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Hi,

 

I recently received several letters from Marstons regarding council tax arrears, some dating back almost 8/9 years.

They were completely out of the blue and when I called the council I was told they are correct and to deal with Marstons.

When I initially called them to discuss a payment plan I was told the total monthly payments would come to over£500, which I simply do not have spare each month.

When I explained I couldn't meet this the guy on the phone told me to email them with a bank statement or wage slip and a list of my outgoings each month. I did this and also explained that my income varies if I have been off work sick and that I am expecting my first baby and need to therefore buy items like a pram, cot, clothing etc and that I also had other creditors I was still negotiating with. I also explained I own nothing in the house as it's all my partners.

I had to chase my original email up several days later to be told that I would have to pay set amounts totalling just over £400 and that items like personal care and my mobile contract and other creditors wouldn't be taken into account as they are non priority.

I then email back to advise that my mobile was as cheap as I could get, still in contract and my only means of contact with my partner, midwife etc and even if I did have that amount of money spare each month how did they then expect me to provide for my baby.

All I got back was the same email again, my pregnancy wasn't even acknowledged in any email from them.

 

I then had a bailiff knock on my door tonight saying he had a liability order and even though I tried to explain I was trying to negotiate payment terms he wasn't interested. All written correspondence from them was prior to my contacting them to arrange a pay plan also, nothing since. They clamped my partners care even though he showed them he was the registered keeper, I only just have a provisional licence and don't own a vehicle but they said because we live together they could seize the car. My other half needs the car for work and business.

 

Because they were so aggressive and confrontational and threatening to remove the care I gave them my debit card to pay it off the single sum they were there about, which has left me with pretty much nothing for the rest of the month.

 

My partner is understandably furious and wants to speak to both Marstons and the council in the morning to complain and get this resolved but I'm not sure where we stand legally.

 

I'm sorry to ramble on but I'm seriously stressed out and it's already made me feel unwell enough to have cause abdominal pains round my baby.

 

Any advise or help would be greatly appreciated.

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None of this is more important than your baby, so please try and relax a bit. You'll get good advice shortly and find a way to solve this. I know it's easy to say but try not to worry. :)

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Regarding your post above, you say that some of the debts goes back 8-9 years. How many Liability Orders was the bailiff enforcing and do you know the amounts? It is important that you contact the council to also check the figures and to find out what previous fees had been added to the account in the past.

 

In your email to Marston's you say that you mentioned that you are pregnant. Did you say how many weeks pregnant you are?

 

You say that when the bailiff visited you gave them your debit card to pay off the 'single sum' that he was asking for. When the bailiff attends he is supposed to enforce all debts and not just one of them and the reason for this is to ensure that only one enforcement fee of £235 is charged. How much did you pay and did the bailiff provide a breakdown of the fees charged.

 

Are any of the Liability Orders for periods when both you and your partner occupied the relevant property or were they for a property where you were on your own? (This is in order to challenge the clamping of his car).

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Hi,

The bailiff only had one order with him. He told me for which address but I didn't get a break down or copy of anything. He charged over £600 but I didnt know that included the visitation charge until after he'd gone and I was looking through paper work.

 

In my emails I didn't mention how many weeks pregnant I am, but I am 20wks and showing. I didn't mention it to him as I assumed the office would have done that along with explain I was trying to arrange a pay plan.

 

My partner and I have only lived together at the current address and there are no council tax arrears for this address. All the arrears are from before we lived together and his name isn't on any of the outstanding amounts.

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Before the bailiff can charge the £235 visit fee, he has to have sent you a "Notice of Enforcement" giving you 7 clear days in which to contact you. If he hasn't

done that or the Liability Order was issued before the 6th April then it may also be that you shouldn't have been charged that much for a visit.

 

In the paperwork he left you, was it headed Notice of Enforcement, and did it lay out what year the L/O was for, how much the Council Tax was and how much

his fees were and what they were for? Could you please confirm what was charged as it may be that you can reclaim some fees. Ca n you also confirm that the visit fee was £235.

 

No doubt he will return with another demand and feel justified in charging you another £75 plus £235 visit fee when he shouldn't be doing that. It would be in

your best interest to contact the Council asking for a complete breakdown of what you owe them and what years they were for. This should alert you to whether

you feel you have paid some of it and prevents the bailiff adding on some thing for himself. It is unlikely but if you approach he council with a sensible payment

plan, they may take the debt off the bailiff especially if here are a few L/Os and the bailiff is bringing them to you one at a time thus adding more fees so taking

the Council a lot longer to get paid.

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Hi

 

I received notice through the post and a reminder but I had already made contact with them before the reminder was sent out and on the reminder dated 10th October it said to contact them if more time was needed, which I'd already done and chased up. The last email I had from them was on 27th October with a list of payments they consider acceptable. I didn't get anything else through the post or email after that but he wasn't interested.

 

He said the original order was from last year but I don't think the dates are on the original letters, I'd have to double check.

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