A question I hope someone can help with.

[rolfharris]

Hi all, new to the forum but have a question that I hope someone could help me with. Pretty please.

 

I failed to pay the Council Tax for 2008/09 on time and the matter was eventually given over to a Bailiff Company in Feb 09. Said Bailiff gained entry peacably (had never even heard of Bailiffs, more fool me) and after agreeing a Walking Possession agreement the total was to be paid off at £150 per month until cleared which would be Nov 09. Due to losing my job we couldnt afford to pay both the Bailiff and the new Council Tax bill for the year 09/10 and the C.A.B. advised us to put the Bailiff payments first or our belongings would be taken thus we let the payments to the Council for 09/10slip.

 

Now the Council obviously initiated the exact same proceeding as before and the Bailiff has been back at the door with a "First Notice" of intent to levy distress. Even though the 08/09 year is almost paid and we have made some payments on the 09/10 bill.

 

My main question after that rambling post was essentially: Can the Bailiff force entry to my premises to either tally up my goods again for the 09/10 bill or remove what he listed last time after having gained entry for the prior 08/09 bill?

 

Thanks in advance for any help/insight as I've not been back in Britain for too long, don't know the ins and outs of this shady Bailiff stuff and can't seem to find this information anywhere.

[hallowitch]

08/09 bill if you are paying this and have not missed payments then the bailiff cant use the walking possession agreement to gain entry for 09/10

 

each year is a separate issue so under no circumstances let him into your home

 

and if you can tell me how much the 08/09 liability order was for and how much the bailiff has charged you in fee i can tell you if the fees are correct

[rolfharris]

Thanks very much for the response, cleared that up nicely.

 

The charges were a £12 walking possession fee? a £24.50 section H something and a £24.50 1st visit fee even though it was their second visit. Not enough to worry about in the midst of the somewhat larger payments to the Local Councillors pension funds.

 

So if I understand from reading other posts in the forum, if the Bailiff cannot gain entry (and they won't ever again ) then all they can do is pass my account back to the Council where hopefully we can settle upon an arangement this time?

[hallowitch]

So if I understand from reading other posts in the forum, if the Bailiff cannot gain entry (and they won't ever again ) then all they can do is pass my account back to the Council where hopefully we can settle upon an arangement this time?

yes

 

 

 

bailiff charges

1st visit fee if they don't get a levy £24.50

2nd visit fee again if no levy £18

 

walking possession fee £12

levy fee worked out like this

12½ per cent. on the first £100 of the sum due,

4 per cent. on the next £400

2½ per cent. on the next £1,500,

1 per cent. on the next £8,000

they cant charge any other fees the same day as the WPA fee and levy fee

you should not have been charged heder h fee

[rolfharris]

Thanks Hallowitch, much appreciated. Wish I'd known of this forum much earlier, would have saved a lot of hassle.

 

Oh, one further question if I may. Should I get in touch with the Council asap or should I wait until the Bailiff passes control back to them and they notify me? Which would be best?

Edited September 11, 2009 by rolfharris

[rolfharris]

There were two other things I needed advice please.

 

We have 2 vehicles outside of an evening, the wife's car and my motorcycle (which is chained to a pillar at the front of the house) can either of these vehicles be taken even before the Bailiff has gained entry to the house?

 

Also the question in my previous post - Should I get in touch with the Council asap and tell them I'm not going to deal with them through Bailiffs?

 

Thanks in advance again.

[hallowitch]

We have 2 vehicles outside of an evening, the wife's car and my motorcycle (which is chained to a pillar at the front of the house) can either of these vehicles be taken even before the Bailiff has gained entry to the house?

 

very important to move the car and the bike away from your home until this is sorted the bailiff will levy them unless they are on finance (HP)

Also the question in my previous post - Should I get in touch with the Council asap and tell them I'm not going to deal with them through Bailiffs?

yes but move the car bike first

[rolfharris]

Thanks again for the advice hallowitch, not posted here for a few days as have been trying to get through to our local Council offices. Where it seems noone likes to answer the telephone.

 

Haven't had a further visit from the Bailiff's yet and only had contact with the Council once as of today, as mentioned below.

 

We have now managed to contact the Council (an hour ago, taken all week) and they have said they cannot/will not take back the debt as it is over £1000 and that we should contact the Bailiffs and pay at £50 per month until the debt is covered. I've never heard of this £1000 ceiling before and was wondering if this Recovery Officer at the Council was just trying to fob us off. Would really prefer to pay straight to the Council as I don't really want anything more to do with Bailiff's and their ilk.

 

Could someone let me know if this is a legal/factual statement please and any advice on what to do next would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.