Bristow & Suitor and Council Tax

[trufflesbum]

Hi all,

 

I need a bit of advice about a council tax debt with the above bailiffs.

 

My husband and I recently moved out of a rented property after financial difficulty and left a council tax debt of £450. We had no intention of ignoring the debt and wrote to B&S as soon as we moved giving them our new address, and offering a repayment plan. We followed the template letter in this forum.

 

My husband received a telephone call from B&S stating that the are unable to communicate via telephone, and we had to wait for a bailiff to call to make any payment arrangement (presumably to add fees!). Note though, that they confirmed they received the letter, which clearly stated the new address.

 

It appears that since then B&S have obtained my husbands parents address (presumably from the rental agency) as a contact address for us. they sent a bailiff to visit them. My parents-in-law share our surname, and as such initially though they had a debt. They are an elderly couple and are incredibly upset about this all.

 

We rang B&S asking them to check their contact details to make sure this didn't happen again. They confirmed that they have our current address on file, but didn't understand why the bailiff had been to his parents.

 

They went on to say that we had to contact the bailiff by mobile to find out why he went to the wrong address. The bailiff's mobile is going to voicemail and we await a call back.

 

My questions are firstly what I can do to stop the bailiff visiting our parents again. This would cause an unbelievable amount of stress, and is beginning to cause a rift between my husband and his parents and we are desperate to stop this happening again.

 

Secondly, they have charged him £24ish for the visit. Can they charge for a visit when they were clearly well aware that this was the wrong address? Is there any way we can get the fee removed?

 

Any help gratefully received as always.

 

Kind regards,

 

Wendy

[Guest Happy Contrails]

If your parents are concerned about being visited by bailiffs or its causing them undue stress and anxiety then they should seek advice about applying for a restraining order under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. It must be served on the firm of bailiffs or a director, not an individual bailiff unless he is also a named director.

 

If a bailiff has charged a visit fee for visiting an address that is different from the debtors address then there is no legal obligation to pay it. Its an offence to charge for visits deliberate made to impertinent addresses or charging for visits not made at all.

[chris600uk]

My husband and I recently moved out of a rented property after financial difficulty and left a council tax debt of £450. We had no intention of ignoring the debt and wrote to B&S as soon as we moved giving them our new address, and offering a repayment plan. We followed the template letter in this forum.

 

That sounds like you have already been paying B&S, have you ever let them into your home?

 

 

My husband received a telephone call from B&S stating that the are unable to communicate via telephone, and we had to wait for a bailiff to call to make any payment arrangement (presumably to add fees!). Note though, that they confirmed they received the letter, which clearly stated the new address.

 

That's all a load of BS, you should only communicate in writing - you should never ever speak to a bailiff unless you are gathering information for a complaint.

 

 

It appears that since then B&S have obtained my husbands parents address (presumably from the rental agency) as a contact address for us. they sent a bailiff to visit them. My parents-in-law share our surname, and as such initially though they had a debt. They are an elderly couple and are incredibly upset about this all.

 

We rang B&S asking them to check their contact details to make sure this didn't happen again. They confirmed that they have our current address on file, but didn't understand why the bailiff had been to his parents.

 

LOL, they would say that wouldn't they! Honestly, what did you expect them to say...

 

You should have made that contact in writing, you have no proof of what has been said.

 

They went on to say that we had to contact the bailiff by mobile to find out why he went to the wrong address. The bailiff's mobile is going to voicemail and we await a call back.

 

Please don't... you'll only cause yourselves more stress. The bailiff isn't interested in you or your parents, they are irrelevant to him, all he cares about is putting pressure on you by any means possible.

 

My questions are firstly what I can do to stop the bailiff visiting our parents again.

 

Informing the council IN WRITING of your new address would have been a good start, doing the same to the bailiffs is the second.

Then have your parents (write it for them if necessary) write to each complaining that this isn't their debt they have been needlessly harrassed and if it happens again they may very well do exactly as Happy Contrails suggested.

 

Secondly, they have charged him £24ish for the visit. Can they charge for a visit when they were clearly well aware that this was the wrong address? Is there any way we can get the fee removed?

 

Well that depends...

 

If they were informed IN WRITING before they visited, yes you should have that removed, if not, no. The council are entitled to assume you still live there unless you tell them otherwise.

[trufflesbum]

Hi,

 

Thank you both for your advice.

 

We haven't paid B&S anything yet. The debt was passed to them just before we moved, so as soon as we did move, we wrote to them to give them the new address and did forward a copy of this letter to the council.

 

We also offered a repayment plan in this letter.

 

B&S confirmed receipt of this letter by telephoning my husband, but they didn't reply in writing. The rang to say they'd got the letter, but wouldn't accept a payment plan by letter, but that we had to be visited by a bailiff.

 

B&S have never been in our home, and have only visited the once (to the wrong address) which was two weeks after the letter was sent with the correct address. I suppose this means we can ask for the fee to be removed?

 

On an aside, I read in another post here that if the debtor is on JSA we can ask for the debt to be sent back to the council and for deductions to be made straight from his benefits. My husband is on JSA but I work full time. Would we be able to do this?

 

Thanks again for any help

 

Wendy

[chris600uk]

We haven't paid B&S anything yet. The debt was passed to them just before we moved, so as soon as we did move, we wrote to them to give them the new address and did forward a copy of this letter to the council.

 

In that case they had no right to visit your old address or your parents address.

You must write to them challenging the fees, copy to your council tax department of course.

 

 

We also offered a repayment plan in this letter.

 

Not much point they wouldn't accept it anyway.

You can pay the council directly online, no one can stop you.

If you are able to pay it online in one go, the bailiffs are cut out of the loop and have no further right to pester you.

Doesn't mean they won't try, just that they have no right to.

 

 

B&S confirmed receipt of this letter by telephoning my husband, but they didn't reply in writing. The rang to say they'd got the letter, but wouldn't accept a payment plan by letter, but that we had to be visited by a bailiff

 

That's my point exactly, you can't prove what was or wasn't said unless it is in writing.

 

 

B&S have never been in our home, and have only visited the once (to the wrong address) which was two weeks after the letter was sent with the correct address. I suppose this means we can ask for the fee to be removed?

 

ASK? No, you demand that the unlawful fee be removed, and consider the account to be in dispute until it is removed, meanwhile make payments to the council online.

 

 

On an aside, I read in another post here that if the debtor is on JSA we can ask for the debt to be sent back to the council and for deductions to be made straight from his benefits. My husband is on JSA but I work full time. Would we be able to do this?

 

Only if his name is the only name on the Liability Order, which incidentally you should have a copy of.

[cds]

Not got much to add to this but NEVER EVER let them in for ANY reason (toilet, chat use the phone etc)

 

They WILL do a walking possession, keep your doors and windows locked.

 

I had dealings with BS for my son, in the end I got the council to take the account back because he is on jsa. But the above company are con men. Be careful when corresponding they will try to had ££££'s to your bill

 

cds

[trufflesbum]

Thanks for you help again.

 

I was a a full time student during the period of council tax and as such, my name is not on the liability order.

 

We can't afford to pay it off in full, so will now begin making payments online direct to the council.

 

We'll follow the rest of the advice here, and hopefully have it sent back to the council (and the fee removed!).

 

Thanks a million. I'm sure we'll be back if we need more help!

 

Wendy

[Guest Happy Contrails]

If you are full time student then you are probably in full time education and exempt from council tax. If you name is not on the liability order then you are not liable to pay it.

[trufflesbum]

Just a bit of an update.

 

I wrote the letters suggested above and sent them recorded delivery to both the council and B&S. The letters to the council were received on the 21st. The letters to B&S are yet to be signed for.

 

I have a feeling B&S are not going to sign for them, and then argue that they never received them and thus don't have to act on the contents.

 

Any suggestions about what to do if they continue to refuse them?

 

I'm hoping the council will get back to us soon and agree to take it back into their hands, but in the meantime I'm not sure what to do!

 

Thanks in anticipation,

 

Wendy

[Guest Happy Contrails]

The letters to the council were received on the 21st. The letters to B&S are yet to be signed for.

 

I have a feeling B&S are not going to sign for them, and then argue that they never received them and thus don't have to act on the contents.

 

Any suggestions about what to do if they continue to refuse them?

 

This is why I never advocate the use of Recorded Delivery. Send your letter using oridinary post adding the following paragraph and any subsequent court proceeding will consider your letter safely delivered.

 

This document is delivered by Royal Mail and deemed good service upon you by the ordinary course of post under Section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978. It is now your responsibility and in your best interests this letter is handed to the relevant person within your organisation.