Jacobs Bailiffs not playing fair

[ringosmom]

Hi I am in need of some advice. I am in arrears with my council tax and have been paying Jacobs Bailiffs since 2006/2007, the initial payment was £60 a month but that has slowly been increased by them to £100 a month. Today i received a letter from them telling me that after my 3month review they were increasing my payment to £140.00 a month. I am also paying the council directly for this years council tax bill at a rate of £112 per month. I cant afford to pay out nearly £250 per month and unfortunately so far with my dealings with the bailiffs i have done everything wrong (because i have done everything they asked and so it has all been in their favour!) I have let them into my property, I have filled in the income/expenditure forms they dilligently send me every 3 months and now i find i'm sinking fast as i just cant afford to be paying out what they're asking for. I have tried speaking to the council but they wont discuss it because the file is with the bailiffs. I have asked the bailiffs if they will decrease my payments but they wont so now i dont know what else to do. I've spoken to a colleague who said they thought i might be able to ask the council to take back my file as i am dyslexic, have a stress-related condition which means i am registered disabled, and i am a single parent with 2 young children at home. I still work part-time but the stress of all this means my condition is flaring up and i am struggling to get into work. Can anybody offer me any help/advice on what to do next?? It would be most appreciated.

[andie_303]

Hi Ringos mum - this is typical Jacobs give me as few minutes to put you together an email to both council and jacobs.

 

They tried this with me and a few other people on here and thankfully I am 5-0 up on Jacobs backing down.

[andie_303]

just out of interest are they aware you are disabled and a single parent?

[andie_303]

email FAO: The PARTNERS

 

[email protected]

 

URGENT COMPLAINT

Ref:

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

I am writing to you with an urgent complaint I have regarding your companies behavoiur on the above account.

 

I entered into an agreement to pay £60 per month towards a council tax liability order - since entering into this agreement I have not missed a payment yet your company insisted on increasing the payment to £100 again I paid this with diligence.

 

However, I recieved a letter on the XX/XX/XX informing me my agreement had been cancelled and that payment would now increase to £140 - there is no reason for this to happen and believe quite frankly it is being used as a scare tactic to try and make me pay more money than I can afford.

 

I have contacted you every time you have required so and completed all paperwork you have required of me.

 

Your company is now asking for more than I can afford depite me having never missed a payment. Can you please explain how you can justify such an action?

 

I assume your company is penalising those who pay regularly and ontime and is adopting scare tactics to bully those into paying money they can ill-afford.

 

This is disgusting behaviour from your company to someone that is indeed paying what is owed and doing so on a regular basis.

 

I would also remind your company that I am registered disabled and a single parent therefore am classed as a vulnerable party under OFT guidelines.

 

I now ask that you reinstate my agreement to pay £100 per month.

 

Should this not be done I will have no further alternative but to contact the OFT and file a formal complaint against your company. I will also be informing the council and copying the Revenue Manager into further correspondance.

 

I also expect my payment arrangement to be put back in place with immediate effect - should you find yourselves not able to comply with this I ask that you pass my file back to the council and I will pay them directly.

 

I have attached a read receipt to this email as confirmation that it has been received and I expect this to be acted upon immediately.

 

Yours

 

XXXXXXXXX

[ringosmom]

Both the council and Jacobs know i'm a single parent but i've only recently been registered disabled, although i am in receipt of disability benefit. I've never mentioned it to the bailiff as i didnt feel i'd get a sympathetic response.

[andie_303]

copy this to your council - both the head of revenues and the actual head of the council with this covering letter

 

 

Address

 

 

 

Date

 

 

Ref Number

 

 

URGENT COMPLAINT

 

 

Dear Sir

 

I write to you to make a formal complaint about Jacobs, the agents you employ to collect outstanding council tax.

 

I have been paying Jacobs for the oustanding council tax order since 2006. I have paid each month without missing a payment yet Jacobs keep incresing the monthly amount I am to pay.

 

This payment has increased by more than double over this period of time and I can now no longer afford to pay both this and my current years tax.

 

I have recieved no explanation as to why the increases are happening and when queried I am basically fobbed off and told to make the payments they demand.

 

As they have already completed a walking possession (a condition of beiong allowed to pay in installments) I am being held effectively to ransom as I am aware that if I do not pay what they request they will enter my premises and remove goods.

 

I am also registered disabled and a single parent to a young child therefore I feel that Jacobs, whilst acting as your agents, are disregarding the vulnerable party guidelines set down by the office of fair trading.

 

This is completely unacceptable and I would like an explanation as to how your council allows its agents to act in this manner.

 

I ask that this response be acted on as a matter of urgency along with an explanation as to what your council is going to do to prevent Jacobs breaching these guidelines?

 

Yours

 

XXXXXXXXX

[hallowitch]

great letter andie 303 i tipped your scales

 

ringosmom you have been paying this for a long time have you ever asked for or been given a breakdown of fees added to your account

or a statement to say how much you have paid or how much you have left to pay

 

do you know how much the council tax arrears were to start with

[andie_303]

Sorry to make clear - send the Jacobs email to Jacobs

 

Send to the council the Jacobs email with the covering letter above.

[andie_303]

thanks hallow witch

[ringosmom]

Thanks Andie, have emailed Jacobs now so will await their reply. I am due to pay them on the 14th of this month, so should i just stick to the original payment plan? To Hallowitch, no i never asked for a breakdown of my fees. To be honest i hate dealing with them so i am normally very compliant and dont like to ask questions or seem to be causing trouble but i feel like they're just taking advantage of me now. No more scaredy little miss nice girl!!!

[andie_303]

Yes stick to the original payment plan make sure you get a copy to the council as well they are accountable for Jacobs actions.

 

And you're correct no more little miss nice girl as you get worked all over by these people.

 

I believe Jacobs are on for bonuses if they collect £x amount over what they are supposed to or £x amount early - otherwise why would they be pushing they way they do?

 

I would love to find that out for definate though

[ringosmom]

Thanks again, will keep you posted on any developments. And have tipped your scales.

[andie_303]

Thank you and please do let me know.

[pink_eeyore]

I believe Jacobs are on for bonuses if they collect £x amount over what they are supposed to or £x amount early - otherwise why would they be pushing they way they do?

 

Council's do not pay bailiff firms for collecting council tax - they are reliant on the fees applied to debtors.

 

Bailiff firms invoice the council's for VAT on fees and charges as this is not applied to debtors.

[ringosmom]

:sad:Hi, further to my starting thread, i phoned the bailiffs today to make a payment of £100 but they refused to accept it. The person on the phone said they would only accept £140 and that it didnt matter what email i had sent them as that was all they were going to accept. When i said i couldnt afford to increase my payment the person told me i would have to phone the manager on monday morning at 9am and speak to him otherwise i was in breach of my payment plan. I am feeling very bullied and very annoyed - can they refuse my payment?? I'm not sure what to do for the best now as i certainly dont want them turning up at my house. Any further advice would be much appreciated.

[PSB123]

Hi ringosmom - Rule no.1 never speak to them on the phone. Keep it in writing from now on. You need to be the one in control not them. Ask them for a break down of their charges to see if they have added any illegal charges to your account.

[ploddertom]

Ringosmom

 

Mt tenpenceworth for what it is.

 

As PSB123 says don't talk to them, by doing this you are obeying them and they will make you dance to their tune. Do not believe a word they say.

 

Get on to the Council first thing Monday morning and ask how much your Liability Order was for and how much is still outstanding, you also want to know when it was passed to the Bailiffs. Do not let them fob you off, if necessary ask to speak to someone higher up the food chain.

 

Next get on to the bailiffs as you want a breakdown of your account and most importantly you want a screenshot of your account also. They are obliged to comply with this request. You do not have to pay for it nor is it part of a Subject Access Request as it has nothing to do to with that part of the Data Protection Act. You also want to know which Court the individual Bailiff(s) in your case are registered with. Any refusal and inform them you will commence a Form 4 action against them. Any refusal on their behalf should also be reported to the Council.

 

As you appear to be possibly classed as a vulnerable person the Bailiff should automatically hand your file back to the Council. Chances are they will find lots of arguments why not, if so ignore them.

 

You could also ask the Council to take it back from them but no doubt will be left with "you must deal with the bailiff" syndrome. In which case ask to speak to someone higher up - Head of Revenues or Chief Executive. A good starting point here is to contact your local Councillor ASAP even if tomorrow is Sunday they volunteered for Public Office so have to take the rough with the smooth.

 

As a single parent do you claim all the Benefits etc you may be entitled to, it may be worth contacting a Welfare Rights Advisor for further help or try Start Calculation for further info. For instance do you get a reduction in Council Tax for disability or single parent.

 

Hope this helps.

 

PT

[ploddertom]

Sorry, couple of things I forgot to say.

 

To seriously upset the bailiff - stop paying him and make payments direct to the Council in future. This can be done via their online system, automated phone service or by using Bill Pay. Details will be on the back of your CT Bill or the Council website.

 

If your account gets back to the Council ask them to return it to Court for a means test whereby the Court will set an affordable level of payments and if you are solely on Benefits this can be approx £3 or similar.

 

As you say time to stop being scaredy little miss nice girl, by doing some of this will help get the Bailiff off your back as he will start to realise you know what you are about now.

 

PT

[seanamarts]

Please get in touch with these people, your are classed as vulnerable and are on a low income.

Supporting Vulnerable Households | Z2K Zacchaeus 2000 Trust

They help many people out in your situation. their contact details are here

[ringosmom]

Hi thanks to everybody for your help and advice. I have written to the council today asking them to take back my case and outlining the reasons why i am making this request. I have also sent a copy to Jacobs requesting they hand my case back to the council. I will keep you updated on what happens. Hopefully my case will also help anybody else who gets in this situation. Thanks again.