rossendales chasing council tax

[mickeyj87]

If it were me I would write & send it now so it is there for first thing Monday. I would also be contacting my local Councillor(s) this weekend so they can also "interfere" on Monday, my view is that Councillors are available 7 days per week up until approx 9pm and best initial contact is by phone - find yours from https://www.writetothem.com/

 

I'll have a go at getting the email written up this weekend, I work weekend nights for 12.5 hours, travel an hour each way so I quite literally work and sleep! What can the councillor do? And shall I basically copy from the reply above for the email? Thanks

[ploddertom]

 

What can the councillor do?

 

 

Sorry my mistake as had not realised you now live in a different Council area - teach me to read first without jumping in. Hope I didn't build your hopes too much. Go ahead with the complaint to the CEO though.

[mickeyj87]

Sorry my mistake as had not realised you now live in a different Council area - teach me to read first without jumping in. Hope I didn't build your hopes too much. Go ahead with the complaint to the CEO though.

 

Haha, no that's fine, I had wondered what they would do as I'm not there any more. The email to the CEO will go ahead tho.

[mickeyj87]

Hi guys, I've sent the email the early hours of this morning, in the hope it was top of his inbox this morning. I have a response, basically just telling me an officer would investigate, and I should have a response by Feb 9th. Below is the email I sent

 

Dear Mr Partington,

 

This email is a stage one complaint, with regards to an outstanding council tax debt being dealt with by rossendales on the behalf of telford and wrekin council.

 

The complaint refers to the way rossendales have dealt with this debt on your behalf, and the apparent lack of following guidelines and laws while representing your constitution.

 

I knew nothing about these bailiffs until I received a phone call from my brother in law, informing me that they were demanding full payment at the door. They may have written to me at a previous address, but I have never received any correspondence from them personally, So for them to demand immediate payment is in breach of my statutory rights under The Control of Goods Regulations 2013 Part 2 section 6

 

Minimum period of notice

6.—(1) Subject to paragraph (3), notice of enforcement must be given to the debtor not less than 7 clear days before the enforcement agent takes control of the debtor’s goods. (2) Where the period referred to in paragraph (1) includes a Sunday, bank holiday, Good Friday or Christmas Day that day does not count in calculating the period.

 

As i have never received their Notice of Enforcement the bailiff company was wrong to demand payment from me and as such I understand

that the proper procedure is to cancel all the fees and issue a Notice of Enforcement giving me 7 clear days notice.

 

Next, i move on to the Data Protection Act and complain that the Enforcement Agent divulged my debts to my brother in Law. In addition this is also in breach of The Taking Control of Goods National Standards.

 

Professionalism and conduct of the enforcement agent

19. Enforcement agents must act within the law at all times, including all legislation and observe all health and safety requirements in carrying out enforcement. They must maintain strict client confidentiality and comply with Data Protection legislation and, where appropriate, the Freedom of Information Act.

 

I ask that a thorough investigation takes place over these matters and i would be grateful if all bailiff action is put on hold until the investigation is concluded and I am notified of the outcome.

 

I also add that while the legislation allows for the Enforcement fee of £75 to be charged for each Liability order, there can only be one charge for the

Taking Control of Goods and the bailiff has charged me twice.

 

As this botched operation is ultimately the responsibility of the Council I would appreciate an acceptable outcome especially as i have already made a payment £660.10 on Friday the 16th of January. This payment was made direct to the council as the bailiff REFUSED to take the payment and set up a payment plan, and demanded more money.

 

I look forward to hearing from you at the first instance with regards to thus matter, and inform me if the next steps, or I may be forced to take thus matter further.

 

Yours sincerely

Edited January 19, 2015 by ploddertom
Removed name

[lookinforinfo]

Did they say that they had put bailiff action on hold?

 

PS If you are still online, please edit your name off the bottom of the letter.

 

PPS it's good that you included the legal references so they can see that you know what is going on.

Taking it further could a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman but that can only be done after

the Council has dealt with your complaint to their satisfaction, but not yours.

No harm in copying in the LGO in future correspondence [including the above letter] if you think the

Council is giving you the run around even though the Council are still in negotiation with you. And if you do let the Council know as that may help to concentrate their minds and it may give you a head start if you do have to

appeal to the LGO.

[mickeyj87]

Did they say that they had put bailiff action on hold?

 

PS If you are still online, please edit your name off the bottom of the letter.

 

PPS it's good that you included the legal references so they can see that you know what is going on.

Taking it further could a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman but that can only be done after

the Council has dealt with your complaint to their satisfaction, but not yours.

No harm in copying in the LGO in future correspondence [including the above letter] if you think the

Council is giving you the run around even though the Council are still in negotiation with you. And if you do let the Council know as that may help to concentrate their minds and it may give you a head start if you do have to

appeal to the LGO.

 

Hi lookingforinfo, I had a reply from the council telling me that the complaint would be assigned to an investigating officer. And I should have an outcome by Feb 9th. They have put bailiff action on hold for the duration of the investigation.

 

Can you explain the LGO a bit more? I'm not following what you mean.

 

Thanks

[lookinforinfo]

When you reach an impasse with your local Council you can appeal to the Local Government Ombudsman for help. You cannot go to them until

their complaints system has come to an end so what I suggested was the next time you write to the Council, to include all your correspondence with the Council and their responses. Doing it this way alerts the LGO to a possible upcoming case and the Council, knowing that the LGO are being kept abreast of the current situation are more likely to act according to the Law rather than listening to their bailiffs and trying to fob off the person

complaining.

When you do it this way, the CEO will not want to run the risk of an investigation by the LGO if they have any sense and not be so protective of

their bailiffs who may well have either broken the Law or running very close to it.

[mickeyj87]

When you reach an impasse with your local Council you can appeal to the Local Government Ombudsman for help. You cannot go to them until

their complaints system has come to an end so what I suggested was the next time you write to the Council, to include all your correspondence with the Council and their responses. Doing it this way alerts the LGO to a possible upcoming case and the Council, knowing that the LGO are being kept abreast of the current situation are more likely to act according to the Law rather than listening to their bailiffs and trying to fob off the person

complaining.

When you do it this way, the CEO will not want to run the risk of an investigation by the LGO if they have any sense and not be so protective of

their bailiffs who may well have either broken the Law or running very close to it.

 

So do the LGO automatically get notified?

[Bailiff Advice]

When a formal complaint is made to a local authority the case will be looked at and you will receive the councils reply. If you are unhappy with their response you will see in the letter that the LA will advise you that the complaint can be viewed as a Stage Two complaint. This will involve the account being reviewed a second time but by a different officer.

 

If you are then unhappy, you can refer the complaint to the LGO to consider.

[mickeyj87]

When a formal complaint is made to a local authority the case will be looked at and you will receive the councils reply. If you are unhappy with their response you will see in the letter that the LA will advise you that the complaint can be viewed as a Stage Two complaint. This will involve the account being reviewed a second time but by a different officer.

 

If you are then unhappy, you can refer the complaint to the LGO to consider.

 

So does that mean there's nothin for me to do at the minute with regards to the LGO?

 

Also the council rang me once the 660 payment has cleared on there side, and asked how I wanted it allocated. I cleared the bill with the brother in laws name on, then the small 169 bill, and the remainder put on the third larger one. That means that 2 of the bills where cleared of council tax, only leaving the bailiffs fees on them accounts. Does that mean my brother in laws car wouldn't be at risk now, as the fees are Wat less than the value of the car?

 

Thanks

[lookinforinfo]

They shouldn't do but often it depends on who the bailiffs are. Although now that the CEO is involved one would hope that they would do nothing else silly.

In any event some of those bailiff fees should not have been included and it may depend on how serious the Council take the breach of the Data

Protection Act as to what their decision over your complaint may be. Do not let them ignore the breach as it was wrong of the EA to inform anyone

of a debt in your name.

 

As for the LGO it is probably better as you did not send them a copy when you wrote to the Council to do nothing until you at least hear what

the Council do next. The ball is in their court and you have a bit of breathing space.