Council Tax arrears passed to ROSSENDALES ?

[liam76]

But surely if I pay a lump sum of £500 to bring my account upto date for this years council tax then I should be allowed to pay the rest of the remainding year like any other member of the public ???

[liam76]

any further advice/help would be much appreciated

[outlawla]

But surely if I pay a lump sum of £500 to bring my account upto date for this years council tax then I should be allowed to pay the rest of the remainding year like any other member of the public ???

 

The law says they can withdraw instalments. It's a punishment for being poor or having cash flow problems. Obviously parliament didn't think it through when making the law as the consequences of taking away your right to pay monthly is going to make you poorer or worsen cash flow problems.

 

Whether it throws you into the hands of loan sharks to find the lump sum is of no consequence to local authorities, but it advantages them by having the benefit of thousands of pounds earning extra interest from the ones who do manage to pay the remaining year's liability before the bailiffs come knocking.

 

Regulation 23(3) and (4) of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.....

 

 

Failure to pay instalments

 

23.—(3) If, within the period of 7 days beginning with the day on which a reminder notice is issued, the liable person fails to pay any instalments which are or will become due before the expiry of that period, the unpaid balance of the estimated amount shall become payable by him at the expiry of a further period of 7 days beginning with the day of the failure.

 

 

(4) If, after making a payment in accordance with a reminder notice which is the second such notice as regards the relevant year, the liable person fails to pay any subsequent instalment as regards that year on or before the day on which it falls due, the unpaid balance of the estimated amount shall become payable by him on the day following the day of the failure.

 

EDIT: Have you tried paying the exact instalment sum via their online facility?

[tomtubby]

I am sorry to say but your query is very COMMON indeed.

 

The bailiff company have received a Liability Order and they will be pursuing this for the council NOT as a favor but as a MEANS of their company earning fees.

upon goods"

If the bailiff company were to accept payment from you they would not earn a single penny in BAILIFF FEES and it is a simple as that.

 

The bailiff company can charge a fee of £42.50 for a maximum of two visits for "attending to levy" (where no levy was made). They key to bailiff fees is to be able to EITHER persuade you to allow the bailiff into your home so that he can "levy upon goods" ( which for a debt of your size will be about £65 plus a walking possession fee of £12). Much more common is for the bailiff to visit the property and to try to "levy" upon a car outside. This will charge the same amount of fees.

 

The other point to remember is that from any payment made by you, the bailiff is allowed by law to deduct his fees FIRST.

 

All bailiff companies are acting in exactly the same way. Their fees are vitally important to them.

 

If you do not have a car and refuse to allow a bailiff into your home then the maximum fees will be £42.50.

 

Lastly, the other problem is that with so many people now only communicating via mobiles and iPads it means that debtors are not WRITING to the bailiff company to advise them that they will not allow a bailiff into their home and neither do they have a car.

[lookinforinfo]

If the Council has farmed out its running of the back office to Collectica for instance, then the Council could have an interest in not dealing with you and your payments since

Collectica employ bailiffs in another part of their Company.

 

Talk to one of your local councillors and explain that you are trying to pay 500 to the Council and it is not being accepted and ask them to suggest how it can be done by direct

payment to the Council as you do not trust the bailiffs nor do you want to be subjected to their additional charges..

 

Also ask the Council why the payments are not being accepted. Does seem strange that they are not accepting such a large payment and may well be maladministration as

Ploddertom has already suggested.

 

At the end of the day, the Council will have to accept some sort of monthly payment from you and as long as you can make an arrangement to pay within that year there are

not usually too many problems with that from my experience.

[liam76]

Thanks again for all your help

 

I have emailed the council stating that on Wednesday 24th july I shall be going to my local council office branch and making a cash payment of £600 , if this is not accepted then I will need reasons why in writing and also said in no way will I allow any bailiff into my home and I have no car ....... if they don't think a payment of £600 is reasonable then I will wait for a court to decide , ive saved all emails sent and received for evidence ........... if they refuse to take £600 off me on Wednesday then I don't know what to do as I definitely wont be paying that amount to a bailiff

[outlawla]

.....if they refuse to take £600 off me on Wednesday then I don't know what to do as I definitely wont be paying that amount to a bailiff

 

I think you may partly have the solution in the above, but perhaps include references to the various newspaper articles and a specific TV Documentary highlighting why your local authority shouldn't, in any way, be subjecting its residents to this contractor.

[impecunious]

Thanks again for all your help

 

I have emailed the council stating that on Wednesday 24th july I shall be going to my local council office branch and making a cash payment of £600 , if this is not accepted then I will need reasons why in writing and also said in no way will I allow any bailiff into my home and I have no car ....... if they don't think a payment of £600 is reasonable then I will wait for a court to decide , ive saved all emails sent and received for evidence ........... if they refuse to take £600 off me on Wednesday then I don't know what to do as I definitely wont be paying that amount to a bailiff

 

 

Just a general question ........... there is a notice on the doors of my council offices which categorically states that they won't accept any payments for council tax, etc. Doesn't this totally contradict the fact that they cannot refuse to accept such payments?

 

Imp

[brassnecked]

Just a general question ........... there is a notice on the doors of my council offices which categorically states that they won't accept any payments for council tax, etc. Doesn't this totally contradict the fact that they cannot refuse to accept such payments?

 

Imp

Have they any local payment offices? If not take a picture of the notice and use it as part of a Formal complaint.

[liam76]

So ............ if im in my local council offices ( I know this is a place to pay as I used this method last year ) and they say its now with rossendales ...... what do I do ??????????????????????????

 

help please

[Mark1960]

I think its pretty clear here that bailiffs are going to come involved-Even if money is paid directly to the council,unless its paid in its entirety then the bailiffs will still come knocking.

 

There will be 2 visits as previously mentioned,costing a total of £42.50 on top of the arrears.

 

Two things are important-Firstly to make sure no cars are parked on the drive or outside the house.If a bailiff levies on a car then the balance of power swings in his favour.Secondly,make sure all doors & windows are locked as well as any outbuildings.Once a bailiff has a levy,he can add further charges.When the bailiff calls,go outside to speak to him,locking the door behind you.If you don't want to speak with him,you don't have to.

 

Write to the council & copy the bailiffs in on the letter,informing them that you will not be allowing the bailiffs entry into your house and that you are not legaly obliged to deal with them.Tell the council that you wish to deal with them directly and to please contact you when the case is returned to them.This will probably drag on.

 

I would personaly just bank any money you have as the council will probably apply an AOE.This can be pretty steep but if you have money saved then you can subsidise the payments with the savings.Thats just what I would do but I'm a relative novice-There are more informed people on this thread than me

[liam76]

Thanks to all who have posted on my thread , you have all been really helpful

 

However , I have borrowed some money off my parents and will now pay the full balance on Wednesday

 

Ive emailed the council saying exactly this and await their reply sometime tomorrow , do you think they will recall the debt from rossendales if ive told them im going to pay balance in full ??

[stephenweslo]

hi,been reading this with a great deal of interest,same thing happened to me,so the bailiffs done there thing,wages were arrested and here is the clincher,the amount being taken from my my wages is less a lot less than my monthly ct bill,there are strict rules on wages arrestment,im not suggesting you go down this route,just sharing my own experience.

[seanamarts]

On the back of your council tax bill there is the council bank details, Have you tried to make a payment this way via your bank.

 

You have proof of payment being made and if they send it back then this will be a good reason for why you can place a complaint.

 

If no bailiffs have been out to see you yet then you owe them nothing.

[lookinforinfo]

As you are now paying all the money, there should not be a problem with the Council accepting it. If there is then you should should ask for a letter confirming that your payment has been refused.

Send an email to the CEO of the Council who might not be aware of the situation and advise them that you are complaining to the Local Government Ombudsman. In addition, contact one of your

local councillors to sort it out and you could also complain to your MP.