councils mistake but we still have to pay baliff?

[lebonlover]

last year we got taken to court for our council tax and ended up paying for it through my husbands wages. A couple of months in my husbands firm changed hands , we informed the council in writing of his new pay office address didnt hear ne thing for a month then got a baliffs letter. On contacting the council they said they had recieved our letter and sent one to his new firm who hadnt responded.When asked wot adress they were using they reeled off my husbands old firm adress so instead of changing it they had carried on with the old one. When the mistake was pointed out to them they just said well its not our mistake on told us we would still have to pay baliffs fees of 42. We didnt pay the baliffs cost and didnt hear ne thing else. At the beginning of the year my husband started a new job and to make doubly sure nothing went wrong with the c tax he rang them and informed them of the change of details. We recieved a confirmation letter so we thought all was well. That was until friday the 19th of Feb when my husband was woken by a banging on the front door , a baliff had arrived with a c tax demand for 1400 ... which isnt even the amount we owe as we have been paying through his wages for the last 6 months. We had , had no letter informing us that they were coming when my husband finally got hold of the council the woman was snotty and wouldnt admit it was their fault yet again and said we would have to pay the baliffs cost from last time and probably this time too , Which i think is unfair as we did everything we were supposed to both times. My husband was extremely upset and the baliff is coming back tuesday to collect the fee please advice.

[hallowitch]

There is no point in phoning councils

 

send a formal complaint letter to the CHIEF EXECUTIVE of your council

Make the council aware that you are prepared to go through the councils complaints procedure and escalate it the local government ombudsman

ask them for a copy of there complaint procedure

send all letters recorded deliver

make sure you put FORMAL COMPLAINT at the top of your letter (like i have)

 

your council should not have passed this over to the bailiff as it is getting paid you are not responsible for the councils maladministration and should not have to bailiffs fees

[lebonlover]

thanks for the info will do everything you have said and will let you know how i get on. Have also emailed citizens advice and a waiting to hear from them .

[hallowitch]

This link will take you to The Council Tax( Administration and Enforcement Regulations) 1992 fingers x It works

it explains most of the thing they should do regarding attachment of earnings

 

 

The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992

[lebonlover]

what should i do about the baliff on tuesday night .. should we pay the bill and try and claim the costs back or should we not pay any advice would be appriciated

[Conniff]

Don't pay them, and don't allow them into your house. They cannot put a foot in the door or force their way in. If you have a car, keep it in a locked garage or hide it some streets away.

 

Bailiffs have to give you notice of them calling and it would seem they haven't.

 

If you have paperwork for all this, you are in a good position to claim against the council.

 

As above, have a good read of the regulations

[lebonlover]

its not the full council tax bill we have to pay its just the baliffs costs which are 42.50. My husband made a verbal agreement with the guy on friday that he would phone and then collect the 42.50 on tuesday its not a great deal of money but i still feel that we shouldnt have to pay it as it was the councils mistake. My husband is not sure we shouldnt pay it .. i dont know wot to do

[Conniff]

If you want, pay it and then get a case together with all you have and bill the council for the £42.

[lebonlover]

my husband says if he pays it he will get a recipt and then we will write the appropriate letters to the cheif exec etc we have all the info but i am also hoping citizens advice will get back to me tomorrow and maybe able to make a few calls on our behalf . I really would like to sue for the emotional stress that my husband went through on friday he coped all day by himself without telling me because i am already on medication for my nerves. Lets hope we can get something done so this doesnt happen to anyone else. Its always those with less money like us who suffer this rubbish