Bailiff called and collected without notice

[malnuman]

hi... 1st thread on here, hope its in the rite section...anyhow i had a txt off my gf while at wrk saying the bayliffs has just turned up demanding £500 for a £320 council tax debt on her previous home,they were due last week & did not show up... she was in a state and stupidly withdrew all her money she had and paid them, theycharged on top of the 320 the hire of the van, and £50 for every half hour they were waiting for her to collect the money frm the bank!! my gf is not working and has 3 children at home all under 16, i do not live with her... surly this is against the law? is there any comeback she can have on this? i know she should not of paid, but she just panicked... any help please

[dx100uk]

this need moving to the bailiffs forum and renaming

 

CTAX bailiffs are not dca's

 

i'll get it done

 

dx

[ambershadow]

Can you please post what she paid in a breakdown

[malnuman]

hi, thanks for the reply, she paid the 320 council tax owed, £50 for the 30min wait while she went to the bank and 130 for the call out with the van and them ready to remove her stuff... these companys seem to be able to get away with what is clearly unjust,

[hallowitch]

they were due last week & did not show up

have they been in her house before do they have a walking possession agreement

[malnuman]

no, they never been to her house, this one or her last one before, this was the 1st time they have showed up, hence the reason why she panicked and paid them.... i saw her last nite and she was a real state, she just didnt want them coming in and taking her stuff in front of her 3 young lads.... its disgracefull what these bully boys can do...

[hallowitch]

does she have a receipt with the charges on it from the bailiff

does she know the bailiffs names what company does the bailiff work for

this is not on

[Sang]

I'm sorry but this is just sickening. Who ever these people are I hope they feel better for what they have put your gf through. From experience myself and the great help I got on here I am sure that something good will come of this. Though you stated that your gf is not working so I am assuming that she is on state benefits. and if she is, she should be able to claim both housing and council tax benefit which can be backdated though I can not remember just how long it can be backdated to, though I know for a fact that if there were special circumstances that the backdated benefits can go further. This just goes to show though that bailiffs do not take anything into consideration ESPECIALLY at the sight of a frightened woman, These bullyboy tactics have got to stop, especially as she is classed as a vulnerable person as she is on benefits, is a single parent. Trust me though with Hallowitch here your seriously in good hands. The one thing I would suggest you do is just be there for her, as those sobs can be seriously intimidating.

[hallowitch]

Trust me though with Hallowitch here your seriously in good hands.

thanks for the compliment Sang

 

this has also sickened me (rattled my cage actually and thats not a good thing to do) and once i get the info i need there will be one nasty but e-mail getting sent to the council the bailiff and her M P

[malnuman]

hi, thanks for the help and words of support... i'm not seeing her till saturday, and i'll be back here on monday with all the details you requested, i shall bring the reciept back with me..... many thanks again, i will let her know she is not alone...

[malnuman]

hi again hallowitch, i now have the recipt with me, the debt is in fact a joint debt to my gf and her hubby its in both their names, so i dont know why they decided to just chase my gf, easy target maybe...

 

anyhow its form bristow& sutor, and all its says on there is amount paid £510 for council tax + costs, is has no breakdown for the extra 180 they put on top.. they verbally told my gf it was for the van coming out and the 30 min wait... they also told her if she didnt pay they could call out a locksmith to gain entry...

 

i have the refernce numbers and the bailifs name who collected the money on the recipt... i dont think anything can now be done, but these people seem to have what ever power they see fit to use, its so not on, not just in my gf's case but all the others i read about on here...

[seanamarts]

I am so sorry this has happened to your girlfriend... these are thugs that just dont know how to behave.. your girlfriend needs to get two letters out, one to the council complaining to them and the other to the bailiff company demanding the charges back. These bailiffs know the score but they also know how to manipulate people in handing over money that is not owing ie extra charges. The most they should of charged is for the one visit £24.00. I concur with sang here your in good hands with hallowitch she has been giving out good information and im sure she will come up with some useful stuff for you and some ideas on how to get these letters written out to both the council and the bailiff company.

[seanamarts]

This is just a thought, there is a charitable organisation that help people in vunerable situations, although this site is a mass of valuble information with many people helping here but I can understand that some people just cant do these things on their own.

here is there link

Supporting Vulnerable Households | Z2K Zacchaeus 2000 Trust

I have read through this site and they have helped many people free of charge, they do not only help with bailiff matters but help with letter writing and phone calls and other general debts and court hearings etc hope this helps

[hallowitch]

i have the reference numbers and the bailiffs name

On line search to check if a Bailiff is Certificated.....

who collected the money on the recipt... i don't think anything can now be done

there is always something you can do getting the charges back will do for a start

[malnuman]

hi again, thanks for the links seanamarts and hallowitch, i checked up and he is certified untill 2011, so he is above board on that point, but his actions and way of doing things are anything but!!

 

so would my gf need to write to bristow and sutar and ask them for a breakdown of charges and how they came to £510 frm a debt of £320? what are the 1st steps of at least trying to reclaim some of the costs back...

[seanamarts]

Firstly I would get a letter off to the council out lining what this bailiff has done in way of over charging.

Then I woulod get a letter off to the bailiff company also out lining the over charges etc and send both the council and the bailiffs a copy of each letter sent.... Hallowitch knows the score here and is an excellent letter writer for this sort of thing

[hallowitch]

£320 council tax debt on her previous home,

text here and ask if

1) was the liability order granted when she still lived there

2) did the bailiff ever come to that address if yes was there a levy done

 

they were due last week & did not show up

was this a letter sent by royal mail saying they were sending a bailiff to collect xxx amount of council tax arrears

was this a hand delivered letter saying a bailiff had been and would call back

does she work what benefits does she receive

does she know the amount of the liability order confirmed by the council

sent you a P M

I would be happy to help write letter

[malnuman]

thanks for the pm hallowitch, i have sent you one back with some details, its good to know there are many people willing to give good advice and a helping hand to those who need it...