Bailiffs, Counicl tax and "Interest"?

[buryman]

Hi,

 

I have been having dealings with Rossendales bailiffs over a 2005 unpaid council tax and have been reading the very helpful thread/posts on this website but i do have one question i cant seem to get an answer for...

 

Can Rossendales charge me interest on an unpaid council tax debt?? My debt seems to have nearly doubled in the 6 weeks i've been dealing with them from £600ish to just over £1000.

 

Can anyone help me? I am willing to pay and have made a written offer but i get the usual "you have to deal with our van bailiff direct"!

 

thanks for any forthcoming help.

 

Buryman:confused:

[dx100uk]

hehe prob charging you a van fee every time he attends to collect the weekly pound of flesh.

totally illegal ofcourse!

 

dx

[Guest Happy Contrails]

Can Rossendales charge me interest on an unpaid council tax debt?? My debt seems to have nearly doubled in the 6 weeks i've been dealing with them from £600ish to just over £1000

 

Unless you have signed a credit agreement with the bailiff, they cannot charge you interest. They need to be Cat. C Credit licenced to trade in consumer credit as per Section 21(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. To trade in any form of consumer credit whilst unlicensed commits an offence under Section 39(1) of the Act. To check whether a trader is licensed, call the Consumer Credit public register 020 7211 8608 and press 1 to search the register. The law does not otherwise provide for bailiffs to charge interest.

 

The law prescribing bailiffs fees for collecting unpaid council tax is the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 and provides £24.00 for a first visit and £18.00 for a second visit if one is made. No other bailiff's fees can lawfully be charged if a bailiff has not moved your goods in a vehicle and you have not signed any document consenting to a levy or a walking possessions agreement (currently a flat rate of £10).

 

Phone the council, tell them their bailiff has been caught cheating with his fees and commits an offence under Section 2 and 4 of the Fraud Act 2006 and ask they take the council tax debt back into town hall administration. Remind the council they are liable for their bailiffs when they are caught defrauding a member of the public. If the council is uncooperative or vexatious then quickly contact the local government ombudsman. Use this template as a starting point.

 

Council Tax (Enforcements) Department

Invincible Borough Council

Address 1

Address 2

Address 3

Postcode

 

[DATE]

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re: [YOUR NAME & ANY REF]: Visit by your bailiff on [DATE]

 

I have had an opportunity to seek advice and I write on the understanding that case law has ruled an authority is liable for its bailiffs.

 

On [DATE] I was visited by your bailiff collecting unpaid council tax. We were unable to reach an amicable resolve and the bailiff showed threatening behaviour and became defensive and vexatious in nature. He made unrealistic demands of money which are way beyond my means.

 

I now ask the Council to:

 

a) Take the case back from the bailiff.

b) Accept my original offer to pay £[AMOUNT] a week to clear the arrears

c) Pay me a reasonable compensation for my inconvenience and for my efforts in seeking discovery of information and

d) Receiving an over-zealous bailiff acting for you making unrealistic demands of money and cheating me with his fees.

e) Charging interest without a valid credit agreement.

 

If you fail to satisfactorily complete the above I will automatically escalate the complaint to the local government ombudsman in fourteen days from the date of this letter. Please treat this letter as Stage 1.

 

Due to my circumstances I am unable to pay the debt as demanded by the bailiffs and I will make payment of £[AMOUNT] each month for [NUMBER OF] monthly installments with a final installment of £[AMOUNT]. This may seem a long time but it's all I can afford and allows me to pay future liabilities without falling into arrears. I confirm I am not refusing to pay this debt.

 

This letter is delivered by Royal Mail and I deem it to be served on you by the ordinary course of post in the meaning of Section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978. It is your responsibility and in your own interests this letter is handed to the relevant person within your organisation.

 

Yours Sincerely

 

[NAME]

Enc 1st payment.

 

Dealing with the bailiff and his attempts to cheat you with his fees and charging interest. Phone the bailiff on his mobile and tell him you are filing a Form 4 complaint against him for defrauding you with his fees and trying to charge interest. Ask him for the name of the court that issued his bailiffs certificate and quickly end the call. If the bailiff refuses to disclose it then phone the Ministry of Justice Public Register of Bailiffs on 020 3334 6355 and ask which court issued his certificate. Download the complaint form to make an official complaint against the bailiff http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/form4_0606.pdf and send the form to the certificating court enclosing supporting evidence such as the bailiffs document showing the bailiffs fees he is trying to charge and any amounts paid. Keep this letter handy and hand it to a bailiff through a window if one turns up. never open the door until the bailiff is a safe distance from your property.

 

To: [NAME OF BAILIFF]

 

BY HAND

 

[DATE]

 

Dear Bailiffs,

 

Re: Your visit to [1st LINE OF ADDRESS]

 

The council appears to have instructed you to recover council tax arrears/parking ticket from me however, as I have already cleared all debts, therefore no money if due.

 

This letter gives you notice that you are being denied peaceful entry to my home or to levy goods contained within and I will not be signing anything for you. This notice revokes your eligibility to charge a Walking Possessions fee or other fee relating to the handling of goods.

 

Please be advised it is not a "criminal offence" for me to deny a bailiff entry to my property, if you suggest to me otherwise I will automatically report you to the police and you may face a criminal record.

 

Meanwhile please provide me with a written breakdown of your fees you have demanded and put it through the letterbox and quietly leave the property. If your fees contradict those prescribed by law I will automatically file a Form 4 complaint against you at your certificating court for attempting to defraud me under Sections 2 and 4 of the Fraud Act 2006.

 

This document was passed to you by hand, and a photograph using a mobile phone has just been taken showing you standing outside the above address reading it. I now ask that you quietly leave the property.

 

Yours Faithfully

 

 

YOUR NAME

[buryman]

Thank you all for the advice.

 

One more question though, can i claim against the bailiffs for these charges/interest on a previous debt that has been paid in full? We had problems 07/08 C-Tax and went through this but had the money to pay in full, which my girlfriend did and was told when she called the bailiff direct to pay that the amount had increased due to interest added. I think the debt was £1100 and we paid over £1300.

 

There was a 1st & 2nd visit but no levy made on any of our goods.

 

I assume this is fraud (from what i take from reading these posts).

[hallowitch]

yes you can if you don't still have any of the paper work from 07/08

send them subject access request remember to include all years or they may just send the year they are collecting now

[Guest Happy Contrails]

One more question though, can i claim against the bailiffs for these charges/interest on a previous debt that has been paid in full?

 

Yes, the law (Section 2 of the Limitation Act 1980) says you can recover any unlawful debt within 6 years of paying it. If you use the small claims track you can ask for interest at 8% a year which is 0.00022% per day from the date you paid the bailiff until the date of judgement.

 

Date Duration Calculator: Days between two dates. multiply the debt by 0.00022 then multiplied by the number of days gives the interest.

[buryman]

Again....Thank you all for advice

[buryman]

***UPDATE***

 

I have just recieved a breakdown of charges from Rossendales relating to my case.

 

1st Visit £24.00

2nd Visit £18.00

Levy £00.00

Visit with Van £110.00:confused:

Waiting £60.00:confused:

 

Still it doesnt add up, my debt is for £635.37. Plus these "charges" = £847.37....NOT the £988 they are asking for!!!!!!!

 

I take it they are trying to defraud me and its now official complaint time?

[Guest Happy Contrails]

Waiting time, thats a new one. The law doesn't provide for bailiffs to charge waiting time. Form 4 is the way to go.

[hallowitch]

to right it doesn't add up no levy no van fee

must have left his calculator at home that day

waiting £60 he was trying to add up the charges because he forgot his calculator:)

[tottys]

£60 for waiting does it say how long he was waiting will have to start thinking up ways on how to get ppl to keep me waiting so i can earn some money like this lol

[Guest Happy Contrails]

I've seen much worse. its common for bailiffs these days not to be mathematically numerate. The bailiff who wrote this document was Form 4'd and is no longer a bailiff after I caught him cheating a social housing tenant early one morning.

 

Anyone hazzard a guess how much the bailiff tried to charge the tenant? (I'll give the answer later).

 

[hallowitch]

about 11k they added the hundreds as thousands

Edited June 19, 2009 by hallowitch

[tottys]

did the bailiff work for dkb collections as they are looking for people who dont know how to add up to work for them...and my guess is around 3 grand