Council Tax And Bailiff

[DCA-KING]

Hi i recieved a letter today from a bailiff company with regards to council taxFor £232

I cannot work due to my illness and as im on benefits the council pay my rent and council tax they say it is what is owed as i do not get full council tax relief ok thats fair phoned them to make a payment they say have to phone the bailiff to arrange it then she said as you are disablied i will do (lovely lady )so she phoned back told me they will take £20 a month a thanksed her and phoned the bailiff was told yes council have phoned them and arranged a payment plan i thanked them and asked may i make a payment she told me off what account i asked her what she was on about as ive only had one letter about this acount from her comapny she said there was a account from 16 months ago and that a baliff came out and hand delevered a letter to me i told her that was not true she told me ok he must have put it through you letterbox as you have a brown door(this is true it is brown) but i int got a letterbox as the dog used to eat everything that came through there thats why when i had a new door i didnt get a letterbox(postman knows where to hide my mail in the garden)

what can i do about this as she told me the 2 will now be added together and that payment will come off the 2 accounts

so any help as i know nothing about this other account and she got really uptight when i told her she just said well he must have come as how do we know you have a brown door i told her there was nothing to say that he might have just drove pass

so i just said ok i could drive up to your office and say i came in and paid i must have because your office as a glass door and blinds in the window

plaese help me sort this out

regards

[chris600uk]

Did you say you were on benefits?

Do you already get Council Tax Benefit?

 

if so it's got bog all to do with the bailiffs.

The council must apply for an attachment order to take it out of your benefit at approximately 300 pence per week.

 

Does that apply to you?

 

if so, you'll be sorted in no time.

 

Been there done that,

 

Chris.8)

[DCA-KING]

Hi Chris Thanks for the reply

yes i got coucil tax benefit and found out that i still had to pay 132.00 towards my council tax only found this out when they sent me a letter from the court

so i wrote to the council asking them to take money each fortnight out of my benefit

then i get a letter from baliff company so i phoned (today) the council to ask them to take it out of my benefit they told me that they cant take it out of Incapacity Benifet and i would have to deal with the baliffs so the council women phoned them and said that she had setup a payment plan with them for me to pay £5 a week

[chris600uk]

i) you get CTB but you still have to contribute £132

 

I don't really understand that, but anyway......

 

ii) the council made an arrangement with the bailiff on your behalf

 

What gave them the right to do that?

[DCA-KING]

Hi Yes i still have to pay £132 a year instead of £1100 im on Incapacity Benefit and DLA and when i phoned the baliff to ask how i owed it they told me need phone council thats when i asked the lady again from the council to take it out of my IB or DLA she told me they cant only income support or JSA thats when she told me to hang on while she phoned the baliff company (direct line i suppose cuz she was back in mins when i phone was waiting ages) and told me that she arrangedd a payment plan for me with them of £20.00 a month but hell when i phoned the baliff just now to pay they charge a £1 for debit cards

sods

[chris600uk]

Ok so 132 per annum = 13.20 per month over 10 months = 3.30 per week.

 

I don't believe for one minute that they can only attach an order to IS or JSA, unless someone knows better.

 

Why can't the council accept the payments in instalments from you direct especially as the debt for each year could easily be cleared within the year.

 

I think you need to stop making phone calls.

 

Start writing letters.

 

chris

[DCA-KING]

Thanks chrissi

I will write to the council and deliver it first thing tomorrow

I cant see why they wont take payment off me

what i do know is that the company that collect it for the council do a better job than when the council had there own baliffs as the company they use are known to bully people but NOT ME SINCE I FOUND THIS WEBSITE

REGARDS C

[chris600uk]

deductions can only be made from income support, income-based jobseekers allowance or pension credit – people in receipt of income-replacement benefits such as incapacity benefit cannot have deductions from their benefit for council tax arrears.

 

OK I believe it now:(.

 

I am sure that the council have a provision for instalment agreements that can be paid within the year, I've seen it somewhere, GOTCHA!.

Council Tax Payments - Instalments & Payments

 

Payment of Council Tax is due on demand on the 1st April each year, but council's are obliged to offer a statutory instalment plan (maximum 10 instalments) to customers.

 

So you know what to write now don't you!

 

Chris.

[chris600uk]

How much do you owe the council altogether?

[DCA-KING]

Well the women from the baliff company told me they have one for the £232 and another one from last year for £500 odd that i know nothing about so she told me that they would add the two together

Funny as the women from the council this morning didnt mention anything about the £500 odd one

[chris600uk]

The quick way is: to get yourself down to the council tax offices and make them print off the actual debt to them, or get them to show you what's on the computer screen and write it down.

Or write to them, and ask them to post it out to you a.s.a.p, because you really haven't got 40 days to wait for a S.A.R.

[tomtubby]

Deduction from benefits ONLY apply when you are in receipt of EITHER jobseekers (JSA) or pension credit.

 

The following is from our website:

 

 

 

 

If you are receiving Income Support, it is vitally important that you contact your local authority without delay. This is because they can apply for deductions to be made at a nominal rate from your benefits to pay towards your arrears of Council Tax. The amount of deduction is set by law at £2.90 per week for a single debtor and £4.55 per week for a couple.

The relevant Statutory Regulation is as follows:

 

• Council Tax (Deductions from Income Support) Regulations 1993 S.I. 1993/494.

 

If payments are being deducted from your Benefits, under Regulation 52 of The Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations 1992, it expressly prohibits any enforcement action when deductions are being made from Income Support for a Council Tax Liability Order.

 

From 6th October 2003, anyone in receipt of Pension Credit may also apply for Council Tax to be deducted at nominal rate of £2.80 per week.

 

The relevant Statutory Regulation is as follows:

 

 

• The State Pension Credit (Consequential, Transitional and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2002 – S.I.2002/3019

[chris600uk]

There you go! TT has laid out the law for you very nicely indeed.

 

Now reading that, is there any part of your benefit that includes Income Support?

[DCA-KING]

what are my rights with regards to these companies contacting me as i suffer from metal health issues (PTSD) surley these people have some laws to protect vunrable people

any help

[tomtubby]

What angers me is that the council, knowing that you are on benefits, have still applied for a liability order and would have charged you fees of approx: £85 for this. A disgrace !!

 

According to the National Standards you are classified as "vulnerable"

You need to write to the council to ask them why your debt was sent to bailiffs and that you are vulnerable and the debt should be returned back to the council ASAP.