Jump to content


  • Tweets

  • Posts

    • 05.05.24 Ever so sorry if I have entered this in the wrong part of this website.   My grandfather is in his 70's and retired.  He asked me to help him find a work pension that he was paying into when he was working. From 1967 - 1982 he worked for a Fabric Dying Company, Celanese, Spondon Derby UK. I have already used the GOV.uk Trace Pension Scheme. It listed a few pension companies : Akzo Nobel (CPS) Pension Scheme formerly Courtaulds Pension Scheme.  I do not fully understand how this works but I think this scheme is administer by a company called Willis Tower Watson. We have called this company, got through to the pension department submitted all my grandfather's details (D.O.B. , N.I. no. etc.) but that agent tells that they have no record of my grandfather and ask what is the name of the pension scheme. Here is the problem, his home was burgalled in 2005 and a briefcase which contained his legal documents was stolen. So he does not know who was the Pension Scheme company. I have a this phone number 01332 681 210 for Celanese but it just rings and never gets answered. So I am asking for help if anyone can tell us where we can try next. I am also hoping for a massive long shot that one of them members on this website, worked for or knows someone who worked for British Celanese Spondon Derby and could tell us of any pension company. Thanks for any help.
    • Well I sent them the letter of claim, the only responses so far was a few emails reopening the claims on the parcels where they asked for information such as proof of value (which I get) but other things like photos of the parcels, which I haven't got as I never took photos of them. It's been well over the 14 days since I sent the letter now anyway, so what do you think I should do now?
    • Know it has already been answered, but? Does not explain why JCI has registered a different default date when they get the information from the original creditor, Virgin
    • Since you were stopped at the time there is no requirement for the police give you anything there and then or to send you anything before they have decided how to deal with the offence.  They have three choices: Offer you a course Offer you a fixed penalty (£100 and three points) Prosecute you in court  The only option that has a formal time limit is (3). They must begin court proceedings within six months of the date of the alleged offence. Options (1) and (2) have no time limit but since the only alternative the police have if you decline those offers is (3) they will not usually offer a course beyond three months from the date of the offence and will not usually offer a fixed penalty beyond four months from that date. This is so as to allow time for the driver to accept and comply with their offer and to give them the time to go to option (3) if he declines or ignores it.  Unless there is a good reason to do otherwise, the action they take will usually be in accordance with the National Police Chiefs' Council's guidance on speeding enforcement. In a 40mph limit this is as follows Up to 45mph - no action. Between 46mph and 53mph - offer a course Between 54mph and 65mph - offer a fixed penalty Over 65mph - prosecution in court So you can see that 54mph should see you offered a fixed penalty. Three weeks is not overly long for a fixed penalty offer to arrive. As well as that, there has been Easter in that period which will have slowed things down a bit. However, I would suggest that if it gets to about two months from the offence date and you have still heard nohing, I would contact the ticket office for the area where you were stopped to see if anything has been sent to you. Of course this raises the danger that you might be "stirring the hornets' nest". But in all honesty, if the police have decided to take no action, you jogging their memory should not really influence them. The bigger danger, IMHO, is that your fixed penalty offer may have been sent but lost and if you do not respond it will lapse. This will see the police revert to option (3) above. Whilst there is a mechanism in these circumstances  to persuade the court to sentence you at the fixed penalty level (rather than in accordance with the normal guidelines which will see a harsher penalty), it relies on them believing you when you say you did not received an offer. In any case it is aggravation you could well do without so for the sake of a phone call, I'd enquire if it was me.  I think I've answered all your questions but if I can help further just let me know. Just a tip - if you are offered a fixed penalty be sure to submit your driving licence details as instructed. I've seen lots of instances where a driver has not done this. There will be no reminder and no second chance; your £100 will be refunded and the police will prosecute you through the courts.
  • Recommended Topics

  • Our picks

    • If you are buying a used car – you need to read this survival guide.
      • 1 reply
    • Hello,

      On 15/1/24 booked appointment with Big Motoring World (BMW) to view a mini on 17/1/24 at 8pm at their Enfield dealership.  

      Car was dirty and test drive was two circuits of roundabout on entry to the showroom.  Was p/x my car and rushed by sales exec and a manager into buying the mini and a 3yr warranty that night, sale all wrapped up by 10pm.  They strongly advised me taking warranty out on car that age (2017) and confirmed it was honoured at over 500 UK registered garages.

      The next day, 18/1/24 noticed amber engine warning light on dashboard , immediately phoned BMW aftercare team to ask for it to be investigated asap at nearest garage to me. After 15 mins on hold was told only their 5 service centres across the UK can deal with car issues with earliest date for inspection in March ! Said I’m not happy with that given what sales team advised or driving car. Told an amber warning light only advisory so to drive with caution and call back when light goes red.

      I’m not happy to do this, drive the car or with the after care experience (a sign of further stresses to come) so want a refund and to return the car asap.

      Please can you advise what I need to do today to get this done. 
       

      Many thanks 
      • 81 replies
    • Housing Association property flooding. https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/438641-housing-association-property-flooding/&do=findComment&comment=5124299
      • 161 replies
    • We have finally managed to obtain the transcript of this case.

      The judge's reasoning is very useful and will certainly be helpful in any other cases relating to third-party rights where the customer has contracted with the courier company by using a broker.
      This is generally speaking the problem with using PackLink who are domiciled in Spain and very conveniently out of reach of the British justice system.

      Frankly I don't think that is any accident.

      One of the points that the judge made was that the customers contract with the broker specifically refers to the courier – and it is clear that the courier knows that they are acting for a third party. There is no need to name the third party. They just have to be recognisably part of a class of person – such as a sender or a recipient of the parcel.

      Please note that a recent case against UPS failed on exactly the same issue with the judge held that the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 did not apply.

      We will be getting that transcript very soon. We will look at it and we will understand how the judge made such catastrophic mistakes. It was a very poor judgement.
      We will be recommending that people do include this adverse judgement in their bundle so that when they go to county court the judge will see both sides and see the arguments against this adverse judgement.
      Also, we will be to demonstrate to the judge that we are fair-minded and that we don't mind bringing everything to the attention of the judge even if it is against our own interests.
      This is good ethical practice.

      It would be very nice if the parcel delivery companies – including EVRi – practised this kind of thing as well.

       

      OT APPROVED, 365MC637, FAROOQ, EVRi, 12.07.23 (BRENT) - J v4.pdf
        • Like
  • Recommended Topics

Council, Court, LO's and Non-Peaceable entry by Rossers: This thread has it all!!!


style="text-align: center;">  

Thread Locked

because no one has posted on it for the last 4829 days.

If you need to add something to this thread then

 

Please click the "Report " link

 

at the bottom of one of the posts.

 

If you want to post a new story then

Please

Start your own new thread

That way you will attract more attention to your story and get more visitors and more help 

 

Thanks

Recommended Posts

Sorry guys, this could be a long post.

 

Having spent the last 8hrs trawling through the various Council Tax (CT),

Rossendales and Bully-Boy Bailiff threads,

 

I'm going to try and answer all your questions in this OP.

 

Obviously, if there is something that I've not covered, then please don't hesitate to ask!

 

 

In the beginning, God created Earth and saw that it was too good,

so he decided to knacker it up for all of us by creating Local Councils and Bailiffs.

 

No seriously, start again.

 

In March (7th) 2010, I received a letter from Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC)

stating that as my entitlement to JSA (Cont. Based) had been exhausted, then I was no longer entitled to Council Tax Benefit (CTB).

 

I applied for JSA (Income Based) at my local JobCentre+ and was turned down as my partner earned - as I remember - £2 per week beyond the threshold.

 

I informed RMBC of this and was advised to submit a new application for CTB enclosing the usual pay-slips, statements etc.

I did this and returned it the same day and received a letter from RMBC thanking me for the info and here are my docs back.

 

Two weeks later I received a letter from RMBC asking for these same documents,

I phoned and was just asked to re-send them as they had no record.

I asked how I could have got the 'Thank you' letter but was told no, we've never had them please send them so we can process... blather , blather.

I sent them again the same day. - Two weeks or so later the docs were returned with the same 'Thanks' letter.

 

Approx 2-3 weeks later I received another letter from RMBC asking for these same documents again,

I phoned and was just asked to re-send them as they had no record.

I asked how I could have got the 'Thank you' letter twice but was told no, we've never had them please send them so we can process... blather.

 

This went on and on and on - but the gaps were getting wider - until I received a Magistrates Court Summons for Sept 2010 Unpaid CT for March 2010).

 

I was keen to attend the summons as I could demonstrate to the Magistrate that I had fulfilled all the requests from RMBC

and I even arrived with a copy of 'The Local Tax Digest 1996' which highlighted a case which seemed similar and relevant to mine,

i.e. RMBC's inability to process CTB application.

 

I showed these to a group of RMBC employess that were standing outside the courtroom door when I was stopped by them

and asked if I was here regarding a CT Summons.

 

When I replied in the affirmative I was asked if I was going to contest and again answered in the affirmative.

 

One of the RMBC staff then ushered me towards an office and said 'We can deal with this in here, there's no need for it to go to Court!'

 

Now call me naive if you will, but to my detriment, after I explained everything that had happened thus far,

I did as was directed and immediately took myself away to RMBC's main building to plead my case there in person.

 

As I was doing so, unbeknown to me at the time, RMBC's staff at the Magistrate Court allowed the case to proceed

and a Liability Order was granted, effectively, they denied me access to the Magistrate to plead my case.

 

Whilst I was in RMBC's main office I completed another CTB Application (the 6th) and I informed them that I couldn't provide statements (bank)

or payslips as they had not returned them the last time.

 

I was assured that by the provision of A/C and S/Code numbers they could check the info they needed without them.

Guess what happened next. Yep, two weeks later, a letter from RMBC demanding said payslips and bank statements!!

You couldn't make it up.

 

I called, told them what I was told at their offices and was assured that there would be no problem, they could work around it.

Having heard nothing from RMBC regarding the still unanswered CTB claim,

I fired off a rather curt letter to them on the 17th Nov, detailing the non responses and continually lost forms.

I heard nothing from them and got distracted with it all in the run-up to Christmas.

 

In December, I received another summons (unpaid CT 10/11), as you can guess by now I was really looking forward to this

and had a wealth of information and complaints about RMBC to present to the Court.

 

As fate so often does intervene I had caught ‘the lurgy’ and was in a dreadful state along with my little boy (2yr old) and was in no state to attend.

 

I called the Court as early as possible (09:00-09:30, I can’t remember exactly ‘cause as Pink Floyd had described many years ago, “My (hands) head just felt like two balloons”.

I was told that nothing could be done, the Court would decide if it was possible to adjourn the case.

I pleaded that there was a lot of it about (flu) and I really wanted to state my case. Court will decide. Sorry!

 

I heard nothing after the Court date and assumed it had been adjourned.

 

During January, after a number of telephone calls and letters to RMBC vainly trying to follow through on my CTB claim,

I was told that they had no record of my application and another would have to be submitted by me

and to add insult to injury, they suggested that I go to RMBC’s main building and do so in person. I did.

 

On January 18th at approx 18:30, while I was out of the house, my wife answered a knock at the door.

We have a boisterous 2yr old son and so as a precaution, he loves to run past you and out down the path,

so as is the norm she picked him up under one arm and opened the door.

 

At that point the door burst open, knocking my son and pushing my wife off balance.

 

She managed not to fall but screamed in fright as a 6ft+, long haired bloke pushed her backwards.

 

He then said, ‘Calm down love, I’m only from the council, it’s about your CT. It’s bloody tipping down out there and I’m freezing!

 

At this point he was a good 6-8ft into the hallway and my wife said, Welshdean’s not in at the moment,

so you can’t come in and walked past him to hold the door open so he could return back to the step.

 

Understandably she was very rattled and even if he was the Pope, he needed to be outside.

 

He pressed her to confirm her name, D.O.B. and N.I. No, which she did.

 

He then walked into the living room, defying my wife’s insistence that he should wait outside until I returned home.

 

He insisted that he just needed her signature to confirm that he’d been and he could be on his way.

 

Now she’s of a suspicious disposition and signed it as ‘unread’ and date/time stamped it.

 

As she was writing she informed him that we have a photo-copier and she wanted to run a copy off to show me and to keep for our records,

informing him that she suffers from dyslexia and could never read and digest information when in a flustered state and being put under pressure.

 

As soon as she lifted the pen from the paper, he snatched the sheet and tucked it into a pile on his lap.

 

My wife remonstrated that she wasn’t aware what she’d signed and wanted a copy, but he repeatedly refused to do so.

He (as far as she’s aware) didn’t make a list of any sort, but did produce a form similar to a ‘Car Hire Agreement’ showing a two-dimensional ‘flattened’ image of a car.

 

He then said, you haven’t got a car then have you? She replied in the negative and he rose from the sofa and started to leave.

As he got to the doorway he turned and handed her a ‘Notice of Bailiffs Attendance’ for each of the liability orders.

There is no time or date on the form, simply a demand for £197.50 + costs for each LO.

 

Upon arriving home I called the number on the forms and left a torrent of abuse on his voicemail regarding the mistreatment of my wife.

 

He called me back and insisted that she invited him in and the only thing she signed was a copy of the forms he’d left us. I heard no more from them.

 

On the 21st Jan I received another letter from RMBC, stating that they were in receipt of my letter (Nov 17th) and would I like to come into their offices to discuss it.

 

I immediately made an appointment and filled in another CTB claim form of which I received a positive decision for the period of Jan 31st to the end of their financial year.

 

Good times! I enquired via the telephone when the back-dated period of the claim would be decided and I was told that would take a month.

 

No worries there I hope as the delay is clearly their fault and I was financially worse off then than the period covered by the awarded CTB. We’ll see though!

 

This morning I received a letter from Rossendales. In capitalised, bold red 20pt lettering it states ‘Final Reminder – Do Not Ignore.

 

Dear sir/madam, despite previous reminders (we’ve had none) you haven’t paid, blah, blah.

When the van attends you will be liable for additional costs, in order to avoid the removal of your goods you must contact us immediately on

….tel numbers.’ Again in bold red 20pt lettering, it goes on ‘ No further reminders will be issued’.

 

So that’s it, thanks if you stayed to the end, my questions are many.

What can I do?

What should be my priority?

Have RMBC or Rossendales acted illegally?

How can I bring closure to this quickly and relatively easily?

 

Please help, a box of Jaffa-Cakes will be awarded to whoever helps the most to end this nonsense.

Link to post
Share on other sites

First the bad news. Just because you had an ongoing claim for CTB does not prevent the Council applying for and obtaining a LO. The decision the Magistrates have to make is just a basic yes or no answer - you are or are not liable to pay the CT regardless of circumstances. There are very few exceptions that can be argued and unfortunately yours would not have been one of them.

 

PT

Please consider making a small donation to help keep this site running

 

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi and welcome to cag

Well firstly...in reply to the last question...nothing ever moves quickly when it comes to Councils and Bailiffs !!

 

But.. you must write to Rossendales with a formal complaint regarding the Bailiffs behavior copy of course must go to the Council. Help available with that letter here if needed.

You then write to the Council addressed to the CEO headed formal complaint and give the Facts

 

do you still have all the copies of the "thank you letters"?

This Council needs to be hung drawn and quartered for it's incompetence and you will be able to take them well and truly to task over this.

If your wife suffers from dyslexia then any levy allegedly made by Rottendales thug is invalid for she, as you quite rightly say, was not aware of what she was signing.

This is absolutely disgusting and I am appalled by what I read.

 

WD

Link to post
Share on other sites

As far as Rottendales are concerned they should be a bit easier to deal with. It sounds as if:

a - he outstayed his welcome, even if your wife invited him in if she then rescinds that and asks him to leave he must do so or he is then committing trespass. The matter of how he came to be in however will always be looked upon his word against your wifes.

b - it would seem he has left you with no Notice of Seizure and if he has put down a vehicle he has not seen then that's his tough luck.

c - it would appear he is applying multiple fees instead of treating all as one - another definite no no.

d - as your wife explained about her dyslexia he should have left anyway as she would not be able to understand that what she was being asked to read or sign - this was then done under duress. There is therefore a very good chance she would be classed as being of a "vulnerable" status.

 

You need ASAP to send off for a breakdown of their fees to date as I believe you have been overcharged. here's a sample letter, use and adapt as you will, send initially be email followed by a letter in the post:

 

"From:

My Name

My Address

 

To:

Acme Bailiff Co

Bailiff House

 

Ref: Account No: 123456

 

Dear Sir

 

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.

 

This includes:

a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.

b - the reason for the fee.

c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.

d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were Certificated at.

e - the date of the Certification.

 

This is not a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

 

I require this information within 14 days.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Ripped off customer"

 

PT

Please consider making a small donation to help keep this site running

 

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

If the numbskull returns do not let him back into your home. He will threaten you with all sorts including forcing entry, but he has a way to go before this happens. Treat your home as Fort Knox for the time being, the Council have a lot to answer for and there are others better than me will advise what to do with them but as a first thought you need your local Councillor to send a rocket up them.

 

PT

Please consider making a small donation to help keep this site running

 

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well! welshdean, there seems to be a lot of information you've managed to get into this post. Re your lyrics, I always find I become numb when dealing with issues about the council and bailiffs, not so sure about "comfortably numb" though.

 

I think you will probably need a bit of input from several posters to get to the bottom of this thus the Jaffa-Cakes may need sharing out.

 

Just to get things started I'm pretty sure you can have them for stating that they've sent previous reminders when they haven't.

 

Also, he is a Rossendales bailiff despite him saying he was from the council. Could physically pushing past your wife be classed as forcing entry?

 

I would be interested to hear other's opinions about this especially the court hearing fiasco and the incompetence of the council dealing with your council tax benefit applications.

 

Good luck.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Copy the entire first post to your local councillor and MP imho

We could do with some help from you.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

Have we helped you ...?         Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

If you want advice on your thread please PM me a link to your thread

The bailiff: A 12th Century solution re-branded as Enforcement Agents for the 21st Century to seize and sell debtors goods as before Oh so Dickensian!

Link to post
Share on other sites

someone needs to make their minds up which ID they use on cag...it confuses people.....hint hint [soory welchdean offtopic]

 

dx

 

oh and dx waves to the guests...5 of them...

 

oh and i am amused to death about yet again seeing the rossers nice little fleecing exercise on extortionate & multiple fees for more than one LO.

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

Link to post
Share on other sites

If the numbskull returns do not let him back into your home. He will threaten you with all sorts including forcing entry, but he has a way to go before this happens. Treat your home as Fort Knox for the time being, the Council have a lot to answer for and there are others better than me will advise what to do with them but as a first thought you need your local Councillor to send a rocket up them.

 

PT

 

Hahaha

If I see the edited smilie.jpg lovely fella, I'll sit out the garden with him, enjoying a nice glass of Pimms together.

 

I'm going to send the OP to our local MP, he and his wife are family 'pals', My local Councillor and to the CEO of RMBC, reminding the latter that RMBC is "vicariously liable for the bailiffs actions and as such are laying RMBC open to litigation by employing these people." (A line I culled from here earlier today).

 

As I see it there has been no levy and no invitation to enter the premises. Given that he lied as to his employer and pushed my Missus past to enter, is that a peaceable entry? Can he return with a drill and force his way in?

edited smilie.jpg

Edited by welshdean
Link to post
Share on other sites

First the bad news. Just because you had an ongoing claim for CTB does not prevent the Council applying for and obtaining a LO. The decision the Magistrates have to make is just a basic yes or no answer - you are or are not liable to pay the CT regardless of circumstances. There are very few exceptions that can be argued and unfortunately yours would not have been one of them.

 

PT

 

Yeah, I read the small print a few weeks ago. Do not withhold payment while CTB is being assessed or something along them lines. Thing is I lost my business in this financial mess UK PLC is in and I was and still am boracic. I've racked all my cards up to the gunnels, defaulted on every credit agreement and am in about £75k of debt. I just couldn't find the money. My fault and no plea, I know that. But if you ain't got it, you ain't got it.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi and welcome to cag

Well firstly...in reply to the last question...nothing ever moves quickly when it comes to Councils and Bailiffs !!

 

But.. you must write to Rossendales with a formal complaint regarding the Bailiffs behavior copy of course must go to the Council. Help available with that letter here if needed.

You then write to the Council addressed to the CEO headed formal complaint and give the Facts

 

do you still have all the copies of the "thank you letters"?

This Council needs to be hung drawn and quartered for it's incompetence and you will be able to take them well and truly to task over this.

If your wife suffers from dyslexia then any levy allegedly made by Rottendales thug is invalid for she, as you quite rightly say, was not aware of what she was signing.

This is absolutely disgusting and I am appalled by what I read.

 

WD

 

Yep, email and snail mail going tomorrow. I want that ****** de-certificated.

Link to post
Share on other sites

As far as Rottendales are concerned they should be a bit easier to deal with. It sounds as if:

a - he outstayed his welcome, even if your wife invited him in if she then rescinds that and asks him to leave he must do so or he is then committing trespass. The matter of how he came to be in however will always be looked upon his word against your wifes.

b - it would seem he has left you with no Notice of Seizure and if he has put down a vehicle he has not seen then that's his tough luck.

c - it would appear he is applying multiple fees instead of treating all as one - another definite no no.

d - as your wife explained about her dyslexia he should have left anyway as she would not be able to understand that what she was being asked to read or sign - this was then done under duress. There is therefore a very good chance she would be classed as being of a "vulnerable" status.

 

You need ASAP to send off for a breakdown of their fees to date as I believe you have been overcharged. here's a sample letter, use and adapt as you will, send initially be email followed by a letter in the post:

 

"From:

My Name

My Address

 

To:

Acme Bailiff Co

Bailiff House

 

Ref: Account No: 123456

 

Dear Sir

 

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.

 

This includes:

a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.

b - the reason for the fee.

c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.

d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were Certificated at.

e - the date of the Certification.

 

This is not a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

 

I require this information within 14 days.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Ripped off customer"

 

PT

 

 

Letter and email going tomorrow. I'll get the letter 'signed for' and copy it to the MP, CEO and Councillor. They will then be able to see that Arsendales fail to respond to communications from their victims. (if the posts here are anything to go by)

Link to post
Share on other sites

 

I think you will probably need a bit of input from several posters to get to the bottom of this thus the Jaffa-Cakes may need sharing out.

 

 

I can only afford one packet, I might be able to stretch to a 'twin pack' they're on at Asda's for £ at the moment. Dark chocolate ones too!!! :whoo:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well! welshdean, there seems to be a lot of information you've managed to get into this post. Re your lyrics, I always find I become numb when dealing with issues about the council and bailiffs, not so sure about "comfortably numb" though.

Trust me, I was in a terrible state, bowl at both ends and arms and legs like dead-weights. No girly stuff, this was proper man-flu.

 

Just to get things started I'm pretty sure you can have them for stating that they've sent previous reminders when they haven't.

Can I? This is the kind of stuff I want to establish, if anyone's got any legislation links alluding to this I'd be very (jaffa-cakey) grateful!

 

Also, he is a Rossendales bailiff despite him saying he was from the council. Could physically pushing past your wife be classed as forcing entry?

:?: You're asking me more questions than I asked you LOL. I thought it was but as Ploddertom pointed out it could be a 'he said - she said' battle.

 

I would be interested to hear other's opinions about this especially the court hearing fiasco and the incompetence of the council dealing with your council tax benefit applications.

If they had considered my application in Mar '10 as quickly as they did in Jan '11 after I'd kicked up the mother of all stinks, then I wouldn't be in this mess. A complaint will be going to the Local Gov Ombudsman methinks. I'll do that after I get the decision on the back-dated CTB claim.

 

Good luck.

Cheers, I'm gonna need it.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Dear Sir

 

The letter below may be of some interest to RMBC and Rossendales Bailiffs as it forms the basis of the legal action I will be taking against them jointly.

 

In March (7th) 2010, I received a letter from Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) stating that as my entitlement to JSA (Cont. Based) had been exhausted, then I was no longer entitled to Council Tax Benefit (CTB). I applied for JSA (Income Based) at my local JobCentre+ and was turned down as my partner earned - as I remember - £2 per week beyond the threshold. I informed RMBC of this and was advised to submit a new application for CTB enclosing the usual pay-slips, statements etc. I did this and returned it the same day and received a letter from RMBC thanking me for the info and here are my docs back.

 

Two weeks later I received a letter from RMBC asking for these same documents, I phoned and was just asked to re-send them as they had no record. I asked how I could have got the 'Thank you' letter but was told no, we've never had them please send them so we can process...etc etc..however I did comply with the request and sent them again the same day.

 

Two weeks or so later the docs were returned with the same 'Thanks' letter.

 

Approx 2-3 weeks later I received another letter from RMBC asking for these same documents again, I phoned and was just asked to re-send them as they had no record. I asked how I could have got the 'Thank you' letter twice but was told "no, we've never had them please send them so we can process...etc etc.

This senario was repeated over a period of time and then I received a Magistrates Court Summons in Sept 2010 for unpaid CT for March 2010).

 

I was keen to attend the summons as I could demonstrate to the Magistrate that I had fulfilled all the requests from RMBC it the debt had been forced upon me due to their inability to carry out a simple process in a reasonable period of time.

 

On the day of the hearing I attended in person.I was approached by a group representing RMBC, It was asked if I intended to contest the application and I affirmed this to be my intention.I was ushered to a side room and advised the matter could be dealt with there and then without need for me to enter into the Court.I disclosed an account of the circumstances to the Councils representative and was advised to go directly to the RMBC offices where the matter would receive immediate attention and prevent the prevailing hearing.

 

I followed as directed and attended the offices of RMBC where I yet again completed another Council Tax Application..the 6th of these to date, I was given assurance the matter would receive immediate attention and left the office, relieved the matter was to resolved. It transpired that having left the Court on the given advise of RMBC representatives they then proceeded to continued with their action to secure a Liability order, thereby not only did they deny me my right to appear before the Magistrate they lied to ensure I would not be positioned to contest their actions.

 

Whilst I was in RMBC's main office and having completed the 6th Application I informed them the requested bank and payslips were infact still in there hands as they had not been returned following my submission of them to RMBC on the instance of the 5th application.statements and that they had not been returned to me following that submission. I was assured that by the provision of A/C and S/Code numbers they could check the info they needed without them.

 

Sadly a mere two weeks later, I received yet another letter from RMBC demanding the said payslips and bank statements I had been told would not be necessary to check the validity of the claim for Council Tax relief. Another call to RNBC resulted in my being assured that there would be no problem as they could work around it.

 

Having heard nothing from RMBC regarding the claim, I wrote again on 17th Nov 2010 detailing the events of all the lost forms and expressed my concern to their lack of response to the situation.

 

In December, I was astounded to receive yet another summons for unpaid Council tax for the period 2010-201, I prepared a defence based on the incompetence of RMBC and I had every intention of appearing in person. It was such I fell victim to the flu epidemic and was certainly in no fit state to attend the set hearing. I called the Court as early as possible on the day of the hearing , I believe it was approximately 09:00-09:30 when I got through to the Court and explained by predicament, it was relayed to me the Court would decide if it would be a possibility the case be adjourned and hearing nothing to the contrary I was left to assume the case had infact been adjourned to which I anticipated I would receive a date for a future hearing to take place.

 

During January, after a number of telephone callslink3.gif and letters to RMBC to asess my position with regard to the current status of my claim I was informed they "had no record of my application and I would need to submit yet another application" and given the advice it would be beneficial to attend the RMBC in person to make the application.I again complied and submitted application No 7

 

On January 18th at approx 18:30, while I was out of the house, my wife answered a knock at the door. We have a boisterous 2yr old son who loves to run past you and out down the path if the door is opened to anyone, so as is the norm she picked him up under one arm and opened the door. At that point the door was pushed open with great force, pushing my wife and son off balance and left her screaming with fright as a 6ft+, long haired individual pushed her backwards.

 

The unidentified individual took control by telling my wife to ‘Calm down love, I’m from the council and it’s about your CT. It’s bloody tipping down out there and I’m freezing" At this point he was a good 6-8ft into the hallway and my wife uttered the fact I was not at home and she did not want him in the house, her request he leave immediately was totally ignored. Understandibly she was very upset by the intrusion and totally intimidated at being pressurised to give her name, D.O.B. and N.I. No, she asked

him again to leave and wait outside for my return, this request fell on deaf ears as he made his way into the living room and refused to leave until he had a signature to confirm that he’d been and if she gave that signature she was told " he could be on his way"

 

My wife suffers from dyslexia and told this "to the man from the council" her condition leaves her to be of suspicious disposition and having to been pressured to sign she did so identifying she had done so by marking the fact that the document was signed as ‘unread’ and added date/time of signing.my wife also informed the person that we have a photo-copier and she wanted to run a copy off to show me, however once "signed" the document was snatched away and my wife was refused a copy

 

Upon arriving home I called the number on the forms to find I was connected to a bailiff from Rossendales and not as told to my wife someone "from the Council" It was later suggested my wife "invited him in" which of course is as far from the truth as the moon is to earth.

 

On the 21st Jan I received another letter from RMBC, stating that they were in receipt of my letter (Nov 17th) and would I like to come into their offices to discuss it. I of course made the appointment to "discuss this matter" and duly attended.....when I was asked to fill in yet another form for my claim of Council Tax.

 

Rossendales chose to send on 7th February a nice red letter in 20pt type

 

‘Final Reminder – Do Not Ignore.

Dear sir/madam, despite previous reminders you haven’t paid, blah, blah. When the van attends you will be liable for additional costs, in order to avoid the removal of your goods

Edited by wonkeydonkey
  • Haha 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Can he return with a drill and force his way in?

 

 

no

 

dx

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Just to get things started I'm pretty sure you can have them for stating that they've sent previous reminders when they haven't.

 

Can I? This is the kind of stuff I want to establish, if anyone's got any legislation links alluding to this I'd be very (jaffa-cakey) grateful!

 

If you take a look at this HMCS website, it quotes The National Standards for Enforcement Agents And it States:

 

Enforcement agents will on each and every occasion when a visit is made to a debtor's property which incurs a fee for the debtor, leave a notice detailing the fees charged to date, including the one for that visit, and the fees which will be incurred if further action becomes necessary. If a written request is made an itemised account of fees will be provided.

Words to this effect will also probably appear on the Distress for Rent Rules 1988 and The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks very much for the letter modifications Wonkey. I too was flagging last night, I'd been on the site and or drafting letters for 13hrs. Are you suggesting that this is the letter to send to RMBC's CEO?

Link to post
Share on other sites

I am getting confused now - both here, and in a thread I started, people seem to be suggesting that Bailiff's enforcing council tax cannot make a peaceful entry through an open door unless invited, I was told to look at the sticks, but there are many, many pages, and don't know where to start.

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

Link to post
Share on other sites

I am getting confused now - both here, and in a thread I started, people seem to be suggesting that Bailiff's enforcing council tax cannot make a peaceful entry through an open door unless invited, I was told to look at the sticks, but there are many, many pages, and don't know where to start.

 

Most think that if the Bailiff enters by peaceful means then he can do what he likes whilst in. What many don't realise that if you open the door and invite him in you have a right to also ask him to leave at any time, if he refuses then he commits trespass, this therefore can be taken to mean - in the Bailiffs words - you opened the door and in I came invited.

 

PT

Please consider making a small donation to help keep this site running

 

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Most think that if the Bailiff enters by peaceful means then he can do what he likes whilst in. What many don't realise that if you open the door and invite him in you have a right to also ask him to leave at any time, if he refuses then he commits trespass, this therefore can be taken to mean - in the Bailiffs words - you opened the door and in I came invited.

 

PT

 

But surely pointless really, since he can still Levy? The main reason we dont want the bloke in is to stop him levying and gaining the right to enter next time, and it doesnt stop that does it?

 

Trying not to be an awkward bugger, just want to make sure I understand this all in my head.

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

Link to post
Share on other sites

a bailff has no right at all to force entry even IF he has already been invited or got in through unsecured entrances

 

please understand what you are being told and relax

 

dx

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

Link to post
Share on other sites

a bailff has no right at all to force entry even IF he has already been invited or got in through unsecured entrances

 

please understand what you are being told and relax

 

dx

 

So how does he remove goods if you don't keep up with repayments, and have a levy?

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

Link to post
Share on other sites

thats his problem

 

but they cannot force entry.

 

dx

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 Caggers

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Have we helped you ...?


×
×
  • Create New...