Newlyns letter of distress on 5yrs old Liabitly Order. levied my car, husbands old CTAX debt

[paulamarie76]

Hello,

 

Whilst myself and my husband were in our house a letter had been pushed through the letterbox from Newlyns.

 

It contained 2 letters both dated 5th November

1. Take Formal Notice

2. Notice of distress.

 

This is for council tax in the amount of £165.34

they have added charges on and the bill now equates to £346.65

 

It said it was for unpaid council tax for Trafford Council for my husband,

we worked out when he lived in that district and it was 2005 for about 3 months.

 

They had detailed on this distress notice that they intended to seize my 35K Mercedes car,

which they had detailed the reg number,

firstly they can't take my car for my husbands debt but I found that laughable to say the least.

 

We called Trafford Council as we had no idea what this debt was for as this was the first we had heard of it,

baring in mind we have lived in this same property 5 years.

 

We explained we had never received a letter asking for payment

nor did my husband realise the debt even existed,

 

Trafford Council happily took the payment of £165.34 from us

but then spoke to someone in the recovery team and they have refused to call the bailiffs off.

 

They even told us they had written to my husband at an address he moved out of in 2008

which is why we never had seen any of these letter,

 

they told us he should have advised them he moved,

which in my opinion is ludicrous,

why would we tell trafford council he moved out of a manchester council district property in 2008,

this makes no sense to me,

why have they been unable to find him when we have lived here for 5 years.

 

What I'm asking is we have paid the debt to the council but the council won't call off the bailiffs,

I have an email receipt of the payment from Trafford Council.

I don't know what to do as the bailiff people said they are sending someone round tomorrow.

 

any help gratefully received

[bazm]

Very poor customer service from the council. The bailiffs are acting on their instruction and they can and should withdraw the bailiffs. In addition they should pay Newlyn's costs.

 

It seems they have made no attempt to contact you since 2008.

 

As I work in for a local authority in enforcement I can tell you that the LGO would take a very dim view of this.

 

How did they get your new address? If they traced you they must send a letter first.

 

Its in the regs;

 

The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) (Amendment) Regulations 1998 no 295

 

Regulation 7

Information preliminary to distress

7.　　(2)　After regulation 45 there is inserted—

"Information preliminary to distress

45A.　　(1)　　No distress shall be made under these regulations unless,

no less than 14 days before a visit in connection with the distress is first made to the premises where it is to be levied,

the authority have sent to the debtor written notice of the matters specified in paragraph (2) below.

 

 

Hope this helps

[paulamarie76]

The very very first we have heard of this debt is this Newlyns letter

which was I assume hand posted today as there is no stamp on it.

 

The council said they couldn't find my husband yet we have lived here for 5 years.

They said that Newlyns must have found us as the council said they didn't have this address

which I find completely crackers as we have been here 5 years.

 

I think my husband is going to go down to Trafford Council and speak to someone face to face

as we got nowhere with 1.5 hours phone call with them.

 

I will copy what you have mentioned and get him to quote this, should we make any attempt to contact Newlyns?

 

Thankyou for your time its much appreciated,

my stress levels have gone through the roof today

[dx100uk]

do you know the date of the liability order concerning the debt please

 

if they didn't get that within 6yrs of the ctax becoming due

then that's another thing to bring up.

 

you also need to check that a distress warrant WAS issued by the court

and its not a figment of the bailiffs imagination.

 

dx

[paulamarie76]

The notice of distress says:

Take notice - that by virtue of the authority of a magistrates court liability order dated May 15 2008 and obtained by and with the authority of Trafford council I have this day attended the premises (and our home address) to seize and distrain upon goods for the sun of £346.65

 

The next paragraph says unless paid within 5 days they will take goods and then they have listed in inventory of goods MY Merc that was parked on the drive. Not my husbands vehicle so I know they can't seize that anyway but found it laughable

[bazm]

Theres a stated case somewhere concerning committal proceedings where no action had been taken by the council for 5 years.

 

This was deemed to long a period without any action. The six year rule does not apply to liability orders.

 

If Newlyn do turn up then do not talk to them. The levy is invalid but they may try and take the car quoting a shared interest so to avoid hassle just hide it until this is resolved.

 

It sounds as if the council has handed a load of old absconds to Newlyns to trace and collect. Known as recycling. Fraught with danger if the council did not instruct Newlyn's to send a letter before calling. Expect more of this next year with the new fee structure!

[renegadeimp]

Make sure you complain to the council and the bailiffs about your car. It has been known for them to take the car regardless, thats why you MUST tell them and ensure they do a full check on the car.

[dx100uk]

Theres a stated case somewhere concerning committal proceedings where no action had been taken by the council for 5 years.

 

This was deemed to long a period without any action. The six year rule does not apply to liability orders.

 

If Newlyn do turn up then do not talk to them. The levy is invalid but they may try and take the car quoting a shared interest so to avoid hassle just hide it until this is resolved.

 

It sounds as if the council has handed a load of old absconds to Newlyns to trace and collect. Known as recycling. Fraught with danger if the council did not instruct Newlyn's to send a letter before calling. Expect more of this next year with the new fee structure!

 

as far as i'm aware an LO for CTAX never expires as long as its attained within 6yrs of the CTAX debt

 

I believe the warrant only lasts for a short time though.

 

dx

[paulamarie76]

My husband is going to go down to Trafford Council office today,

 

i think face to face may work rather than over the phone,

 

they cannot get away with this,

 

they have made no attempts to contact us since 2008,

we just received this newlyns letter,

we have paid the council tax debt to them so they need to get rid of the bailiffs as far as I am concerned its now finished.