I'm worried she may return and harass my wife and children when I'm not at home. I already had to phone in sick as I got late for work dealing with her. (I think I have seen email address of someone at Birmingham city council on the forum before but cant seem to find it today) Any sample letters/emails I could send would be greatly appreciated, as would any other advice. Don't know if it matters but I also can't see her name on Justice . Gov Thank you in advance.

Hi All, I had a parking fine of £75.00 that went to Ross and Roberts to collect, but the cost rose to £174.04 with their charges etc. I didn't get a breakdown of their charges. I didn't argue the case with the bailiff but agreed with him to pay £74.04 immediately and set up an agreement to pay 2 x £50 to settle the balance. Unfortunately I missed the agreed payment date by 3 days but did make the £50 payment, but now they are trying to hit me with a £140.00 Default Charge for paying late.!! Does this sound like I'm being shafted? B.

When my husband died last year we were in arrears with our Council Tax. I went to the Council and an arrangement was put in place which I've adhered to. Until yesterday, no problem. Yesterday, two letters come through the post from Ross & Roberts addressed to my husband. They were pay up within 7 days or we will take you to Court letters. Being somewhat bemused by these letters, I had a vision of letting them take my husband to Court, me going to Court to "represent" my husband and asking the Judge if the Court could employ the services of a Medium so my husband could state his case from beyond the grave!!! Being serious now. Someone, has slipped up - badly. I don't know if this is the fault of the Council or Ross & Roberts and I'm not sure whose cage to rattle first about this but cage rattle I will. I haven't had anything from the Council themselves, just this DCA. I'm wondering if I can sue them for harrassment and causing distress. It would be nice to turn the tables on them for a change. Any advice welcome.