I have paid the bailiffs over £2400 - council still asks for it though?!

[dankat]

Okay so this is a bit messy! Basically (after 3 years) a baliff company send me their breakdown - my payments their charges - they show I did pay them all of my debt AND charges of over £400!!!

However, council still asks for the money and even has set up a commital hearing!!!

 

But I try to explain it quickly:

 

Basically I owe the council a sum of £4019 for council tax 10/11, 11/12, 12/13.

 

I was shocked when I found out the sum!

I had one bailiff company coming to me in 10/11 and the same in 11/12. I used to pay them a lot of money - after paying them all together over 2400£ I stopped as the more I paid the more I owed!

They never provided me with a breakdown nor did the council help me out in this case.

I got into debt for 11-12 and 12-13 , because I was to say at least confused about what is happening with my payments! However I did try to set up a payment plan for 12/13 with a new bailiff company who called me horrible names.

 

I was devasted when I found out that I have 2 commital hearings and that I owe the council over £4000 (well now I know I only owe them max 2000£! but they do not seem to know). My partner however said something cannot be right and so we called the council so they can send us their breakdown of what I owe them and what I pay.

My partner saw then that I made almost no payments according to their papers, however had proof of paying them at least 400£ in 2012/13 which did not show.

 

So I emailed them and they said these payments were calculated in my 2010/11 payments simply because they are the oldest outstanding debts. Fair enough .But that would mean I paid £0 in 3 years! impossible! Thank God I also asked them to ask the bailiff company to send me a breakdown of their charges as they never did and was surprised to see that this time I did receive one! And what did I see there?!!! I paid MY FULL DEBT for 2010/11 and crazy charges of £400!!!

So my question is:

WHY DO THE COUNCIL DOES NOT KNOW THAT?!?!?!

They must know because Phoenix has the breakdown as they have send it to me!

Plus how can I get those charges back? They charged me stuff like: 250£ van costs and the again 50£ van costs and never picked anything up! and other crazy charges!!

 

The biggest problem is that because of their mistakes I owe the council for 11/12 and 12/13 because at one point I stopped paying as my debt was growing the more I paid whch was ridicioulous!

 

I was advised to write the CEO of the council - which I will do and I have attached the breakdown and evidenve of my payments. But I will be still left with a courts hearing and bailiffs on my neck for this year. So I want him to call all actions off and let me pay my debt off to the council withing 10months with monthly direct debit payments. I think I am quite reasonable here?! They made a fool out of me, messed up my finances, let me miss days of work, stress etc! DO you think he will accpet my offer and cancel my hearing and call of the bailiffs from 2012/2013?

 

Please help me guys! I feel totally confused - but as well happy to be able to proof that I do not owe a penny for 2010/11! Cant undertsand why they still ask me for it and want me to go to court....

So I do own them 2000£ instead of 4000! Which is quite a difference....

Edited January 11, 2014 by dankat

[Conniff]

Do not pay the bailiffs anything, only make payments to the council even if the council says they can't accept the payments because it is in the hands of bailiffs.

 

The council has to accept payments.

 

Now list out properly what the bailiff has charged you with the dates and what the amount is for.

 

It can be a bit quiet on the weekends, but someone will be along to help you.

[dankat]

Thanks for the help!

Here are the charges:

 

Visit fee 1: 24.50 13.09.2010

 

Visit fee 2: 18.00 23.09.2010

Broken arrangement fee: 10 29.12.2010

Payment by D/C: 1 24.12.2010

Payment by DC:1 07.01.2011

Attendance/Van: 250 16.02.2011 (not sure if I ever saw a van!)

Levy fee: 76 16.02.2011

Broken Arrangment 2: 10 25.03.2011

Attandance Van: 50 23.05.2011

Payment by D/C: 1 22.06.2011

Broken Arrangement 2: 10 02.09.2011

 

Total: £ 443.5

 

Total owed: 1883£

Total paid: 2340,5 £

 

Tax year 2010/11

 

Council tax says no payments received. They do not know that I have the full breakdown now that shows that I did pay more than I even should!

[brassnecked]

Send a copy of that breakdown to the council and tell them that their best mate the bailiff seems to be diddling them as obviously they have taken all the money for themselves

 

What bailiff company is this?

 

Do as Conniff says pay council direct, if they did go for committal that breakdown and proof of payment would hang the council and bailiffs as you are obviously not a refuse to pay

[dankat]

Regarding the bailiff fees:

 

Which one are correct? WHich one are unlawful?

[brassnecked]

Does the bailiff have a levy? have you ever let him in your house to list hoods? Did he leave a Notice of Seizure?

 

I would suspect a Broken Arrangement fee is straight out of the Brothers Grimm Bailiff Fee Guide as amended by Lewiss Caroll, and is unlawful. Other Caggers will no doubt help. If he has a levy list what he has seized to assess what is kosher or halal so to speak.

 

Again what firm of charlatans are you dealing with?

[dankat]

I have never let him in to my house!

SO he never made any kind of list.

 

Plus I do not think he ever attended with a van! And I have never heard of a van that costs you 250£ !

 

I would like to have those fees taken off my outstanding council tax - is this even possible?

[brassnecked]

Visit fee 1: 24.50 13.09.2010 OK valid visit fee

 

Visit fee 2: 18.00 23.09.2010 OK valid visit fee

Broken arrangement fee: 10 29.12.2010 Even if you defaulted no such fee

Payment by D/C: 1 24.12.2010

Payment by DC:1 07.01.2011

Attendance/Van: 250 16.02.2011 (not sure if I ever saw a van!) No levy so no goods to remove with the van so no fee

levy fee: 76 16.02.2011 you say he has no levy, so strict proof of what he has seized, it is probably a car yours or a random one, did he leave a Notice of Seizure at the time?

Broken Arrangment 2: 10 25.03.2011 No such fee

Attandance Van: 50 23.05.2011 As above no levy no fee

Payment by D/C: 1 22.06.2011

Broken Arrangement 2: 10 02.09.2011 No such fee

 

Total: £ 443.5

 

you need to put them on strict proof as to levy and fees, then once you have full disclosure a Formal Complaint to Head of Revenues, Council CEO, Leader and MP

 

Again what bailiffs are these? it would help Caggers if you identify which speices of vultures are dealing with you

[dankat]

I do not owe a car and he was never inside my flat...and my doormat is still there so no idea what he apparently has taken...

 

Thanks for the breakdown! That is over 300£ that I can claim back I suppose.

 

Will I have to write the council to claim these? Or the bailiff company?

[dankat]

It was Phoenix!

Now I am with Equita - the bailiff at Equita called me names super bad names and told me to get lost (and that is nicely said)

I was however prepeared and recorded the conversation!

So now I have filled in a Form 4 and send it to court regarding this bailiff.

I feel that all those bailiff companies totally got out of hand. I just have enough of being called names and miss out work...

[brassnecked]

It was Phoenix!

Now I am with Equita - the bailiff at Equita called me names super bad names and told me to get lost (and that is nicely said)

I was however prepeared and recorded the conversation!

So now I have filled in a Form 4 and send it to court regarding this bailiff.

I feel that all those bailiff companies totally got out of hand. I just have enough of being called names and miss out work...

 

Hang fire on that Form 4 for now, the bailiff company will pervert the hearing into litigation, better to let other Caggers have a look and advise further options first.

 

send a transcript of the recording in a Formal Complaint to CEO and leader and your MP keep the original recording safe.

 

Equita are known for upfront fee fraud.

Edited January 11, 2014 by brassnecked

[dankat]

okay I will do that then! Thank you very much for your help here!

Really cant thank enough!

[dankat]

Regarding my previous question:

Shall I write the council and demand the unlawfull fees to be taken off my current debt?

Or do I need to talk to Phoenix?

[brassnecked]

Regarding my previous question:

Shall I write the council and demand the unlawfull fees to be taken off my current debt?

Or do I need to talk to Phoenix?

You need to put Phoenix on strict proof of what they have levied, if they haven't been in your flat, and you don't HAVE A CAR, thy will probably claim to have a levy on a car unknown to you, in which case the levy a nd all associated fees are void, you then do that Formal Complaint to the council;and incluse ib it you are aggrieved that the council are going for a commital when you have paid their agent the bailiff wpo obviously has taken ALL the payments for their by now proven dodgy unlawful fees, reminf the council they are 100% liable jointly and severally for and with the bailiff for any unlawful actions, and ccopy to MP

 

Hopefully tomtubby and ploddertom will look in as they know much more.

[dankat]

okay! thanks for this!

So I guess I will write Phoenix now and ask them what they have levied in this case and wait for an answer.

Already found the MPs email and the CEOs of the council - will send them the recordings I made when being called all those wonderful names.

[hallowitch]

I guess I will write Phoenix now and ask them what they have levied in this case and wait for an answer.

 

 

 

 

NO you e-mail/write (recoded deliver) to the council and ask them to provide a copy of the notice of seizure listing the goods there agents (Phoenix bailiff) levied on there behalf against this debt

 

 

you send a copy of the e-mail/ letter to Phoenix

[new-me2010]

I think the first thing you need to do is sit down and have a cup of tea and take a few deep breaths.

You're running on adrenaline at the moment and quite likely to fire off emails and do letters that don't make sense send them and may b**ger up the situation. I know I've done it and made everything worse.

 

Get everything down on paper or on a spreadsheet if you're computer literate to see exactly where you are. Write draft letters and emails and then with the help from the brilliant people here they'll guide you in which order to proceed.

 

As the saying goes :- More Haste, Less Speed. The faster you try to do something, the more likely you are to make mistakes that make you take longer than it would had you planned it.

[hallowitch]

Attandance Van: 50 23.05.2011

 

 

IF they had a valid levy on your goods and were entitled to charge An attendance to remove fee it can only be charged once unless goods are removed

[ploddertom]

You also need other information so we can look at the bigger picture. You need to speak to someone at the Council and ask the following questions:

1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you

2 - the dates they were obtained

3 - the addresses they were for

4 - the period of time each covers

5 - how much each one was for

6 - how much is still outstanding

7 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement

8 - the dates & amounts of any payments

[ploddertom]

Do you know who your local Councillor(s) is/are?

[dankat]

the cup of tea helped!

I will take it step by step:

 

When sending the email to the Council about a listing of seizured items, should I mention that Phoenix has overcharged me and that they never took any of my belongigs?

 

Or just ask for the listing without giving them a reason why I need it? (for now)

 

Many Many Many Thanks!

[hallowitch]

have the council actually sent you court date for a committal hearing or are they just threatening to apply for a committal hearing

[new-me2010]

The cup of tea helped but you;re still on the run before walk. You're not taking anything in,

 

Now flipping forget about sending anything until at least Tuesday.

 

Spend the rest of the weekend sorting out all the paperwork you have and start marrying them all up.

 

Ploddertom has asked some very relevant questions so on Monday the first thing you do is get every one of those answered and then come back on here and let us all know what the answers are.

 

Until you know them you are to put it politely effed.

 

Answer any questions you are asked on here fully and then the picture is finished with all the delicacy needed.

x

NM

[brassnecked]

Do as ploddertom suggests, bailiffs will not call on Sunday, and the information he has asked you to get from the council is what I meant by strict proof, once you have that things can be moved forward. it is possible Phoenix had money and neglected to pay the council, then they were kicked off and Equita replaced them.

 

The threat of committal was it from Equita or the council? Equita have no legal authority to apply for a commital to prison. Step back chill over Sunday then look again.

[tomtubby]

I will respond in detail in the morning.