Please Help Me Anyone !

[rl123]

I am sorry to have ask you, but you seem to have help lots of people in my situation and I was hoping you would be kind enough to help me?

My wife had a bailiff from Rosendale’s knock on the door yesterday. He said I owed council tax for 2006 at my previous property amount £1204. The letter stated that I must pay this immediately or if I payed £117 now I could discuss a payment plan with them. When I got home I called the bailiff and said I could find the £117 and pay £55 per month until the debt had been cleared. He said there was no way he would accept that at all! And said it must be cleared within 6 months maximum time he is allowed to give. When I asked him what the £117 fig is he said it was for fees incurred. I questioned this and said you have only been out once, to which he replied yes but we have to put the maximum amount it could go up to. I said that the fee for one visit is not within the guidelines, and he then said will if you let me come over tomorrow and sign a walk in possession the fee will change to £24 for today’s visit and £18 for tomorrows. I advised him he will not gain access in my property and I do know my rights. He has now said what he will do Is come over collect the fees of £43 and leave me with a form to request monthly payments.

When I said I will try and speak to my council and pay them direct he told me he has never seen the council take back an account ? and I would be getting in more trouble if I try and do this.

Do you have any advise or letters you could help me with. I am so stressed with bills and with Christmas coming up I don’t want people knocking at my door whilst my wife and two infants are in.

Kind Regards

 

Robin

[Crutey]

Rossendales apply all the fees to an account on the letter they issue. If you question them about it they will tell you its the new computer system they use. It details all the fees on the letter and they state if you pay before the fees are actually incurred they will be removed from the balance.

 

I personally think this is rubbish, the number of accounts they must get paid in full by people who have got scared and paid what the letter says.

 

I would suggest ringing Rossendales office, you will likely be on hold for a while, and asking for a breakdown of the fees and when they were incurred. Then ask them for a means test so you can make an arrangement. Tell them you wont pay any fees for visits while you are writing to them etc as they are aware you are addressing the situation.

 

Be aware they will likely tell you to speak to the bailiff direct. Stick to your guns. You wish to complain about the fees and want to make an arrangement.

[rl123]

Thank you, do you think the council will accept an offer from me direct as i dont wont to deal with the balliffs ? and from what the balliff has said to me rossendale more then likley will refuse my payment option ? as it does not meet with there guidelines from the council ?

[Crutey]

All you can do is try, to be honest the Council is only likely to interveine if they consider you vunerable, on a low income, single parent, on benefits etc. If they feel there is no valid reason why you didnt pay as billed and have the means to pay they will likely refer you to the bailiff.

 

Call the Council, declare you are in hardship and ask for a means test. Just see what they say.

[rl123]

ok i will keep my fingers crossed, many thanks for you help.

[rl123]

the ballif came over yesterday, and left paperwork for me to look at. when i open it, is said once agian we have returned with the intention to remove goods (they can't remove without a WPA) then a had written note from the balliff on the back. say he has spoken to the council and hey are on the understanding the account will stay with rosendales. if a payment is not aggreed with rosendales, they will proceed with an attachment of earnings.

 

i wanted to try and get my account back with the council, but is it even worht me speaking to them now as the balliff has got to them before me ? is this just another tactic these bullies are trying to use to keep the account with them ?

 

they have given me 5 days or appartantly will return with a van to remove goods (which they have not even levied on?) If theydo return can i be charged again ?

[falcon185]

Hi rl,

with council tax they can only charge for two visits, first visit £24.50 second £18.50 I believe. Any subsequent visits are at no charge. As you rightly said, they cannot remove goods without entry and a levy/walking posession. If they try charging you for any of these I would write a strong letter of complaint to the council advising them of the underhand practices their employees are using in order to collect on their behalf and the over charging on their fees. The council are ultimately responsible for the actions of their employees. Although they will most probably deny this.

[tomtubby]

Sadly the council' will say that they CANNOT discuss the matter further and direct you back to the bailiff. In the case of Rossendales, if our companies experience is anything to go by, they will try as hard as poss to keep the debt with their company.

 

The bailiff by law can only charge £24.50 for a first visit and £18.00 for a second visit. He can visit 10 times he he likes.......but the maximum number of visits he can charge are hust the 2. That's it.

 

For the collection of COUNCIL TAX the bailiff can try sending out notices to say:

 

REMOVAL NOTICE.

24 HOURS REMOVAL NOTICE

AUCTION NOTICE

However, this is the important thing to remember:

 

In order to "attend to remove", he must first have been into your property and "seized" goods which he would have listed on a walking possession. If you then default on your payment arrangement, he can then return to "remove" those goods....and only goods PREVIOUSLY seized.

 

In your case the bailiff has not "levied" on goods and cannot therefore come to your home to remove.

 

I am sending you a PM.

[rl123]

i have sent of a letter to rossendales on tuesdays night, using a template from this fantastic site. however as i only have a basic account i could not send a cheque with it. i want to pay the 1st installment now to show a good will gesture. i have no debit/card and no cheque book. I do have internet banking. and have been on the councils website to get there sort code and account number. should i pay the 1st installment direct to the council or to the balliff in your honest opinion ?

 

many thanks

[Boro]

Personally i would pay the council and not rossendales but this will meen that even once the council are paid and rossendales informed they will be wanting their "fees" which in my experience will be blown out of proportion and totaly illegal, pretty sure worst case scenario their is you send them a subject access request (which will show the fees charged) and thats your evidence realy, pay them the first and second visit fee as stated above but nothing beyond that

[rl123]

Thank you for that BORO, i did want to pay them directly, i have paid the 1st two visit fees. and my payment offer as not been accepted from rosendales as of yet, but i wanted to make my 1st payment now to sure a good will. is this what i should do, or should i wait for the aggreement to be accepted ?

[demon_x_slash]

I would also say that each time you write to Rossendales (write, don't phone!), copy in the Council as well. The bailiff here seems to constantly be trying it on with you, but now that you know the fee structure you won't be fooled.

If you really can't use a cheque, a postal order should do - however, with POs you have no way of checking if it's been cashed or not, and some collectors do have a habit of 'losing' your payment so that they can say you've defaulted. The ideal thing to do would be to scrape some money from somewhere and issue a cheque. You don't have to wait for the agreement to be accepted to make a payment, and making a payment shows that you are not attempting to avoid paying.

Keep copies of everything!