Council Tax and Bailiffs ref only - NO POSTS ALLOWED

[Jeffo_01]

jeffo 01 please start your own thread on this you will get plenty help to sort this out

 

Thank you my friend I will

[funkychicken]

''Bailiff firms do not get paid by the councils, they make their money from any fees they can possibly add on to your council tax bill... they WILL find some excuse for your payment plan to foul up.

 

The bailiff that calls at your door is more often than not a self-employed collector working on a 40% commission of the fees he can add on, 8 times out of 10 they are not even certificated (as they should be by law) or CRB checked. You can check this by asking for ID and a copy of their County Court Certification. Never been provided with one yet!

 

----------------

 

I have always paid arrears directly to the council, no bailiff firm has ever tried to chase me for their 'fees' once the council debt has been settled.''

 

 

thanks for the messages i really make sense to me to my current situation with the bailiff right now.

 

 

i was owning the council, council tax money for about £800 a few months ago, and obviously my case has been pass onto a bailiff company called 'Equita', for all the time I ignore the letters from the bailiff at the same time I keep paying back the council using the automated service when ever I can... Up to a point that the bailiffs get a chance to talk to my partner face to face and threaden him that his car will be taken away if

we dont pay him the full amount...

 

i wasnt there, but I call the bailiff back straight away as soon as i found out, he was saying I own them over £400... then I keep telling him i dont own them that much, which I am very sure, he agreed to call me back after speaking to Equita just to find out how much exactly do i own.... which wasn't very helpful he call me back just a few minutess after saying no record of payment has been shown....

 

I call the concil the next morning to find out the balance, whcih I only own them about £35 so i pay it straight away then I call the bailiffs.

 

I told him I dont own the council no more money, and he still demand over £200 for charges saying we still own Equita money even if I have payoff the council...and again try to threading me if i dont pay the charges he will take the car away, honestly I was a bit afraid what if he clamps the car.. but then I ask wat the charges exactly for, he then say , the charges will pay towards Equita and the council, in between them they divide it themselves.... it sounds sound so much bull****, and i really dont know what else to say, so I said I'll call the council again and call him back after.

 

The council people says they will pass on the messages to Equita but allow it take some times....

 

what do i need to do if the bailiffs come again? to be honest, when he say he;ll take the car away, it worries me....is the bailiff charges is some kind of thiing that i have to pay????

Edited April 25, 2009 by funkychicken

[p4nd0rasb0x]

I live with my landlord (in that we share the house) he pays his council tax separately to me, he is behind with his payments and the bailiffs have been in touch threatening to remove goods.

The thing is,.. i rent the house as unfurnished, therefore all the furniture and everything else in the house is mine, so they cant take anything can they????

Help someone please... thanks:-|

[hallowitch]

p4d0rasb0x plz start your own thread you will get more help that way

[p4nd0rasb0x]

Sorry, I would but I cant find where to post a new thread.. could you point me to the correct place please ? thanks

[hallowitch]

i will try at the top of the page in black writing

bailiffs and sheriffs officers click on that it will open a new page at the bottom of page on left had side you should see new thread click on that

good luck hope that right

[tigraj]

Hi every one,

 

I wonder if you can give me an advice. I have bailiffs on my back. I have council tax arrears with Haringey council which is £974. The bailiffs demand £1300!! I already have paid them £800, did not know better. They bullied me into paying by threatening if I dont pay the full amount in 24 hours they will come in,get my stuff and arrest me. As they say they will bring the locksmith and he will open the door for them!!!! Can they do it??????????? I tried to make an agreement with them with installments but like always they refusing.

[hallowitch]

tigrai plz start your own thread go to top of this page you will see bailiffs and sheriff officers click on that it opens a new page at the bottom of page on the left hand side new post click on that

[funkychicken]

Thanks for that, but really they can make up anything as excauses, just to charge me!?

[jonny england]

elo everone ive got BRISTOW AN SUTOR on my BACK there are just cowards hiding behind loop holes and bad councils!!! there should be more civilised ways of recovering there lost revinue like doing the job right in the first place beouse of there ar** and elbow approche to everything in the first place we all suffer intimidation and bullying tactis [its not allowed in the playground so dont encorage it on the door step] DONT GAMBLE COUNCIL TAX MONEY IN THE HOPE YOU MITE GET A HIGHER RETURN] IT DOSENT WORK !!!!!LOL your only get cold feet and a red face NOT THE BRIGHTEST OF IDEAS AND WHY DONT WE GET GOVERMENT HELP TO CLEAN ARE MESS AFTER ALL IT IS OUR MONEY !!!!

[yupps]

The bailiffs have called 2 times this week and charged £50 for the pleasure of it.

 

First time I was not in the house (work) second time the mother in law answered the door (I was at work again)

 

The debt was paid directly to the council (online) before they called at the property (paid sunday and they first called tuesday) but I thought the council online payment system was instant. It is not and the payment has just hit my council tax account today, after the bailiff has called twice.

 

The council will not contact the bailiff and inform them when it was paid only when they received the payment (costs in-between)

 

Can the bailiff lawfully pursue my for their costs? the payment was made before they called but my account was referred to them before I paid.

[casbah]

Hello All

I have had a letter from Swift to say that my council tax bill (which is in my wifes name) has been passed on to them for a sum of £641 for last years bill. i have wrote to them with the template letter to offer payment of £20 a month and gave acopy to the council. After this i went to the council offices and paid £50 off my arrears which they accepted and i have a reciept for, the latest letter from Swift says that my offer of £20 a month is unaceptable and that if i dont contact them within 7 days they will send an enforcement officer around. I have also sent them the template letter advising them that they are not allowed to enter my premises unless i ask them to . any advice on what i should do next, i am going to the council again on Friday to pay another £20. I have also changed the regisered keeper on our two cars to my name does this mean that they cannot take the cars?

Thanks

 

Hi Burt

First things first. I think you may have dropped a clanger by writing to the bailiff company. I wonder if this will be seen as entering into an agreement and they have earnt their visit fees.You COULD write to the council and ASK them to take back your file ( VERY unlikely but at least you have tried) If I were you I would keep paying directly to the council and obtaining receipts. Now with regard to the bailiffs......have they ever been round? have you ever signed anything? hopefully the answer will be no,but be very careful, according to the bailiff company I am involved with, if they think the vehicle belongs to the address they can and will seize it ( My neighbours grandsons' car was levied on for my account and they charged me £200 I am still fighting it 3 yrs later). Some councils claim that they have the obligation to pay the bailiffs fees from any money paid to them, so you may think you have paid off the debt only to find later it still has money owed on it.

If you have not signed anything, do not open the door to anyone you don't know, and remember they can use te front and back of the house, door or window.

I suggest you put anything away that can be seen easily, write to the council and explain ( clever use of words here) that you take this debt very seriously, and feel that the time wasted writing back and forth to the bailiff, could have been better spent by paying the council direct. Now the council do not like standing orders, tis is becaus you are in control of how much is paid and when, they would much rather you pay by direct debit then they say how much, and I promise you, from bitter experience, that is painful, I will only pay mine via standing order. If I were you I would set up a SO pyable for £20 or what ever you can afford. By waiting they will say you are a WON'T payer you have to prove you are a CAN'T payer. In your letter state this and also say that as this years bill is now due and you do not want to fall behind, you feel that by paying more off this priority debt will cause you to struggle with this years

 

Let us know how you get on

Cas

[casbah]

hi have just read your quote about paying the council instead of the baillif i am in a bit of a stick sit i stupidly let the baillif in as he said there was no other time he could come back and as i was stressed trying to get three kids ready for school i gave in and let him in now i have tried to get the council to agree for me to pay them insteed of baillifs but they have said no chance and now the baillifs are saying that cos i have not paid them £100 pw they wil be coming to take my belonings,unless i pay up£500 where they think i have this kind of money i dont know.

what can i do know also can they only take what they put down on the list or do they then come and take what they like???please if you can help let me know asap thanks so much totty

 

 

Hey Totty,

1st Are you on any kind of benefit? JSA ?

2nd The list you talk of is a levy, did you sign anything? it should have form 7 written on it? if you have then only the things on the list can be taken.

 

3rd and maybe most importantly, bailiffs are bullies, they get off on scarying people ( my personal opinion) now think about this............... if you was the bailiff what would you prefer? cold hard cash or a major headache of collecting together all your stuff and trying to get it sold at auction? unless you have a mercedes benz sitting out the front?

Write to the council and the bailiff, explain,very loudly, that at no time you ahve refused to pay this bill, you want this to be paid as quickly as everyone else and you respectfully request that you pay the council direct, AT THIS POINT I WARN YOU THE COUNCIL ARE GOING TO SAY NO,

councils have no legal right to refuse payments, theres a clever little trick posted somewhere on here but it is only for the extrememly brave,

 

Give us more info so we can advise accordingly, are you a single parent? are you on limited income? anything you can think of

Best wishes for now

cas

 

Everything I say is either my own experience or my opinion

[jonny england]

it would be nice if b,s lost all there contracts as they well deserve!!!lol

Edited May 11, 2009 by jonny england
forgot bit

[jonny england]

only my opinion (dreaming again)

[casbah]

actually there are some bailiffs that hate the ways these others act and one of the nicer ones told me how to word my form 4 complaint so the Judge took a bit more notice. for these fictious fees its called "constructive distraint" and he also confirmed that they should leave a form 7 levy and if they haven't ask them to provide a copy, in my case no copy provided, so now lets see what the judge thinks of that

[sgianthebard]

Bailiffs called at my house today while I was at work. They spoke to my 15 yr old step-daughter.

 

I owe the council approx £200 arrears on last year's council tax, but this bailiff company is demanding over £300. If I pay the £200 (or whatever the amount is) direct to the council next week, and just ignore the additional charges levied by the bailiff company, can the bailiffs do anything to recover their charges from me?

[hallowitch]

if you pay the council on line make sure they take it off the arrears

most people tell you not to pay the bailiff charges

however tomtubby who is an expert on bailiffs said that the bailiff has to be paid (to the bailiffs charges for visits is up to you )

 

the most a bailiff can charge when there is no levy is £24,50 for 1st visit £18for 2nd therefore the charges the bailiff is trying to charge you are wrong

tell your daughter not to open the door to them thhe thing you need is for them to get in to do a levy

having said that if it was only your 15yr old in the house the levy would be unlawful

[moneymouth77]

Cheers hallowitch! Am having some trouble with bailiff's over a council tax bill, and this has all been extremely helpful! Will get on their case...

[dextor1]

hi, i am hopin some one mill be able to give me some advice,as my partner could not afford to pay her council tax ,she went to the c.a.b and done a means form ,the result of this was she had a payment card sent to her from the council to pay 50 pound a month unfortunatly she never made a payment but has managed to save some money to come off the dept...this have now progressed since and have found out today that letters apparently have been sent by the courts for her(only found out by baillifs)to pay the money.....the bailif left a letter sayin that if she could not pay the bill in full then if she payed a initial payment of 100 then she could still pay by instalments.......i phoned this baillif who works for rossendales and he said some forms need to be filled in and sent off.....now sorry this is turnnin into a bit of a book but is it still to late to start makin payments direct to the council now that she can afford to and what can be done in regards to the baillifs....they have not been in the property at all......any help on this matter would take a grate wieght off her mind as she does suffer with bypola(think thats how you spell it )if some one could help as the bailif is due back very soon ....thanks...

[hallowitch]

don't let the bailiff in he has no legal power to enter your home

your partner should come under venerable persons does she have in writing that she is bipolar letter from doctor or hospital

it would also be a good idea to start your own thread

then the help you need will come folding in

[dextor1]

yeah she has plenty of medical proof as she has suffered with it for 10 years but should she sign this agreement...

[hallowitch]

no she should keep the door locked and not let them in

then get it sent back to the council

if they come into the house on the pretence of setting up a payment agreement they will levy on the goods in her home this could cost her hundreds of pounds and give the bailiffs more power

absolutely do not let them in to your home do not sign any thing

[hallowitch]

please start your own thread and someone will give you some template letters post to the council and bailiffs

[dextor1]

sorry but if i open the door are they allowed to walk in uninvited.....