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Hello there,

 

I am very new to this site, so please bear with me if I make mistakes along the way...

 

My dilemma is this...I had a bailiff from Rossendales arrive at my house last week demanding a figure of approximately £1900.00 for none payment of Council Tax for the year 2014-2015. Yes, they want the entire year!. He refused a payment of £200 per week and said that he would give me 7 days to find the total amount or he would take goods to the value...and this is where the dilemma deepens...I do not have goods to that "auctionable" value. He would have to even take the cat, it's that bad.

 

I have just received my Decree Absolute (November 6th) after a two and a half year battle with my ex. 99% of the "things" in the house belong to my ex, as he has receipts to prove that he owns them, and he has already taken some of them away. He is coming back for his stacking stereo system and a huge TV that are his...and he can have them. Basically all that I can offer the bailiff is a three piece suite and an old table. I don't have anything else of value. My ex took back my engagement ring and also my 18ct wedding ring...yes, it was that acrimonious...

 

I guess that what I am driving at is this...What can the bailiff legally take? Would that include things belonging to my 20 year and 16 year old sons who live with me? And if he does take these things and they don't reach anywhere in the region of the debt, what would his next step be, bearing in mind that anything of any value would be gone?

 

I find it odd that something that could be settled within 10 weeks has caused so much chaos in my life, which I am slowly trying to rebuild for myself and my boys. I even spoke to Rossendales (who were as hard as nails and unrelenting on the phone) and they said that it was in the bailiffs hands.

 

If any of what I have written makes any sense at all...YAY me...but if it has not, I apologize and will endeavour to correct it.

 

Thank you for reading this post.

 

Regards

 

TLW

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have you let the bailiff into your home? If not he cannot just walk in and take what he likes, don't let him in and if you have a car park it away from your house.

No he cannot take goods belonging to your children, nor can he take the basics that you need for every day life such as enough seating for allwho live there, cooker, fridge , beds and bedding, plus your cloths, the list goes on.

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Dont let the bailiff in and keep pushing for a repayment plan. Are you considered a vulnerable household under national standards? In any case, do not let him into your home. You will be liable for the bailiff fee's as long as you arent vulnerable AND the bailiff has followed correct procedures, but the most he can do if he cant get payment is hand the debt back to the council. ( You will still need to pay the fee's).

Any advice i give is my own and is based solely on personal experience. If in any doubt about a situation , please contact a certified legal representative or debt counsellor..

 

 

If my advice helps you, click the star icon at the bottom of my post and feel free to say thanks

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I am assuming that the bailiff has not been into the house. Please confirm.

 

Before the visit, you should have received a Notice of Enforcement in the post. A payment arrangement can be made during the period outlined in that notice which is referred to as the 'Compliance Stage'.

 

Did you receive a Notice of Enforcement and if so, did you contact Rossendales?

 

Secondly, do you have a car outside of your property that could be taken? If so, depending on the value it is at risk. Also, is the car subject to finance etc?

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Hello there,

 

The gentleman/bailiff in question came to the door. He said hello, I am from Rossendales. I had a temperature at the time of 102 and was feeling unwell..I asked him in because standing was difficult as I felt so weak. He then told me on the threshold that he was a bailiff. Can I prove this? No...but he has been in the house. Yes my car was on the drive because I did not expect a visit. I had received no letters from Rossendales, if I had I would have certainly responded immediately. He argued that a letter had been sent. I contested his statement and said could he prove that it had been sent. He could only prove that it had been generated. He then went on to say that he could not be held responsible for the Royal Mail service etc etc etc.

 

My car is only worth about £200 and if it goes I would lose my job. So it would be a no win situation. A friend has told me to leave it on her drive way for the time being. She lives at a distance and he would have to do some hunting to locate it.

 

Are they allowed to go through drawers and cupboards? I don't fancy a bailiff rifling through my underwear drawer...Are they restricted to a "sight only" operation? Would they be allowed to take things belonging to my ex? He (my ex) would sue me if the stuff did go...double trouble...

 

I no longer have broadband. I use a pay as you go dongle for emails etc. I do not have Sky and my land line is in coming calls only. I have a pay as you go mobile phone as well. I have made so many cut backs since my ex left. I even had gas and electric meters with cards that you load up at a shop to get power etc. I am running out of options. I don't even drink or socialize any more. So any suggestions to cut that down would be ridiculous. My tax credits went down when my oldest son finished college. My weekly food bill for the three of us is about £40.00 and we don't starve.

 

This would be so easy to sort out...but they want to take the most difficult route...I will always maintain that what goes round comes round.

 

Just to add. I am putting the house on the market soon. It is still jointly owned by my ex and myself. I want to sever all connections with him and the sale of the house would do that.

 

I don't have an expensive car. I don't own expensive clothes. We live a very frugal life. I have nothing to offer these people except the proposed repayment of £200 per week. Which I should imagine is better than £200 per month. I can do it. It is not impossible and we will not go without. I would have thought that they would jump at the chance of £200 per week. I did wonder whether I should go back to the court and tell the judge that I had offered this amount and that it had been refused.

 

Regards

 

And thank you all that replied so quickly to my post.

 

TLW

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There will be no going through you draws make sure you do not let the bailiff in again

If they wanted to force entry they would have to get permission from the court and council and have a previous levy they would also write to you giving you a date and a time

 

It will not come to that make arrangements to pay £200 per month is fine rather than a week

Can you claim any discount or benefits

 

Don't beat yourself up over this plenty of people are in the same boat

If i have helped in any way hit my star.

any advice given is based on experience and learnt from this site :-)

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The payment proposal of £200 is very reasonable and I am surprised that it has been rejected.

You say that the bailiff came into the property (when you were unwell). Did he actually come into the property and did he make a Controlled Goods Agreement? If so, what items were listed down?

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Hello there,

 

Thank you again for replying so quickly to my post.

 

In answer. I did let the bailiff in, but he did not make a list of items. He did however look around the downstairs...living room and dining room...and said something like "Those DVD's should fetch a couple of quid" (the dvd's are now whittled down to about 6...ex took majority last weekend) He made no list and I signed nothing. He did leave a piece of paper saying...Quote " Final Notice. For Non Payment of Council Tax. You have failed to pay the outstanding amount below. You need to settle this balance n full immediately. If payment in full is not made within 24 hours you may incur further costs. TOTAL AMOUNT DUE £1869.18 Payment should be made to the enforcement officer below to avoid unnecessary action" Unquote....it then goes on to give the officers name and phone number. The letter comes from Rossendales and not the court or the local Council. It does however say that there client is my local authority.

 

I have also discovered a slip of paper saying that my ex is the owner of the car. So I assume that they cannot take the car.

 

To reiterate. I did let him in and he did NOT write any list. He did NOT mention a "Controlled Goods Agreement" and he did NOT ask me to sign anything. (I only used capitals to emphasize not to belittle...please forgive me if it appears that way)

 

I also hasten to add that the entire proceedings were conducted while I was in my PJ's. It was lunch time and a friend who had visited me to see how I was had actually got me from my sick bed. She only stayed about 30 minutes. I had gone back up to bed when about 10 minutes later he knocked at my door. I spent about 2 hours with him while phone calls were made and messages were sent. I went from freezing cold to sweating back to freezing. I had the headache from hell and he just sat there. He said that he was waiting to hear from the people who would be coming to the house to empty it, but the call never came. In the end he left, leaving me with the slip of paper that I mentioned earlier. He was not for changing his mind...it was goods or the money in full. He did however say something quite odd...he said that he had been in this business for 17 years and wanted to get out. He had had enough!!!!

 

You know the saddest thing about all of this...it made me realize how alone I am. I don't have any family to bail me out, both parents passed away years ago. I have one good friend who is not rich by any means..she is a single parent of three, the youngest being five years of age...This event has made me recognize a lot that I have in my life and a lot that I don't. I have a bailiff who wants to take an old, second hand three piece suite and other minor bits and bobs...to make a point...to what ends I wonder????

 

I don't get any benefits. I work hard for my money doing 24 hour shifts. I spent about two months working 3 days on and 3 days off, 72 hours straight through takes it toll, but I did it. The only extra money that I get is working tax credits and child tax credits for my youngest son.

 

I also find it odd that they can charge me for the entire year when that year has not elapsed! Why not ask for what I owe them and then set up a repayment schedule for the remainder?

 

As long as I know that they cannot force an entry just yet, it should buy me some time with regard to the situation. I don't want to be difficult in all or any of this, but I am being coerced and feel that I have been pushed into a corner. I am not going to take the bait nor am I going lower myself to their standards. At the end of the day they are just "things"...things that I can replace eventually. I know poor...I know it well. I spent the first few years of my life sleeping on an old second hand sofa because my parents didn't have the money for a bed for me...my late Mother didn't eat from a Wednesday to a Friday...when my Father was paid...so that myself and my brother could eat. She worked two jobs to help put food on the table. In the winter of 1962 when Britain had an arctic landscape, rivers froze and the Brits shivered....we all slept in the kitchen to keep warm and my Dad broke up an old chair to burn on the fire. My family weren't beaten then and I am NOT going to be beaten by any of this...so bring it on...

 

Fighting talk, I know...but sometimes I get like this....so apologies for ranting a little...

 

Thank you again for all of your help with regard to this matter...I truly am very grateful to you all...

 

Nameste

 

Regards

 

TLW

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Thank you for providing so much background to this matter. It has made the position clearer.

 

The sad fact (and one that like you I find difficult to understand) is that we all get a council tax bill in April for the local council's services (such as for roads, refuse, police, fire etc) that we will use until the following April. In other words, we receive a bill for 'advance' services.

 

We are all allowed to pay for these 'advance' services in 10 monthly installments (although on request payment can now be made by 12 monthly payments). Quite incredibly, if any two monthly payments are missed, we lose the right by law to pay for the advance service by monthly payments and instead, the entire balance becomes due immediately and if not paid, a Liability Order is issued.

 

What is also clear from your above post is that you have no fear of the bailiff forcing entry into your home and neither can he take your car. Despite what he said about the DVD collection it is obvious to me that he knew that if he did get you to sign a Controlled Goods Agreement it would be challenged given that the goods in your property appear to be of little or no value.

 

This account should be dealt with by the Rossendales Welfare Team so that they can set up a sensible payment proposal. I will send a message to one of the site team.

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Thank you.

 

Thank you to everyone who has responded to me regarding this situation. Thank you for being there for me and my boys.

 

I look forward to hearing what the site team have to say.

 

You truly are wonderful people....

 

Regards

 

TLW

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Hello there,

 

Please PM me about this and I will give details. Thank you

 

TLW

 

Hello there.

 

You don't have enough posts to send PMs. You should be fine if you post anonymised details, I'm sure hallowitch will do their best to help you. :)

 

HB

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello there,

 

I have tried to contact Rossendales about the situation. I have a "pay as you go" phone and I ran out of credit waiting to be put through to the right department. I did initially ask if they would take my number and call me back, but they have not. I cannot call them back until Friday when I can top up my phone.

 

I have had nothing through the post and have heard nothing from the bailiff who came to my house. It has gone strangely quiet.

 

Thank you Ploddertom for all of your help. Thank you all who have replied to my plea for help. I will keep you up dated of events as they occur....but as I say...nothing has happened as yet.

 

Regards

 

TLW

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Just make sure you are proactive, and not reactive. It will pay dividends to stay one step ahead of them at all times.

Any advice i give is my own and is based solely on personal experience. If in any doubt about a situation , please contact a certified legal representative or debt counsellor..

 

 

If my advice helps you, click the star icon at the bottom of my post and feel free to say thanks

:D

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  • 1 month later...
I initially asked HW to drop by but have had such a rubbish few days since.

 

Hello there. I have heard nothing from you or Rossendales bailiffs until today. The Rossendales bailiff is on my doorstep as I type this message...having come to take goods to the value of the whole debt which is about £1900 in total. I have to get help with this but it seems that I have been forgotten...Any immediate suggesstions??? as time is NOT on my side...I have less than 1 hour.

 

Thank you in anticipation

 

The Loan Wolf

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As this is for council tax, just refuse them entry to your house. They cannot force entry for council tax. Just keep the doors locked and advise them you cannot deal with this at the moment. They will go away eventually.

 

Just make sure that they cannot levy on anything you own outside of the house e.g a car on the driveway.

 

If you cannot come to an arrangement with Rossendales, then you will have to contact the council with details of your circumstances, work out what you can afford to pay and this may then get passed on via the council to Rossendales.

We could do with some help from you.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

 

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Yep. Don't let them in. All they can do is stamp their feet and hand it back to the council, although their fees will stick.

 

Just keep the door and window shut and locked and go upstairs or something.

Any advice i give is my own and is based solely on personal experience. If in any doubt about a situation , please contact a certified legal representative or debt counsellor..

 

 

If my advice helps you, click the star icon at the bottom of my post and feel free to say thanks

:D

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Yep. Don't let them in. All they can do is stamp their feet and hand it back to the council, although their fees will stick.

 

Just keep the door and window shut and locked and go upstairs or something.

 

Hello there....It is now about 6.40am and I have been up all night...I have battened down the hatches and bought supplies to keep us going...My car is at my friends house in her drive way...It is actually owned by my ex, so they couldn't take it anyway.

 

I can't think of anything else to do at this moment in time, except to wait it out...it's like a Medieval siege here at the moment...I have however been in touch with a gentleman at the "Council Tax Advisors CIC" he has offered to take my case and said that he will get in contact with my local council (Wrexham) I have scanned and emailed a letter of authority and a budget plan with an offer to pay them £200 per month, which apparently is a reasonable offer and one which the bailiff refused to acknowledge. I am hoping to hear good news today and will keep you posted as to what happens.

 

Just to add...I have worked out that the value of things that I own in the house amount to something like £300. That includes clothes, shoes and some books that belonged to my late Mother. I have a small amount of costume jewellery that has no intrinsic value. The big TV and stand in the living room belong to my ex. As does the TV in my bedroom...on loan to me until I can find the cash for a replacement. Can they take things belonging to my ex?

 

My ex ran a small business from the house and there are hundreds of things belonging to the business that are still here. He is coming over every so often to take stuff away and sort through the endless mounds of paperwork that is still here as well. Can the bailiff take things that belong to the business? I just don't know where I stand with regard to this.

 

I hope that I am making some sense. It has been a long night so I am going to try and get some sleep.

 

Again...thank you all for your support...

 

Regards

 

TLW

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They cannot take anything belonging to the business, or the Ex if he is non resident, but they may try to say he must prove ownership, via interpleader., due to them possibly being purchased when you were a couple as in joint ownership, Seized goods often raise as little as 10% of their value at auction, they would need to take £20,000 worth of goods to cover a debt including all fees and charges of £2,000, doubt you have anywhere near enough available goods to clear even the fees. You are doing the right things keep 'em out.

We could do with some help from you.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

Have we helped you ...?         Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

If you want advice on your thread please PM me a link to your thread

The bailiff: A 12th Century solution re-branded as Enforcement Agents for the 21st Century to seize and sell debtors goods as before Oh so Dickensian!

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You last posted over 2 months ago. Have you not had any letters at all in that time from Rossendales?

 

There is no point whatsoever in working out the value of goods in your home unless you are considering allowing the bailiff to come into your home. This is a council tax debt and a bailiff can come into your home if you left the door open or invited him in.

 

You say that Council Tax Advisors are now assisting. What did they say that they will have the case on hold? Have you paid a fee to them yet and if so how much?

 

The car is safe so there is no problem there. All that is needed is to advise the company in writing of your offer to pay and that you do not have a car. In the past two months have you made any payments at all to Rossendale's?

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