Help needed with Whyte &Co bailiffs URGENT!!!

[ellylond]

Hi,

 

I urgently need some help and advice.

 

I recently got a letter from Whyte &Co regarding unpaid Council Tax.

Lewisham Council gave them our details because we owe them money.

I would understand it if we actually got some warning or notice about the outstanding finance but I do not recall getting anything like it.

The letter states that it is for the period of nearly 2 years!!!!

 

What is more, it says that we were sent multiple notifications by Whyte & Co and since nothing was done,

it went to court and now they are threatening us with prison sentence.

 

I called them today and spoke to a rude woman who told me that bailiffs visited our property 3 times in the last two years and ALWAYS left a letter or a note.

Need I mention that NOTHING was ever left so we were completely oblivious to the situation.

 

I told her that we never got anything until the last letter and mentioned that I will take it up with Lewisham Council tomorrow.

She told me that there is no point as Lewisham Council will refer me back to them.

She said, I quote: 'You can call them tomorrow but they will send you back to us. If you want to do it, you can, ok? Bye.'

and she put the phone down on me before I had a chance to reply!!!!

How unbelievably rude is that?

 

 

Can someone tell me what to do with this situation?

If we owe the Council some money, I am more than happy to pay it back (never had problems with payment in my life) but this treatment is outrageous.

No notices until now and threats of prison sentence!

 

Please help. Any advice will be hugely appreciated because I don't really know what will happen now. Will they come to arrest us? How soon? HELP!!!!

 

Thank you.

 

ellylond

[padja]

go to Lewisham find out what you owe. then pay Lewisham using their online payment system ignore bailiffs and never ring them. Yes you can go to prison but you are a long way off that and a bailiff certainly cant put you in prison.

[ellylond]

So the Council won't send me back to bailiffs, then? sorry, these may be stupid questions but I have never been in any sort of financial trouble, not to mention bailiffs knocking on my door. Thanks for the advice:)

[dx100uk]

matters not

 

if you pay as advised, by their [the councils'] payment line or by internet banking using the details on the back of the ctax bill,

they cannot refuse it.

 

as for prison.

 

total garbage

 

i'll move this thread to the bailiffs forum, where you need to do some reading

 

dx

.

[brassnecked]

Go to the council and ask them

 

How many liability orders they have obtained against you, and for which years

When were they obtained

How much each order is for

When they were passed to the bailiff for action.

 

You should have been informed that they were taking action to collect the unpaid council tax, have you had any letters or a court summons for the Council Tax?

 

If you can afford to pay the arrears do so, but if the council refuse payment at the counter telling you to pay the bailiffs ask them for a signed note to that effect, as they CANNOT LAWFULLY refuse your payment, and the note will come in handy later. Then pay them using the online system as per DX and padjas advice.

 

\There is no law that says you have to deal with a bailiff, so read up the stickies and follow the pack drill, deny them entry hide motors etc.

 

Just for completeness, and to aid further advice:

Are you in receipt of or entitled to any benefits, like JSA, ESA Council Tax or Housing benefit due to low income?

 

Is there anyone in your household who is disabled or has a long term illness?

 

This would put you in the vulnerable category, and would alter some of the advice given

 

Above all try not to worry, Caggers will help you sort it, and you have come to the right place, Just ask the council those questions as soon as you can today, and post up the answers.

[tomtubby]

Always remember that as long as you refuse to allow the bailiff to have entry into your home and you ensure that you do not have a car parked nearby that a bailiff could identify, then he will only be able to charge you just £24.50 for "attending to levy" )where no levy was made).

 

In your case, the council have confirmed that apparently three visits have been made. That may or may not be the case but if it is, the bailiff can only by law charge you for the maximim of two visits (which would be £42.50)

[seanamarts]

Oh dear another council/bailiffs sending out invisible letters. I would love to know where all these letters are sent if people are not getting them... when you have paid I suggest you make some enquiries to the manager of the benefits and revenue dept requesting a copy of all letters sent.

[Amy100]

Brassnecked has given the best advice so far. Legally the council cannot refuse payment. In realisty though, if you approach them directly they will tell you to deal with the bailiffs. If you use automated systems there is a danger of payments being allocated to the wrong year's account, so be careful. Also when you pay bailiffs directly, legitimate fees are deducted first. If you pay the council, any legitimate bailiffs' fees will remain owing. You may well need to SAR them in order to identify what they have charged and why. You can then work out legitimate fees and pay them.

[ellylond]

Thanks a lot people!!!

@tomtubby It wasn't the council that confirmed the bailiffs were here, it was the rude woman I spoke to from Whyte & Co. I haven't heard from the council at al... The last letter they sent was outlining this year's payments and there was no mention of any outstanding funds. Whyte &Co told me that Council is only dealing with current issues so they wouldn't remind me of unpaid bills...!

 

@Amy100 I am actually planning to write a formal letter of complaint after it is all done, both to the Council and Whyte & Co. It won't probably do anything but I am enraged by the treatment and especially the Whyte & Co rep who put the phone down on me.

 

Cheers

[padja]

Just a quick bit of advice re complaint letter make sure you send it to Revenues manager and copies to Chief Exec of Council, also your Councillor (if you have more than 1 then send them to all councillors for your ward) and also a copy to your MP. As you say the letter to manager may be ignored however your councillors may decide to take it further and so might your MP. Also Chief Exec may have something to say too

[ellylond]

@padja Thanks. How do I get their details? It's kind of hard to find it on their website...

cheers

[ellylond]

Big thanks to everyone for their help and advice. All my fretting and stressing is coming to the end. It turns out that when we made a bulk payment to the Council few months ago, they put it in the wrong 'account' so it did not show. They are going to sort it out now. Considering that the amount we paid and still 'owed' was around £650 and bailiffs wanted £1,100, it show their fees in a quite transparent way - £450 for threats and rudeness....

 

Anyway, the Council is going to sort it out tomorrow and we will ask for a written confirmation that all the finances are in order. However, I am still going to write a number of letters of complaints as it was a stressful and ridiculous situation they put us in. Let's see what they have to say about it:) Should more problems arise, I will be moaning and stressing (bit less) again.

 

Thanks a lot to all of you again.

 

Very grateful Elly:wink:

[ploddertom]

And how much will they recompense you for all the stress & hassle they have put you to.

 

PT

[ellylond]

I am not that optimistic... They will probably send a letter in 10 years' time to say they are sorry;)

[ploddertom]

A letter of Complaint sent to the CEO of the Council and marked Formal Complaint should help especially if you mention you intend making a complaint to the LGO. That should tell them you mean business.

 

PT

[dx100uk]

DON'T let htem get away with it

 

financial compensation is a must........

 

 

dx

[brassnecked]

You have enough evidence to go for compensation

[1Loretta]

This website is so interesting, payment placed into the wrong account, just like mine

[padja]

Chief Exec address is

Barry Quirk

Lewisham Town Hall

Catford Road

London

SE6 4RU

As for councillors they should be on council website and your MP if you go to this website and type in your postcode it will bring them up

http://www.writetothem.com/

hope that helps

[ellylond]

Does anyone know how to actually phrase it nicely that I expect some compensation for what we've been through? I assume that if I'm writing to an MP, I can't just say I want money!!!

[padja]

I would separate the two letters the compensation letter would go to council (what and to who I'm not sure) the complaint about the council & Bailiffs actions I would send separately to councillors and MP

[Bollotom]

Isn't there a law about Committing an Act of Criminal Neglect by Wrongful Disbursement of Public Moneys. And aren't the council bound to investigate? This is so a council worker cannot divert monies into their own accounts, but they seem to think diverting monies into "Wrong accounts" is simply an error. It isn't, it's negligence of the highest order. The need to be made accountable for their actions, or lacj thereof. Makes my blood boil!

[ellylond]

Hi Guys!

I thought I'd update you on my ongoing case. I wrote the complaint letters and attached all the stuff we got from bailiffs, sent them already, waiting for reply. In the meantime, we got a letter from Lewisham Council with the breakdown of the finances owed. It got me soooo angry. They don't even know what they are doing themselves. One day we hear that the problems come from wrong allocation of the money we paid and the next day we seem to be owing even more! I'm fed up with it. My partner was on benefits for a few months and it looks to me as if they actually want the money they paid him back. Have no idea why as noone actually said clearly how and why they want to take it. The best part of the breakdown is that even though there is money coming out of my partner's account every month as direct debit, we have an outstanding balance of £254.32 for 2011 - 2012 which hasn't ended yet. Bailiffs' note also says that there is a levy fee of £54.00 but can they charge anything even though noone was here and they did not list any goods and I haven't got anything from them? It is so getting on my nerves right now. I do hope someone will reply to my letter of complaint because if not, I will be really angry. I sent them to the Chief Exec, revenues manager, councillors and MP. someone better reply:)

[ellylond]

Are all Councils a mess or is it just Lewisham? i sent all my letters and replies and promises of sorting it out are coming back. I am so tired of it all now. The more we are trying to sort it out, the more confused I am. First we learn we owe £1,100, then we are told we don't owe anything, then Council lady sends a letter which says we owe £1,200 and now we owe £250. What next?

 

Is there any specific time in which I should expect it to be resolved? The last letter saying we owe £250 came with a payment plan in 3 instalments but since the council tax has been coming out of my partner's account by direct debit, I told him to cancel it till someone sorts this mess out.

 

Cheers.

[seanamarts]

Might be a wrong move to cancel any payments as it may come back and bite you in the bum... the amount owing could be for the rest of the years council tax, which doesnt end till end of March next year.

Can you get into the council offices to speak with them?

 

If no levy was made then you should not owe that fee.

 

 

distress

 

45.—(1) Where a liability order has been made, the authority which applied for the order may levy the appropriate amount by distress and sale of the goods of the debtor against whom the order was made.

 

(2) The appropriate amount for the purposes of paragraph (1) is the aggregate of—

 

(a)an amount equal to any outstanding sum which is or forms part of the amount in respect of which the liability order was made, and

 

(b)a sum determined in accordance with Schedule 5 in respect of charges connected with the distress.

 

(3) If, before any goods are seized, the appropriate amount (including charges arising up to the time of the payment or tender) is paid or tendered to the authority, the authority shall accept the amount and the levy shall not be proceeded with.

 

(4) Where an authority has seized goods of the debtor in pursuance of the distress, but before sale of those goods the appropriate amount (including charges arising up to the time of the payment or tender) is paid or tendered to the authority, the authority shall accept the amount, the sale shall not be proceeded with and the goods shall be made available for collection by the debtor.

(5) The person levying distress on behalf of an authority shall carry with him the written authorisation of the authority, which he shall show to the debtor if so requested; and he shall hand to the debtor or leave at the premises where the distress is levied a copy of this regulation and Schedule 5 and a memorandum setting out the appropriate amount, and shall hand to the debtor a copy of any close or walking possession agreement entered into.