Need urgent help ref Britow&Sutor and unpaid council tax

[fireman04]

A bailiff can charge you £24.50 for this visit. HOWEVER...you need to be very careful because the bailiff can ...and most times will...levy upon a car outside of your home.

 

You need to ensure that you WRITE to the company straight away to offer to settle the debt.

 

To make a payment arrangement you need to remember that all local authorities will instruct their relevant bailiff companies to accept payments that will CLEAR the debt WITHIN the current council tax year.

 

In other words the debt needs to be paid in full by the end of next March.

this happened to me last night, i opened the door but he did not enter property, gave notification of visit, no costs or anything on there.i currently pay them £65 a month via deb management company.

 

do i need to be writing to them and arrange to pay off by march? i urgently need advice on what route to take

[fireman04]

Hi, wondering if someone could help.i have unpaid council tax of around £800 ish.it was passed to bristow and sutor.they sent me letter etc..informing me of this.at this time i was joining with debt management company B&E and they took this debt,i informed B&S of this via e-mail they were not willing to accept any agreement from them and they wanted £300 or so from straight away and then £200 something from me the following months,(just not possible, i'm single mum) i spoke to B&E and they were going to contact them etc.. and we agreed we could pay £65 to B&S a month.i paid £15 to them while i got set up with B&E and i have now paid 3 months of £65 to B&S and not heard word from them or B&E to tell there was a problem.i had B&S turn up on my doorstep last night.i did not let them in as been advised in the past.he left a notification of visit but with no costs on and left, he said they will still call and further cost will be added.|what do i do??? help!

[cerberusalert]

Thread moved to bailiffs forum

[hallowitch]

send an e-mail to the council explain you are paying £65 a month through a debt management company to b&s explain to them that you are a single parent with 3 kids and cant afford to pay more

 

it is always a good idea to get your M P involved so send him an e-mail asking him to help you with this

[fireman04]

Thanks for your advice, Should i get in contact with B&S do you think? i really don't want the bailiff to call again!

[hallowitch]

send a copy of the e-mail you send to the council to B&S

i would also send a e-mail to your MP outlining your situation and send him/her a copy of the e-mail also

[fireman04]

ok great thanks.i have been in contact with B&S via email before, found them quite rude and they basically told me they did want to hear from on the matter again!

[fireman04]

HELP. I have e-mailed the council as advised and also e-mailed B&S to advise that i had done this and while awaiting a reply i would continue to pay them as had been doing.

Just got a reply saying my offer is not acceptable.They suggest i wait for the bailiff to attend to sort.He has already called once.

I wrote to council explainging situation asking if i could set payment up with them, that i was single mum with young child and not prepared to allow bailiff in my house to be intimidated, that i am not refusing to pay, i am showing willing.

What should i do now?????

[fireman04]

Oh also i have not yet written anything back to B&S should i do so? or await a reply from the council?

[Guest Happy Contrails]

Keep the bailiff OUT of your home and NEVER sign any document for him. Get the debt back into town hal administration, you can do this if you catch the bailiff cheating with his fees.

 

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. He can charge a further £18 for a second visit. 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).

 

This letter currently has a 100% success rate. It asks the bailiff to pass a truth-test about his fees. Three things can happen, 1) The bailiff can try to convince you his fees comply with legislation – and you now have a written confession he intended to defraud you. 2) He can refund you – and this is mitigation the bailiff intended to defraud you. 3) No reply – you can proceed with litigation against bailiff and council. In any event, you have caught the bailiff with pants at half mast with this letter.

 

The Bailiff Company

Their Address 1

Their Address 2

Their Address 3

Postcode

 

BY POST AND BY EMAIL

 

DATE

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re: [YOUR NAME + REF]: Your fees.

 

I write following visits by your bailiff however there appears to an irregularity with your fees and I am writing to ask you to provide me the following within seven (7) days:

 

1) The name of the court that issued the certificate for the bailiff in charge.

 

2) Written itemised breakdown of a) your fees, and b) the original debt.

 

3) The name and address of the organisation that instructed you

 

4) a) Truthfully confirm in writing your fees are lawful and comply with legislation or, b) refund me the unlawful fees plus reasonable compensation for being cheated by your bailiff with his fees by midday the seventh day from the date of this letter.

 

A bailiff or any other person who dishonestly charges for work that has not been done will be committing an arrestable offence under the Fraud Act 2006. Section 2 of the Act specifically describes a person dishonestly makes a false representation and intends, by making the representation, to make a gain for himself or another, or cause a loss to another, or expose another to a risk of loss therefore, if no satisfactory refund is made to me by 12.00 midday seven (7) days from the date of this letter I will automatically file a complaint to police under the 2006 Fraud Act and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. If you have charged VAT on unlawful fees then you may be reported for VAT fraud and your documents will be given in evidence.

 

Case law requires I recover unlawful bailiffs fees from your client that instructed you. If you fail to make the required refund within seven days I will automatically proceed by filing the claim at court.

 

This is a letter before action and is not a request to access any personal data about me in the meaning of the Data Protection Act 1998. It is delivered by Royal Mail and deem it good service upon you by the ordinary course of post under Section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978. It now is your responsibility and in your best interests this letter is handed to the relevant person within your organisation.

 

Yours Sincerely

 

YOUR NAME

Copied to: [NAME OF COUNCIL]

[fireman04]

So can i write this despite the notification letter he left when visited last week did not having outstanding amount or what his fees were on there?

I did not let him into the property and do not intend to.

[Guest Happy Contrails]

Yes, but phone council FIRST and ask how much is owed on the LIABILITY ORDER document.

[fireman04]

so i need to find out exactly how much i owed when the debt was first passed to them? then work out what i've paid etc..

[Guest Happy Contrails]

Correct, but you are quietly trying to work out how much FEES the bailiff has charged you. If its more than £24.50 then his goose is cooked.

[fireman04]

well orginally they wanted me to pay £295, then £300 each month which makes £895.I have 3 x £65 plus a token payment i made of £16 so i have paid £211 which leaves £684 but there is a facility on B&S website to see your outstanding amount which i just looked at and says i owe £724.50?????

[fireman04]

funny it lists the paymenys you have made but nothing about the charges they have stuck on there!

[Guest Happy Contrails]

Avoid going on their website, it only leaves your fingerprints all over it.

 

Have the bailiff pass a truth-test on his fees. Use the letter above.

[fireman04]

ok thanks for your advice, much appreciated.no reply from council as yet!

[nicolee2931]

To be quite honest the best thing you can do, is write a letter to Bristow & Sutor saying you will not pay them a penny other than their fees. Make all your payments direct to the council, if the debt management company is making payments on your behalf instruct them to make the payments to the council.

 

Bristow and Sutor will call a 2nd time just don't let them in or sign anything, they tend to clear off after the 2nd visit and refer the debt back to the council as it isn't worth their while as they can't charge after the 2nd visit. However keep sending letters to Bristow & Sutor firmly explaining you intend to pay you are just refusing to pay them as you don't deal with bullies and their non negotiable payment plan.

 

Stick to this and the debt will be back in council hands in no time, you should get a letter from Bristow & Sutor explaining that they are refering back to the council and will recommend the council do all sorts of horrible things to you, but this is rubbish as if you are paying the council direct no further action can be taken.

 

Just see Bristow and Sutor for the bullies they are, I have seen them off many times, I can't post on here the words I would like to use to describe them, but one word which comes to mind is ****.