Scott & Co Sherriffs Changing Terms. - SCOTLAND

[DoogieTalons]

After receiving £20 a month for 6 years Scott and Co decided to cancel a payment plan

then request the full amount of the outstanding debt.

 

 

With only 7 days notice giving no time to reply to a letter stating this they sent round a Sherriff office to attempt to reclaim the entire amount.

 

The details of this debt are as such, it is an old council tax debt.

Scott and Co issued a charge for payment 6 years ago and agreed a plan.

The council have since received the on-going council tax

and the plan has never been reneged on paying faithfully each month.

 

Scott and Co claim to have sent a letter asking to up the amount,

upon not receiving a reply they cancelled the direct debit and sent debt collectors to the door.

 

IS this at all legal ?

As the debt was being managed for Glasgow City Council would they not have had to go back to the court for a new Charge for Payment,

would Glasgow City Council have had to request this action being taken ?

 

After speaking to Scott and Co they simply claim an edict came down from head office

with a report on all these small payment high balance debts and told them to chase them.

Is this not outside their remit, this is not a credit debt this is a council debt

dont they need the full court procedure to change the terms of a payment plan ?

 

Sorry to ramble but it seems they just want to shaft us as fast as possible by claiming we didn't answer their mails ect,

yet they drew the payment for the 28 sept, then cancelled the agreement.

[citizenB]

I don't think they can. I will ask someone to look in on you.

[DoogieTalons]

Thanks.

I don't understand how the legality of it works.

They listed Glasgow City Council as the Applicant on a form labeled "Charge for Payment of Money"

 

 

This does not seem to be a lawful Court Issued Charge for Payment.

Just a printout from their office.

 

 

We rang them and they said the new proceedings were instigated by a letter from head office

based on a report of high debt low payment...

 

 

They rang Glasgow City council to check that council tax was being paid upto date

and if she still lived there but not to instigate more payments.

 

 

I thought these payments were administered by Scott and Co but still in the councils hands.

if they are acting without instruction from the council why are they listing the council as applicant on the charge.

 

 

Now if Glasgow were the applicant then should they not have applied to the court to redemand the lump sum (as scott and co did in the sherrif letter ).

 

 

If Scott and Co have bought the debt and its no longer in the councils hands

then they cant use the summary warrant / charge for payment route again once its already been established surley ?

 

 

The debt has been faithfully paid 20 per month for 6 years

they claim to have sent a letter asking to up it to 100

or they will cancel the agreement and take action.

 

 

They asked for ni numbers employment details ect when I am sure they cant have a right to even ask

without applying back to the court.

 

 

If any ones the legality of what they are trying to pull we'd appreciate some pointers.

 

 

It feels like they are trying to fast track for more fees

they already added 100 for the Sherrif visit despite being in receipt of payment less than 14 days hence.

 

 

We have wrote to them asking these questions about who has instigated this treatment and the questioning the legality of their documents.

 

It does seem like they have not gone back to the courts for authority to do this.

It appears that all the documentation is just printed in house.

 

 

Should a real charge for payment be a court document ?

 

 

It feels like a spoof.

Edited October 6, 2014 by DoogieTalons

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

Scott & Co do not buy Council Tax debts.

 

I take it you will have received a Summary Warrant six years ago.

 

The council will have applied to the sheriff court for one, a summary warrant is a certificate from the sheriff court stating the amount of council tax you owe. They will also have to obtained a charge for payment.

 

You will not have been told that the council were applying for a summary warrant and you will not have been given the opportunity to negotiate with the court before it was granted. The summary warrant will be granted automatically and you will only know about it when you receive a copy of it in the post.

 

Summary warrants are sent out by the sheriff officers. If you have received a summary warrant, it should state the amount due and who to contact to arrange to pay this. You now have to make payments to the sheriff officers rather than the council. The amount due will have increased as there is an automatic penalty of 10% if a summary warrant has been granted against you.

 

What is the amount still outstanding.

[DoogieTalons]

A summary warrant was issued six years ago.

 

 

She arranged payment to Scott and Co to pay it at 20 per month by direct debit.

This was paid unbroken for 6 years to this date.

 

 

THEN... On the 4th of september 2014 they claimed to have sent a letter stating they wanted more money.

 

 

On the 26th sept they took the usual direct debit.

Then the first she heard about it was on the 1st october they sent round a Sherriff officer

with a charge for payment of money and left it with her brother who was babysitting.

 

 

They added on another 80 pound and claimed the full amount was now due and they had cancelled the payment plan.

 

Would they have had to apply to the court for this new payment order or is it bogus.

 

 

The council did not instigate further action they did.

I thought these were tri lateral agreements.

 

 

The debt is now for £3800.

 

 

Can we find out if the courts issued this Charge for payment of money

or can Scott and Co just issue one at a whim ?

[maroondevo52]

Doogie,

 

I was due them just over £6,000 for unpaid Council Tax a few years ago, just finished paying them back earlier this year.

They charged me £98 for a new Charge for payment when I missed a payment.

 

They can be a pain in the a*s* when they want.

They arrested my wifes wages, froze our Bank account ( didn't do them any good as there was not enough money in the account, but we had to wait a few years to get access to it again) and we were a whisker from being sequestrated after they issued us with the papers.

 

As they have issued a new Charge for Payment, I'd think you could apply for 'Time to Pay'..................

 

http://www.govanlc.com/counciltax_downloadform.htm

 

They could just be trying it on, could you offer to up the payments to something you could comfortably afford if they were to accept it.

 

Just to add, they can chase Council Tax debts for 20 years

[DoogieTalons]

That's the point though she didn't miss a payment. Will there be a log at the court for a new Charge for Payment or can they print their own.

 

I will get her to ring the court and the council tomorrow. This feels horrible for her as its totally out of the blue money grabbing from scott and co who took it upon themselves to re try this one. No one from the council rang them and asked for this. If they can keep doing this then what good is a payment plan if they can just cancel it themselves and add more charges have we no protection from this piracy ?

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

Over the past few years Scott & Co have been getting more aggressive in their collection activities.

 

I'm not exactly sure how they go about getting a new charge for payment, I take it they would apply to the Sheriff Court.

When they were badgering me I sent a Subject Access Request to the council and there were copies of the Charge for Payment documents.

 

I'd think it's unlikely the Council will be able to do much as they will say they have passed the debt over to Scott & Co.

 

Would you be able to up the payments.

[DoogieTalons]

Thanks for that.

 

She had payments set up, they have been taking them for 6 years.

 

She has not defaulted ANY payments.

 

Scott and Co have cancelled the payment plan themselves and sent a new demand, this was entirely instigated by Scott and Co.

 

One minute the payments are going out the last one being on the 26th Sept then on the 1st Oct a Sherrifs visit out of the blue with a "Charge for Payment of Money" requesting the entire outstanding balance.

[DoogieTalons]

She has just called the Council. The Council said they have passed the debt onto Scott and Co and it is out of thier hands. They say any Charge for Payment has not been generated by the Council.

 

She is now calling the Court....

 

The Court have no record of a charge for payment in her name.

 

Is Scott and Co allowed to send a document titled "Charge For Payment" when there is no charge for payment applied for at the court or by the "Applicant" which is listed as Glasgow City Council.

 

Basically they have sent a document called "Charge for Payment of Money" listing Glasgow City Council as the Applicant.

 

Glasgow City Council have said they have not raised a charge for payment and the debt is out of their hands.

 

This cannot be legal, it seems like what wonga were upto. Infact is it not perjury to send a document pretending to be a court document ?

 

Doogie

Edited October 7, 2014 by DoogieTalons

[maroondevo52]

Doogie,

 

You can make a complaint to The Society of Messenger-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers, there's a link below to their complaints procedure.

Or give them a call and ask them if what Scott & Co are doing is legal.

 

 

http://www.smaso.org/images/COMPLAINTS_2012.pdf

 

Looking at your payments if your up to date with your current Council Tax it would take about 16 years to pay off the arrears.

[DoogieTalons]

Thanks for the above I will send them an email.

 

Sorry to harp on but this is getting confusing.

 

If there is no Court reference then we can't send the time to pay DSA2 to the court.

 

So the question is. Are Scott and Co allowed to call their own documents "Charge for Payment"

 

I thought only a Court could raise a Charge for Payment. Surly the DSA2 does not get sent to Scott and Co they have no legal authority to request or use such a document.

 

The deeper she delves into this the more it looks like an unlawful action by Scott and Co, if they have not gone through the proper channels then she has no proper way to remidy this.

 

Can Scott and Co lawfully proceed with arrestments ect based on these non court docs ?

[IdaInFife]

can you scan and post up the charge for payment minus your personal details?

 

These do all look as they come from the So's rather than court as they are court officials as such.

 

 

As you made an arrangement with them direct and not via the original charge then they are complying with applying for a new one..

 

please apply for a time to pay order as this is then recorded via court rather than just through the SO's

 

here is a link to what they can take from earnings

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2012/308/schedule/made

 

see and what you can afford to offer and if same as the table