Council Tax Bailiff

[elamaya]

I need some information and hopefully one of you can help me.

 

I had two liability orders for Council Tax 1st for join account (April to July 2009), second singe discount account (July to March 2010). Same address.

the second account was created as my husband has moved out.

I paid some money but it was it what they asked.

 

I got liability orders in February. On 18 of march the bailiff turn up and demanded £173 for single discount account and £220 for joint account. plus his fees. (over £450)

 

When bailiff came I told him I paid off he left and stated that he would call me . When he left I w phoned council and paid all over the phone. It was after 8pm. #Now he is demanding £450 on his fees.

 

He stated that is for letters and van fees and levy.

I told him that my car is use for employment and I send relevant documents to his company, letter from my boss, copy of essential service user.

 

I threaten me saying that he is taking the car anyway.

I have a new car which is worth over £7500.

 

I already complain to council but have to wait ,

As advised I went to see councilor and he wrote letter to council

I am really worried and park 5 minutes walk from my house. I live in London. so there are a lot of cars on each road.

 

 

My questions are:

 

1. Can my car be taken it anyway as I have not pay his fees

 

2 He asked me for £450 as after investigation with his company, they stated that they visited me twice on the 2nd and 15th of march. They maybe came I can not say but no notice was left for me at all. Equita stated that it was different bailiff as when I asked the bailiff who visited on 18th he stated that it was his first visit.

Is their words against my. No-one has access to my house.

 

3. Equita stated that I was visited twice by different bailiff, so I have to pay for first and second visit twice as I had two liability orders, and van fee and levy fees twice as well,

Do I have to pay for van fee if the levy was unlawful. Is £160 for van fee. To clarify he can in a small car. the only letter he left was 'removal notice 'for one account with two amount to pay written by pan. when asked when is other letter he stated that is in his car.

 

 

4 Do I have to pay him at all, what he can do if I do not pay at all.

 

I am really concern because the whole situation is effecting my kids and my work.

[babybear39]

Post flagged to site team to be moved to appropriate form where you'll get help and advice regarding bailiffs

[cerberusalert]

Thread moved.

[Saffronflowers]

I need some information and hopefully one of you can help me.

 

I had two liability orders for Council Tax 1st for join account (April to July 2009), second singe discount account (July to March 2010). Same address.

the second account was created as my husband has moved out.

I paid some money but it was it what they asked.

 

I got liability orders in February. On 18 of march the bailiff turn up and demanded £173 for single discount account and £220 for joint account. plus his fees. (over £450)

 

When bailiff came I told him I paid off he left and stated that he would call me . When he left I w phoned council and paid all over the phone. It was after 8pm. #Now he is demanding £450 on his fees.

 

He stated that is for letters and van fees and levy.

I told him that my car is use for employment and I send relevant documents to his company, letter from my boss, copy of essential service user.

 

I threaten me saying that he is taking the car anyway.

I have a new car which is worth over £7500.

 

I already complain to council but have to wait ,

As advised I went to see councilor and he wrote letter to council

I am really worried and park 5 minutes walk from my house. I live in London. so there are a lot of cars on each road.

 

 

My questions are:

 

1. Can my car be taken it anyway as I have not pay his fees

 

Has the bailiff actually levied on the vehicle and if so do you have any paperwork

 

2 He asked me for £450 as after investigation with his company, they stated that they visited me twice on the 2nd and 15th of march. They maybe came I can not say but no notice was left for me at all. Equita stated that it was different bailiff as when I asked the bailiff who visited on 18th he stated that it was his first visit.

Is their words against my. No-one has access to my house.

 

The charges for those visits would be £24.50 for the first and £18.00 for the second, he can only charge once and not double for two liability orders

 

3. Equita stated that I was visited twice by different bailiff, so I have to pay for first and second visit twice as I had two liability orders, and van fee and levy fees twice as well,

Do I have to pay for van fee if the levy was unlawful. Is £160 for van fee. To clarify he can in a small car. the only letter he left was 'removal notice 'for one account with two amount to pay written by pan. when asked when is other letter he stated that is in his car.

 

The bailiff cannot levy on the same item twice therefore if he has levied he can only charge for it once, from what you said it does not seem that he has levied therefore all you are liable for is £42.50

 

4 Do I have to pay him at all, what he can do if I do not pay at all.

 

For the two visits yes - £42.50!

 

I am really concern because the whole situation is effecting my kids and my work.

 

Hope this helps and get back to us if you need anymore help.

SFx

[Thegreenpimpernel]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but i interpret it as:

 

One visit, where a levy did take place ( i assume the car was there).

If we assume the levy was applied for the greater debt (£220) then the levy fee would be £29.30.

 

I would let them know you are aware of your rights and pay it to them straight away - or they CAN return and add an attendance to remove fee.

 

EDIT - Sorry missed the other visits, there is possibly another £24.50 to go on for the £220 debt and £42.50 for two visits on the other LO, so £96.30 to pay i recon.

 

Summary

 

LO 1 (£220)

 

Visit 1 24.50

Visit w/levy 29.30

 

LO 2 (£173)

 

Visit 1 24.50

Visit 2 18.00

-------------------

Total £96.30

 

This assumes 4x visits inc 1 levy on 2x Liability Orders. Only a screen shot to the contrary will get rid of some of these fees.

Edited April 2, 2010 by Thegreenpimpernel

[westgarth]

did you let the baliff into your home, did he list everything and give you a copy, did you sign anything ?

 

write to the baliff and ask for a complete breakdown of his charges, there are some sample letters here

 

Bailiffs: Subject Access Request - Consumer Wiki

 

This might help you understand things its from Advicenow guides - Advicenow

 

Council Tax

 

Bailiffs collecting Council Tax are not allowed to charge you for letters, but they can charge for 2 visits (£24.50 for the first, and £18.00 for the second). They can't charge you for any more than two visits (unless you owe Council tax for more than one year, then they can charge you for two visits per year). If they take your stuff, they can also make a 'levy charge' for their time and effort. The amount depends on the size of your debt: the more you owe, the higher the charge. The rules are complicated - but as a rough guide, if you owe less than £100 its £24.50, if you owe £500 its £40.50, if you owe £2000 it's £78.

They can also charge £12 for making a Walking Possession Agreement and, if you have not kept to the agreement, they can charge you for hiring a van to take your belongings away. This must be in line with normal van hire rates. Bailiffs cannot bring a van to your home and try to charge you for it before they get a 'walking possession agreement' - although many dodgy bailiffs will try this.

They can also charge ' reasonable costs' for selling your stuff.

If they have taken your stuff away, but don't sell it (because you have since paid up) they can charge you either £24.50 or up to 5% of the total they were collecting, whichever is the largest. If you have not paid the debt and costs off in the full (whether by a lump sum payment or by instalments) they cannot charge you this fee - although this is also something dodgy firms will try.

Be suspicious of anything not mentioned here - in particular anything called an 'enforcement' fee.

[RaeUK]

Hi elamaya,

This looks very much like a duplicate of your similar thread where I'm sure you were given good advice.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bailiffs-sheriff-officers/253705-elamaya-re-concil-tax.html

 

It's always best to try and keep to the one thread. This stops people duplicating advice or even posting contradictory advice if they haven't seen the full picture.

 

It is probable that you don't know how to find your thread. Simply click on your username, click the statistics tab to the bottom left of the screen, then click on either 'find all posts' or 'find all threads' ...

 

Best wishes

Rae

[Thegreenpimpernel]

I've now looked at the original thread and would stand by my assesment unless you can:

 

a) Show the car is not yours

 

b) Get a screen shot / letter that contradicts the two visits per LO

 

Again - Please correct me if you think I'm wrong.

[elamaya]

Hope this helps and get back to us if you need anymore help.

 

SFx

 

 

iThanks for the advice, i DO 'T THINK i UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF LEVY. When the bailiff came he dud not say anythink about levy, my car was outside. I learnt from Recovery that the bailiff put levy on my car, he did not give me anything in regards to mycar , I have not sign anything

As my car is use for employment is not exempt from levy in the first place, He told me that he will take my car anyway/

[elamaya]

Hi elamaya,

This looks very much like a duplicate of your similar thread where I'm sure you were given good advice.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bailiffs-sheriff-officers/253705-elamaya-re-concil-tax.html

 

It's always best to try and keep to the one thread. This stops people duplicating advice or even posting contradictory advice if they haven't seen the full picture.

 

It is probable that you don't know how to find your thread. Simply click on your username, click the statistics tab to the bottom left of the screen, then click on either 'find all posts' or 'find all threads' ...

 

Best wishes

Rae

thank for you advice, you are right I am new and not very sure how thread work.

[RaeUK]

That's no worries, elamaya, your threads might get merged by the site team. If not there's a link in my post for people to follow if needs be.

A levy is simply the act of a bailiff laying claim to a debtors property. If he has done this, then he would leave appropriate paperwork.

That said, do follow the advice given to get the information you need from the bailiff company. This will include a full breakdown of costs charged. Others on here can advise if they are correct.

You may need to phone the council - or your councillor - to ascertain what you have actually paid to date. Many councils extract the bailiff fees first so the amount outstanding could actually be council tax arrears and not fees...

Best wishes

Rae

[Thegreenpimpernel]

Kelcou

 

He SHOULD leave paperwork, costs etc - but i don't see any realistic way of winning the argument that they didn't.

 

Everyone could just say they didn't leave the paperwork and invalidate every levy ever made.

 

Unless you've got CCTV to prove it...

 

Which i now have! ( hope you are reading this Mr Dumbass )

 

In my case, i made a form 4 complaint. Even though i never mentioned whether he left the correct paperwork or not ( he didn't) the judge went to the effort of stating "whereupon he left the appropriate paperwork".

 

Just to clarify - even AFTER the form 4 and council investigation he STILL doesn't bother leaving paperwork for a visit!!!

 

This time i have Mr Camera as a witness!!!!

[SOD'EM]

sorry

Edited April 2, 2010 by SOD'EM
I'm not in the right frame of mind. I'm Sorry.