baliff problem please help urgently. bristow and sutor CTAX excessive fees

[decky75]

hi i hope someone can help

i have a council tax bill from 2004

i have moved house since this bill and did not know i owed it until last year

 

ok no problem my debt

 

i will pay however when the balliff turned up and i found out the bill was for £1200

 

i stupidly signed the levy of my goods 26/06/08 and made arrangements for £40 a month as we are both not working

(partner is unable to leave the house have 2 small children and 3 at school)

 

paying the £40 a month no problem until begining of this year

 

1 payment was late which cancelled my arrangement and baliff and van came to the house

was able to show reciept of payment and he was fine chargde me over £160 for his and the vans time

and set up another arrangement then

 

a few months late,r which was probably may, they turned up again and charged me for man and van over £160 again

but this time the payment was on time

 

but they could not find payment

 

thought i was ok because i had reciept

so balif went back to his van made a call and agreed payment was made and on time it was in someone elses office

 

he agreed not to charge me however before driving off he put enevelope through door with charges £160

 

phoned bristow and sutor would not help me down to baliff

 

phoned council

no not with us baliffs control

 

thought ok noone listening

 

phoned bristows again managed to arrange £10 a week easier for us to manage although not our fault this time

just last month my daughter got ill has to go hospital regular for ecg due to passing out totally

forgot about debt but also could not really afford it as paying hospital parking

 

today balliff turns up says he is giving me till 2pm tommorrow to find £930 which should of been lower but due to charges hasnt made a difference

 

i am sorry to be long winded but thought whole story would help in reply

 

i need to know what rights i have he said he will bring police

 

are police allowed to intervine or help him is the levy i signed june 08 still valid please help

 

decky75

[UnitedFront]

I'm just trying to do a bit of a search for you, but I think I read somewhere that these Baillifs can only apply a van charge once where goods are not seized........ but I may well be wrong, so please don't take this as gospel.

 

I will see if I can find where I read this, in the mean time someone else may well be along that knows for sure.

 

Whilst waiting for someone more knowledgable, this will at least act as a bump

Cheers

UF

[mr.ton]

If you havent got it, you havent got it..simple as that, doesnt matter if the klu klux klan turns up.

Make sure any items of value are "hidden" away

This maybe of help to you.........

Bailiffs - Dealing with Bailiffs

The rules/laws are very complex & there are certain items that they cannot take.

[decky75]

thanks do i have to let them in even if the levy is a year old sure i read some where it is not valid after a year and a new one has to be made

[mr.ton]

If you read the link you will see that there are sections saying how you do not have to let them in....have a good read of it.

[UnitedFront]

Mr Ton, please correct me if I am wrong but my understanding is that if a person removes or hides any item listed by a Bailiff on a walking posession document then that person will be committing a criminal offence.

 

To the OP, I have checked and as far as I can see, if I understand your situation correctly (that they have sent a van twice and charged you twice but have never acctually removed goods??) then they are not entitled to charge you the second fee... so you can certainly complain about that!!

 

As far as I can see they are entitled to charge "reasonable costs" to send a van "with a view to removing goods"..... however this can only be charged once! In order to charge a second fee under this bracket, it appears that they must actually remove goods!!

 

I am, however, not particularly versed on the process of complaining and/or claiming back these fee's etc...... so hopefully someone else will come along... I appreciat that you are on a tight deadline so I really hope someone can help you now!!

 

What sort of / how many goods are listed on the walking posession?

 

Cheers

UF

[UnitedFront]

If you read the link you will see that there are sections saying how you do not have to let them in....have a good read of it.

 

Mr Ton if they have a walking posession then they can and will take entry I think we really need to address this for the OP to try and prevent this from happening.

 

Cheers

UF

[decky75]

thanks for replies i have read through some of the letters and one of the bills. (there are 3 combined into one) and one is from 2001 and the other 2 from 2004 does the 2001 come under the 6 year rule

can anyone else find out if the levy is valid

the items listed as far as i can remeber are settes tv computer selection of dvds. i need my computer is a walking possesion the same as a levy all i remmeber doing is the baliff sitting in front room making a note of stuff and me signing it.

thanks for help

[mr.ton]

I didnt realize they had already been in?

Anyway, there are still complex rules as to what they can and cannot take.

If for example you just coincidentally happen to have left that spare tv set or PC in a friends house, then i dont see the prob

If they ask were such an item is then you have a right to remain silent dont forget

[mr.ton]

Mr Ton if they have a walking posession then they can and will take entry I think we really need to address this for the OP to try and prevent this from happening.

 

Cheers

UF

 

How are we supposed to address the thing now/prevent it from happening if they are turning up tomorrow afternoon for goodness sake?

Its far too late to stop the thing now...so ive advised that if the OP doesnt want to lose specific items then to hide them somewhere, i sure would.

Also the OP should have a good read of the link i gave to discover the in's/out's of it all etc...

Bailiffs - Dealing with Bailiffs

[decky75]

yep i read the link have been reading all sorts of links all day quite worried about them coming round tommorrow.

[mr.ton]

Well with respect..i really dont know what to advise then seeing as they are calling tomorrow - i dont see how the thing can be stopped at this late notice?

Just make sure you strictly note down your legal rights & make sure they are fully adhered to by the bailiff in terms of what they can & cannot take etc...

I advise about the hiding items you dont want them to take as well.

Failing that....you'll just have to let them to their thing tomorrow & then start from scratch afterwards.

[mr.ton]

I respectfully suggest that you never again move from a house without making sure there is no outstanding council tax on the place 1st.

That is the 1 debt out of them all that you dont mess about with, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Other debts can be left fine...but CT is the big no no with due respect.

[decky75]

thanks mr ton just reading other peolpes problems and supposedly i can tell the baliff that him and his company are being investigated for there charges by county court and council and it will slow things up

any help with the levy being out of date.

[decky75]

it was over a year ago and as i was saying to him today about the levy being out of date he would not answer me so there must be something in it.

[mr.ton]

It may not do any good at this stage, but make as many phone calls as you can 1st thing in the morning to the likes of the court, the council & even the bailiffs themselves if need be & see if anythig can be sorted out beforehand?

Even try ringing the CAB 1st thing?

Might not work..but worth a shot?

[decky75]

will try anything

[mr.ton]

Well thats all you can do really at this late stage with due respect.

[decky75]

ok i wont give up there must be something or someone who knows about this levy being out of date.

i even said i would rather go to court to sort this out as these companies just dont want to listen.

[mr.ton]

I know its easier said than done, but try getting a good nights sleep and you'll be better to deal with it 1st thing in the morning than at this late hour of night.

[decky75]

dont think i could need to find something

[mr.ton]

You are not gonna find anything this time of night, just various pieces of advise from caggers who are still awake on here.

I dont see what other advise anyone can give other than whats been mentioned already.

[decky75]

hi all thanks for all info i have spoke to nice lady this morning from consumer and she is dealing with case the balliffs have over charged several times they can be done for this the walking possesion is abandoned because of how old it is and they are trying to collect a debt that is over 4yrs old yes it can in some certain circumstances be 4 yrs old not just six however this is older than 6 yrs as well. so local council and bristow and sutor in big trouble phew feel abit better now.

[Gixer1100]

Hi All

 

One thing I would like to bring to the table with the walking possesion stuff....

 

A mate of mine had me sign a reciept for him - to say I had bought all his furniture (including tv / dvd etc) from his house for a tenner, then a couple of reciepts to say he was hiring everything from me for a pound a week...

 

I really dont have any idea about the legalities of this but I do know the Baliffs couldnt touch anything because nothing was technically his - nothing ever moved from his house.

 

If anyone can expand on this, I would be interested...

[diddydicky]

Hi All

 

One thing I would like to bring to the table with the walking possesion stuff....

 

A mate of mine had me sign a reciept for him - to say I had bought all his furniture (including tv / dvd etc) from his house for a tenner, then a couple of reciepts to say he was hiring everything from me for a pound a week...

 

I really dont have any idea about the legalities of this but I do know the Baliffs couldnt touch anything because nothing was technically his - nothing ever moved from his house.

 

If anyone can expand on this, I would be interested...

 

yes, its an old wives tale and assumes that the bailiff is a complete idiot and has never seen that before

 

he will want to see genuine bona fide receipts from a retailer,and if he is not happy with what he is shown he is entitled (although he can be challlenged of course between seizure and the auction of goods ) to dismiss it as not genuine and seize the goods anyway.

 

The best policy is always to keep the bailiff at the door for as long as possible and contact the creditor direct and try to enter into an arrangement and call the dogs off

 

However, where several arrangements to pay have been dishonoured and the bailiff has already entered and levied the goods he may use force to re enter.

 

he can sieze any property INCLUDING property jointly owned by man and wife

 

what you need to remember is that the bailiff does not WANT to remove goods - it is the THREAT of removing them that gets results. un fortunately by this stage even his hands are tied as so many arrangements to pay have gone by the wayside

Edited July 8, 2009 by diddydicky