council tax, bristow and a friend in need

[Tiggerneedshelp]

Hello all, having had the fantastic help from people on this site a while back, I am sincerely hoping someone can help a friend of mine. She is dealing with a council tax debt of which she was paying £44 weekly (she struggled with this) but paid every week. During postal strike she had sent the payment, which obviously was late, she had bailiffs at the door. Which also was the day after her fathers funeral. The original debt was £697.89. She can't really remember signing anything and can not find paper work to say. She had however a notice of seizure, W fee £12, redeem goods £24.50, Levy £46 total £780.39.

Have a signiture and a phone number.

 

Then important notice of seizure, saying no charge for visit yet debt is stated as £969.39, also a signiture and a phone number. My friend has tried to phone but is having no luck with an answer.

 

I hope someone can help her. I am just trying to give her a helping hand and would be grateful if I could exchange phone numbers with someone to speak to her directly as she is at wits end.

[Candle]

Had the bailiffs ever entered her house?

It may be useful if she could arrange to pay the council direct (although some may not agree to it). How long has she been paying the £44, and has she got proof that she sent payment when the strike was on? She will need to know how much extra there is on the original debt (after her instalments) to work out how much they are charging.

 

It doesn't sound right, and I'm not sure ringing the bailiffs would help if she is stressed, they will not necessarily be helpful, just demand payment.

 

Make sure she knows she is not on her own and try to be calm.

[Tiggerneedshelp]

Thank you for your response. Yes i am sure they entered, I think they followed her through the door. She is not 100% sure but she might have signed ( she had buried her father, so head not in right place, which she told them)

She told them about posting payment they basically said tough it was late. We really would appreciate if someone could talk to her directly. Obviously she knows more than I do, I am just trying to help her get started some how, some where.

[tezviper]

If she mentioned that to them then I am pretty sure they should have turned round and left it til a leter date, pretty sure have seen it somewhere. Sounds pretty typical of these lowlifes.

 

TezViper

[Candle]

I suggest she contact Citizen's advice Bureau who know about these sorts of things, and can support her. I may not be the best person as I am dealing with my own case and don't have all the answers currently, although I know when something is wrong!

 

If she was paying instalments direct to the council, it might be worth her ringing them to ask them to take the debt back to keep the bailiffs off her back while the other issues are dealt with. As I said, particularly if she is stressed, ringing the bailiffs themselves would not help, she would get the same reaction as the 'tough'.

 

Maybe someone else will reply to you given time, (depends who is on) but she must not panic as some bailiffs may rely on that to get what they want, whether charges are correct or not. Scare tactics.

 

CAB are a good option, they - unfortunately - deal with this sort of thing all the time. Good luck.

[tezviper]

I think your friends best bet is to write a letter to the bailiff company and let them know what has happened etc. I would also let them know that you are forwarding the letter to the council as you feel the account has not been handled properly. I would also advise speaking to the council and let them know the situation, they may be able to get them off your friends back.

 

Other things to do in meantime would be to check if the bailiff is certificated. ( let us know if unsure how to do this )

 

Also ask the bailiffs for a breakdown of any charges added to the account. And request a copy of the walking possesion order ( if there is one )

 

Keep us posted.

 

TezViper

[tomtubby]

It would appear to me that your friend had bailiff around just following her father being buried.

 

ALL contracts that I have ssen make it CLEAR that your friend would be seen as "vulnerable". ie: the death of a close family relative. To my mind, the bailiff SHOULD NOT HAVE come into the house. He has "levied" upon goods and due entirely to a late payment under this agreement, he is now attempting to charge further fees.

 

Due to your friend's circumstances, I would advise issuing a formal complaint...immediately. She also needs to send a Subject Access Request (a breakdown of the fees charged).

 

At first glance this would appear to be yet another example where vulnerabe people are being exploited by bailiffs.

[Tiggerneedshelp]

Thank all of you for your replies. When I was in this position with bailiffs, citizens advice said they could not help as it had gone too far ( so I think this option is a waste of time), then I was referred to this site by my father-in-law. The people here were fantastic and mine is now being re dealt with by the council, who also at the time said it was not their business.

 

We are not sure how to check certification of bailiffs, this was done by someone on this site for me, so I have never done this.

 

Am I wrong in assuming that if she goes online and makes payment through the council website and it goes through that technically they then have taken the debt back?

[tezviper]

Not always a good idea it depends on the situation, is it this years debt they are trying to collect or is it for a previous year?

 

TezViper

[Tiggerneedshelp]

I am not sure x x

[tezviper]

Its just that if its a previous year then there is no way of knowing for sure which years debt the money will go to. So its probably not the way to go at this stage.

As previously states its best to contact the council and also write a letter to bailiffs, a copy of which should be forwarded to the council.

 

TomTubby has plenty of good advice and can help check certification.

 

TezViper

[Tiggerneedshelp]

Thank you all for your replies, I have passed on your advice. Please if anyone else knows of anything else or another possible way, to let us know. Thank you again, you are all wonderful people x x

[tomtubby]

If you let me have the name of the bailiff, I can check whether or not they are certificated.

 

It is not fair to put the name of the bailiff on the public forum, so if anyone wants a search undertaken, it is best to do this by private message.

 

It must be understood that the information is only as accurate as provided by the individual courts that grant certificates and although errors can occur...they are very rare indeed.

[supertramper]

Also Bristow have in the past used an uncertificated bailiff to enter the property but a certificated bailiff has signed the WPA making it technically legal.

[tomtubby]

If you could let me know the name of the bailiff I will search if he is certificated or not.