Council Tax and Equita

[Dragnite]

So after moving to Luton after being away for 13 years in great yarmouth. I recieved first a letter telling me i owe 0 council tax in great yarmouth at my previous address which i knew anyway as i had paid the bill in full.

 

Two days later i get 2 letters from equita stating i owe £333.36 for number 4 mayhouse cottages where i have not lived for around 5 and a half years, and £403.91 for 19 milton road where i have never been the bill payer as the house was owend by my mum and all the bills were in her name.

 

So naturally rang the bailiffs who spoke to me like dirt were very uncooperative and then hung up on me. Then rang the yarmouth council to find out where the hell this had come from. They told me i had to prove i was not living at these addresses and was not the bill payer of 19 milton road. How the hell am i supposed to do that?

 

Besides i was always under the uimpression that they had to prove i was guilty not that ui had to prove i was innocent.

 

Anyway so after looking around on this site i found the template letters so sent them template K (i think thats the one) asking the council to write off the debt i also sent a copy of it to the bailiffs. I also enclosed a personal budget planner which showed out of the £138 a week i have coming in i only have £1.55 of it left. That was sent to them on May 11th.

 

8 days later May 19th i get a letter back from the council refusing to write off the debt and stating that my other creditors that have already been arranged to pay (because they dont wait 5 years to tell me im in debt) are not priority debts and that i should stop paying them to pay the council.

 

It also advised me to contact equita and arrange payment. So i just got off the phone with them told them i can only afford £1 a week. I was told a book would be sent out and to pay what i can whn i can. Fair enough i thought. Then she says oh but the bailiff will still be calling at your house and you will have to make arrangements with him. What the hell for i have just arranged to pay so therefore a bailiff is not required to come to my house anyway. The women again was incredibly rude. It was like talking to a broken record as well as she kept repeating everything she was saying.

 

On another note if a bailiff were to gain access to this property i fail to see what they can take because i do not own anything in the house as the house belongs to my uncle and all the possessions in it belong to him some of which he inherited from his deceased parents.

 

So do i ignore the baliffs contact the council by letter and arrange to pay them directly and is there anything i can do about this bailiff coming again despite the fact ive arranged to pay.

[Dragnite]

Some further information. I contacted the recovery department of the council by phone and asked them to take over the debt again and offered them £1 a week they refused to do that and told me the bailiff will still come to try to take stuff that i do not have.

[sallysas]

This might sound silly but don't open the door to anyone you don't recognise. I don't think balliffs have right of entry to residential properties but I'm not 100% sure

[bub1]

I think baliffs can only gain entry if you let them, or if they get in through an open window after that they can come in anytime as they have already been in the property.

 

If you dont let them in I dont think they can gain entry forceabley unless they have a court order and then I think they have to be accompanied by the police.

 

I am not sure, hopefully someone else can help you.