Marstons Bailiffs, council tax, repayments

[skonk]

I'll try to keep this as simple as possible.

I have 2 liability orders issued against me. Goes back about 6-7 years, whilst I had nothing but hassle with the council.

Messed me about with housing, etc. and now it appears to be sorted, but unfortunately went to baillifs.

 

I sent off a means form to the council and they replied and said they will accept £80 a month from me, which is fine, starting monday.

 

Now, before I sent the letter, 2 months ago I got in touch with the baillifs over the liability orders, combined come to just under £2000.

When I offered to start paying them, they said they can accept no less than £90 for one and £130 for the other.

They also said both balances had to be cleared in 8 weeks.

When I said there was no way I could do that, as I only work part time, they basically said tough.

 

The letter I had from the council today told me to contact the baillifs (Marstons) to arrange a payment arrangement.

Now, I'm starting this thread as I need to know what to say to them if they once again say I have only 8 weeks to pay off £2000.

 

At a massive push, I could stretch £100 a month, that's on top of the £80 for council tax,

but I'm proper worried they are going to tell me no longer than 8 weeks again,

which I think is a ridiculously short time to try and raise those funds.

 

I did say to them the first time I called that is that decision final?

And they replied, yes.

I asked if there was no way at all they could stretch out the payments into a more affordable one,

and she said absolutely no chance, it has to be paid in 8 weeks.

 

Then she said, seek legal advice, and hung up.

 

I got in touch with CAB, and they sent a letter off, offering an attatchment of earnings, saying that's the only way the bill would be taken off the baillifs, but i heard nothing until today.

I understand you can't have an AOE unless you are paying your current bill, which I will be doing as of monday,

so should I contact the council first, make my first £80 payment, then ask if they can take an AOE?

 

That would be easier for me, to have it straight out, so I don't have to deal with Marstons.

 

I'm really, really worried that when I call them tomorrow, they are going to give me the 8 week limit,

then I'll have no choice but to let them in and take my stuff,

as the way the marstons girl was talking, there is nothing else I can longer do.

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

[wonkeydonkey]

If the Council have confirmed in writing that they are willing to accept £80 pcm then that is what you pay no more and no less, Marstons will have to take what they have been told to take regardless of what they want.

 

However, as a precaution to possible conflict at a later date you should be contacting the Council to obtain the following information:

 

1 - how many Liability Orders there are

2 - the dates they were obtained

3 - the address(es) they relate to

4 - the period(s) of time they cover

5 - how much each one is for

6 - how much is outstanding on each

7 - the names the Liability Orders are in

8 - the date(s) they were passed for enforcement

 

Store this info safely for you will possibly find at a later Marstons have been hard at work in the invention lab and will add numerous dubious fees to the account. As they have not visited or levied on any goods they are entitled to no fees at present. They will probably tell you, you cannot have repayment facilities unless they attend your home to levy on goods. If that happens come back here and caggers will adise you as to the next step.

 

WD

[dx100uk]

and DO NOT pay the bailiffs

 

pay the council direct by internet banking

or

automated phoneline

 

dx

[skonk]

The Liability orders are already with the baillifs. The letter i got from the council reads...

 

"I am willing to accept minimum payments of £80.00 per month in respect of your arrears on this account. The outstanding balance is currently £971.79 and your first instalment should be paid immediately.

 

Please note that 2 x liability orders regarding previous arrears have been referred to marstons Bailiffs and you must now contact them directly to discuss arrangements for payment of these matters"

 

So, the £80 payments are for the current year, which, as I say, i have no problem with. It's the bailiffs I'm now worried about them not willing to accept my payment offer.

[dx100uk]

nope

you do not HAVE to deal or pay the bailiffs at all.

regardless to whatever the council say

 

they have employed them anyhow.

 

so how come its taken till now for them to decide you owe for the very old years?

 

something does not sound right here to me.

 

why the significant years of nothing chased?

 

dx

[skonk]

Well, over the years when I worked and was on incapacity,

every time the council reassessed my housing benefit and council tax, it dragged out.

 

When I was working part time, they took 1 and a half years to sort out my housing and council tax.

 

During that time I was giving my landlord £150 a month, as I didn't know how much housing benefit I would be getting.

 

At that time, they wanted me to pay £90 a month council tax, until it was sorted.

I asked if I would get it back when it was sorted, they said, no, it will be knocked off your next bill.

 

So, I had a choice. Pay my landlord some rent and have a roof over my head, or pay £90 a month, which I didn't have. I chose the rent.

 

Obviously, if it had taken them 2-3 months to sort, I could've struggled with the 90, but 1 and a half years?!

I was so lucky to have a good landlord, and I'm still here, and she's still good to me.

 

As you can see, this 18 months would've been 3 different council tax years, and during the last 6 years,

I was on incapacity for 1, during this time I was in receipt of council tax benefit and never received any more letters about arrears.

 

I was then two years years unemployed, and they took a few quid a week out of my benefits towards the arrears.

 

It got to the stage where I had no idea how much I owed.

 

I explained all this to the CAB, and they said unless I had receipts to prove all this, it was my word against theirs, and they won't act upon it.

 

I started work in feb 2010, on 16 hours and it took a year for them to sort out my housing.

They had been assessing me on a shared room rate, when I have been living in a self contained house.

Me and the landlord were down there every week, trying to make them understand I wasn't in a shared house, and I hadn't been for 13 years!

I kept getting letters saying they had reassessed my housing and awarded me, yep, you guessed it!! The shared room rate!

 

In the end, my landlord went to a town council meeting and demanded to speak to the head of rents, and he couldn't understand why this had dragged on.

 

Anyway, the arrears mounted up then, due to me having a very low wage, yet they demanding nearly full council tax, hence the £80 a month,

which I can now afford as I am doing more hours.

 

Sorry to go on, but had to kind of explain why it had gotten this far.

 

I am ringing the council tomorrow to make my first £80 payment.

Now, the help I'm after is what to do next.

Do I then call marstons and offer a payment on the referred arrears?

I know they won't accept it and I'm so worried about them coming to my house.

Their attitude was,

"Pay us the amount we want, no if's or buts. If you can't afford it, tough. We're taking your stuff."

 

I really need some advice on what to do next.

 

I'm dreading calling them

[dx100uk]

marston should nto be making threats like that.

 

are you happy that the past years are not missing CT benefits that you think you should have gotten?

 

there is enough in your story for me to think you p'haps might not owe what the council claim.

 

its not my ballgame

but i'm sure others will read and work it out.

 

as for marstons.

 

again - you do NOT have to talk to them at all

they are collecting for the council

then pay the council - not them

 

dx

[skonk]

When i went to the CAB, the advisor called the council and got all the info on how much i woed and from what year. After spending a good while going over it, it's virtually correct. The arrears just kept moving from year to year when I wasn't working, or when an amount was paid. I do owe this amount, that I'm sure of. I did think maybe I didn't owe all that, but after the CAb visit, we got the figures all worked out.

 

I'm going to call the council tomorrow, make the £80 payment, then have a chat with them about the bailiffs. Going to ask if they will do an attatchment of earnings, so I don't have to contact the bailiffs, and hopefully they will accept it and take the arrears from marstons. Do you think that's good first step to make?

[dx100uk]

yep cant see why not

 

i would however await further comments from other members.

 

first!

 

dx

[brassnecked]

Anything you can do to cut marstons out of the picture would be good, in the meantime as has been said before, there is no law that says you must deal with them. You do not have to let them in, in fact it would be a very BAD idea to let them in. If they call try to film them even with a mobile phone

 

As you mentioned spells on incapacity benefit do you have a long term health issue? If so you may be classed as vulnerable under the National Association of Enforcement Agencies 2002 guidelines which makes bailiff action inappropriate, and the account should be returned to the council:

 

 

 

Others will no doubt have some good advice to help you sort this

[skonk]

Update: I just called the council. Explained the whole situation. I asked for an AoE on my wages for the liability orders. The girl has got in touch with Marstons and got them to put a hold on it, and she has forwarded through my request for an AoE. Hopefully they will accept this and I never have to deal with that bailiff again! I shall keep this thread updated when they contact me, as I'm sure there are other peope in the same boat who are willing to pay the AoE, but getting stupid time limits from bailiffs.

[impecunious]

Hopefully, with Attachment to Earnings Order you will only have to pay what you can realistically afford. You will have a certain amount of "protected earnings" below which they cannot take anything from you.

 

For example, I'm currently paying back an overpayment of housing benefit of some £1,100 and only £5/month is deducted from my salary (which is far from minimum wage level). It will take years to repay but, as far as I'm concerned, it's very realistic and affordable. (I even pay an extra £5/month to the council voluntarily on top of the ATEO.)

 

The £5/month was accepted after completing an I&E which was court approved.

 

Your repayments have to reflect your own personal financial circumstances and should be realistic. If you take a look at the National Debtline website, they have a really good I&E form there to work out your priority debts, etc . And, of course, there's a very good I&E sheet here on CAG.

 

I'm also paying back just £12.50/month in respect of council tax arrears of £1,200 from 6 years ago. Even though CT arrears is a priority debt, you can only pay back what you can afford. They can't get money out of a stone. Whilst negotiating repayments with the council, I found it much easier to talk to the Head of Revenues than just one of the back room staff -- they have more discretion and are the real decision makers.

 

The account was with Rossendales at the time. I completely ignored Rossies and their threats and made payments direct to the council. Rossies weren't happy but who cares? They account was taken back by the council and I've never missed a payment or missed a night's sleep since.

 

You are a can't pay - not a won't pay. So just stay strong and please don't worry too much. You'll get lots of great advice and support from fellow CAGgers.

 

Impecunious!

Edited November 25, 2011 by impecunious