Help again please

[Oscar&Emmie]

Hi

I have posted before and your advice has been much appreciated. Any way my position now is that we have two walking possession orders on the same property as we did not realise at the time they were calling about two different accounts with the same Council. (2 different bailiffs from Rossendales). The first one which was causing me panic, as he told me he was coming to get my stuff has now apparently been sent back to the court and the bailiff said my husband will probably face time in jail. We have made offers to pay on the first account of 220.00 per month for five months to clear before new tax year. This was not accepted. I have emailed the council with this offer and am still awaiting a reply. However on the second account I again filled in all the paper work declaring what we have incoming and outgoing, the most we could afford was about £55.00 pounds a week, even this is pushing it. (please remember at this time i thought it was the same account as previously mentioned). Rossendales have now written back saying a payment arrangement has beend made and that we should pay £520.00 every 31 days? Obvioulsy if i dont eat or pay my rent then this is possible but otherwise not. I am a student nurse with a bursary of £600.00 per month, we get WFTC of £130 weekly + 32 family allowance. My husband earns approxamately £800.00 per month. If the council now accept our offer of 220.00 for the first account that means 740.00 per month, which i think is way over the top. The total we now owe is approx £2500.00 and i ahve also realised that the council have not taken my 20% student discount of the second account which is worth about 300.00. Please could someone help with drafting a letter to both council and bailiffs..... I have looked at letters on here but cant seem to find one that would apply in these circumstances. Many thanks

[FairPlay77]

Hi

I have posted before and your advice has been much appreciated. Any way my position now is that we have two walking possession orders on the same property as we did not realise at the time they were calling about two different accounts with the same Council. (2 different bailiffs from Rossendales). The first one which was causing me panic, as he told me he was coming to get my stuff has now apparently been sent back to the court and the bailiff said my husband will probably face time in jail. We have made offers to pay on the first account of 220.00 per month for five months to clear before new tax year. This was not accepted. I have emailed the council with this offer and am still awaiting a reply. However on the second account I again filled in all the paper work declaring what we have incoming and outgoing, the most we could afford was about £55.00 pounds a week, even this is pushing it. (please remember at this time i thought it was the same account as previously mentioned). Rossendales have now written back saying a payment arrangement has beend made and that we should pay £520.00 every 31 days? Obvioulsy if i dont eat or pay my rent then this is possible but otherwise not. I am a student nurse with a bursary of £600.00 per month, we get WFTC of £130 weekly + 32 family allowance. My husband earns approxamately £800.00 per month. If the council now accept our offer of 220.00 for the first account that means 740.00 per month, which i think is way over the top. The total we now owe is approx £2500.00 and i ahve also realised that the council have not taken my 20% student discount of the second account which is worth about 300.00. Please could someone help with drafting a letter to both council and bailiffs..... I have looked at letters on here but cant seem to find one that would apply in these circumstances. Many thanks

 

BEFORE you do anything else, you need to find out how much the bailiffs are trying to charge you in fees over and above the amount owed to the council. The chances are that they are over-charging you - a common bailiff practice - in which case you will find that you owe less than you previously thought.

 

Also, you need to find out whether the Walking Possession Orders are valid. Have you, for example, actually signed a WPO or are the bailiffs trying to charge you for a WPO you have never signed? And have the bailiffs ever been allowed into your home? Do you know the name of the bailiffs that have visited? if you do, you can check with the Ministry of Justic whether they are properly registered. Sometime it turns out that they are not!

 

One other point: the bailiff is lying when he says your husband will probably be sent to prison. As you have not deliberately refused to pay and have made what you consider to be reasonable offers, that is simply not going to happen.

[pink_eeyore]

A WPO does not need to be signed to be valid!

[Oscar&Emmie]

On the first account it is listed as £960 (When he first came round he said he wanted a payment of £250.00 within two weeks, which we managed to get together, then when he came to collect he did a wpo with that amount taken off. Therefore original amount was £1210, his charges were only written down on the levy after the £250 was paid so I have no idea if that £250.00 has gone to the council or not? His cost on the wpo are £24.50, First visit, £54.00 Levy fee and £12.00 walking possession. Listed on this wpo are Main tv in lounge black coffee table, surround sound system, silver tv stand, dvd player, 1 black velour armchair (part of three piece suite) and glass topped dining table. (This bill was for a previous address).

The second one whom we wrongly assumed was for the same account, I even said to him I have sent all your paperwork off and he said he had to another wpo (so he must have known we already had had someone round) is for £1470.18, Levy fee £65.00 and wpo £12.00. Listed on this are Threee piece suite - all items. Black coffee table, sony tv - main one in lounge, surroung sound, glass table and 4 chairs, black wall unit and my laptop (this is in my son in laws name as he the direct and credit agreement were set up in his name). This is the bill that my student discount has not been applied to, so I am unsure where to go from here. I am so confused with it all.

I have done a check and it would appear that they are both registered. Should I phone the council or write and ask for them total owed and ask them to reduce the amount because of student discount....I have proof of this from my uni?

[Oscar&Emmie]

The first wpo was signed by my husband, the account his in his name and I signed the second one.... I wish i had found you guys earlier, there is no way they would have got through my door!

[FairPlay77]

A WPO does not need to be signed to be valid!

 

MY understanding is that if, for example, a bailiff looks through a window and spots, say, a computer or TV and puts it on a WPO but it is not signed by the home's occupant then it is not valid. In any case, as the bailiff in such a case would not have gained entry, the WPO is UNENFORCEABLE.

 

I

[FairPlay77]

On the first account it is listed as £960 (When he first came round he said he wanted a payment of £250.00 within two weeks, which we managed to get together, then when he came to collect he did a wpo with that amount taken off. Therefore original amount was £1210, his charges were only written down on the levy after the £250 was paid so I have no idea if that £250.00 has gone to the council or not? His cost on the wpo are £24.50, First visit, £54.00 Levy fee and £12.00 walking possession. Listed on this wpo are Main tv in lounge black coffee table, surround sound system, silver tv stand, dvd player, 1 black velour armchair (part of three piece suite) and glass topped dining table. (This bill was for a previous address).

The second one whom we wrongly assumed was for the same account, I even said to him I have sent all your paperwork off and he said he had to another wpo (so he must have known we already had had someone round) is for £1470.18, Levy fee £65.00 and wpo £12.00. Listed on this are Threee piece suite - all items. Black coffee table, sony tv - main one in lounge, surroung sound, glass table and 4 chairs, black wall unit and my laptop (this is in my son in laws name as he the direct and credit agreement were set up in his name). This is the bill that my student discount has not been applied to, so I am unsure where to go from here. I am so confused with it all.

I have done a check and it would appear that they are both registered. Should I phone the council or write and ask for them total owed and ask them to reduce the amount because of student discount....I have proof of this from my uni?

 

I THINK you can take it as read that the £250 went straight into his pocket. Ask the bailiff company for a breakdown of your account.

 

You need to be free of these vultures, so I suggest that you ask the council to take back the account and that you put them in the picture concerning the bailiff fees and your personal difficulties. If you have difficulty in getting the account taken back, speak to your local councillor.

 

If you are eligible for a 20 per cent student discount, then obviously you should point this out to the council.but are you sure you should be paying council tax at all if you are a student? Full-time students are often exempt from council tax.

[Oscar&Emmie]

Yes i am sure thats what the discount is, had it for the last two years and for some reason they have not included it even though i sent the proof of from my uni,......to be honest i never checked until now as I am on placements 40 hours a week plus various assignments and family drams, it never occurred to me to check. I have asked the Council when i offered the £220.00 to take the account back and am still waiting... thanks for your advice though, i wish i had known this forum existed before i let the bailiff in, in the first place!

[lochnettie80]

not sure but i think your second wpo may be invalid as he has list items which are already listed for another debt

 

would some one be able to clarify this?

[lets fight bailiffs]

That is correct,

 

not only that but a bailiff can't charge two sets of fees when he is collecting for the same council tax.

 

If it has been sent back to the court then that means that they are getting a warrent however do not pannic because all this warrent means is that you must attend the court forget the prisson bit that is to scare you into paying.

 

although this may sound scarry you do need to attend the court when they ask you to and when you do attend you need to take the letter with the offer you made.

 

work out what you have comming in and what you need to live the at the court ask the clerk if you can have a means form fill this in and hand this to the judge if you think you can pay £220 offer £150 per month that way if you are ever a little short one month you are not stretching yourself and you can still pay £220 if you like.

 

you must also take any parerwork with you to show that you have not received your student discount.

 

LFB