Help with dealing with Jacobs

[mowen]

So, for various reasons I got behind on my Council Tax. I stupidly ignored it for quite some time, but I now wish to sort it out. From what I have been told by my council I have one case open with them and two open with Jacobs. The one with my Council went to court today, but I did not attend. Am I best off starting to pay some off that one on my council’s website?

 

I am not sure of the exact amounts with Jacobs. Someone from Jacobs did come round in March but I am not sure where the paperwork has ended up. I have been trying to find an email address for them but have been unable to do so, can anyone provide one? Once I have that, am I best off emailing them for a breakdown of each account with fees etc? Are there official letters that I should be sending them? Once I know the exact amounts that I owe, am I best off trying to arrange a payment plan with Jacobs or should I go back to my Council. From what I have read, Jacobs do not normally agree to payment plans, but I cannot afford the whole lot in one go.

 

Thanks in advance for any help. It's going to take me quite some time to pay off these debts, but I would really like to get structured payments set up.

[i hate bailiffs]

The one that went to court today they will have obtained a liability order and costs added on to what you owe

You need to contact the council and arrange to pay this by installments if you do nothing this will be passed on to bailiffs and more fees added

 

Your best bet will be to contact the council and ask them the balance of any outstanding debt that the bailiffs have

If you do nothing you may end up with an enforcement fee on top of what you owe

[ploddertom]

How old are the ones with Jacobs - are they before April 2014 or after?

[mowen]

One will be before April 2014 and one is after.

[ploddertom]

You need to write to Jacobs and ask for a breakdown of all fees charged including dates for all accounts they hold for you.

[mowen]

OK, i will do that, thanks. Am i best off writing to them, or can i email them?

[ploddertom]

I would email initially backed up with a letter in the post - get a free CoP from the Post Office to prove it was posted.

 

Here's an example of what to write:

 

"From:

My Name

My Address

 

To:

Acme Bailiff Co

Bailiff House

 

Ref: Account No: 123456

 

Dear Sir

 

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.

 

This includes:

a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.

b - the reason for the fee.

c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.

d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were Certificated at.

e - the date of the Certification.

 

This is not a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

 

I require this information within 14 days.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Ripped off customer"

[mowen]

Great, thank you very much for your help. I will do that. Do you happen to have an email address for them? I looked on their site but wasn't able to find one.

[ploddertom]

Try this one [email protected]

 

You will need to remove the spaces as our software inserts them automatically.

[mowen]

Great, thank you, i'll drop them an email.

[ploddertom]

When you get a response come back & let us know, we'll try & sort fact from fiction with what you get.

[mowen]

I definitely will do. Feel i bit over my head with all this and think i will need all the help i can get.