please help bailiff called me this morning demanding full amount by thursday!!!!

[jenjuly82]

hello please help me! a bailiff has been in contact about my council tax that got passed to equita they have now passed it onto there certificated bailiff, he wants the full amount of £1099 by thursday or he will remove my goods. what can i do, i have £300 sitting in my bank but no one will except it not my council not equita or the bailiff. i simply can find that sort of money in a week!! i have offered to pay £300 now followed by £100 a month to clear it but still no one will except it. what opions do i have? obviously i dont want him to remove any of my goods especially not come banging on the door when my kids are in side. any advise or templates of letters would be appreciated.

[Saffronflowers]

have you signed a WPO?

 

Have you entered into any agreement?

 

When did you first learn about the debt?

 

SFx

[jenjuly82]

we have known about the debt for ages and made many installment plans with the company my council passed it to but have never stuck to any payment promisses and just disregarded all correspondence from company, we were in such mortgage arrears all our money had to go towards paying them off. now we are a little bit better off for money now we have finally got ourselves into a stable weekly plan of all debts it seems we are to late.

 

no nothing has been signed!

 

not sure what a wpo is? sorry

[Rob S]

WPO is a walking possession arrangement. The bailiff can only set one up when they have gained access to your home. In earlier visits did the you let the bailiff into your home?

[jenjuly82]

he hasn't been to my home yet, well not that i know of!! i called the company yesterday to pay my arrears and to set up installments of £100 but they said sorry cant help you please contact the bailiff who has now taken over your case. i called him and he was supposed to call me back but didn't. so i called him again today and i said i had £300 for him the rest will have to be in installments he said sorry i wont take that i want it all on thursay or ill take your goods so ill see you thursday and he put the phone down on me!!

[Saffronflowers]

Right well unless you let him in the house he cant take anything and ensure that any vehicle or anything of value you have in the garden is hidden away. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.

 

You can phone the council with your payment proposal, and ask them to tell equita to accept it. The real problem is that you ignored letters, we all have in the past!, so the council will have had it relayed to them that you are ignoring the requests for their monies.

 

Make it absolutely clear to the council that you can keep to this payment plan, and it will be cleared by x date.

 

I never advocate borrowing money but I fear that this is such a large sum- I estimate the best part of a years worth of council tax, if there is anyway that you can borrow the remainder, I think that it would aleviate the pressure of the bailiffs hanging over you. (I am sure that someone will jump on me for this, but this is probably the only time I have suggested it.)

 

I do hope this helps.

 

SFx

[jenjuly82]

i cant borrow the money off anyone! at the end of the day they can have what i haven't got, i will get it sorted by thursday but there is no way i am borowing the money because we ahve only just got ourselves back on the straight and narrow! i dont want to add any more debt to our long list that we are trying so hard to clear. thanks for your advice though!!

[Saffronflowers]

That was not the only peice of advice in there!!!

 

So what is your plan to get it sorted by Thursday? Have you spoken to the council as I suggested, re payment schedule, they can take what you dnt have and they can do it very easily even illegally, you are in a very precarious position - I am not trying to be horrible at all, but I am extremely aware how these people operate and they do not abide the law.

 

I fear that they will use the threat of the new TCE bill against you and use it to justify their actions.

 

Sorry if I have been no help

 

SFx

[jenjuly82]

the council said that they have passed the debt onto equita who have now put it to one of their bailiffs they wont except any payment regarding this debt.

Im not sure what the new TCE bill is so i cant comment on that!

i have read up loads on this and i know my situation is not good but they can demand the money all they like im not saying im not willing to pay its just i need a bit of time doing so.

[Saffronflowers]

The big problem you have got is this - due to probably very understandable reasons you have ignored this debt "for a very long time", they are now frustrated in collecting it - hence the threats.

 

If you phone the council and explain to them that you are prepared to carry on paying equita but this is the situation you are in and the amounts you owe, then they can phone equita and say that they feel this is acceptable.

 

A bill went through parliment last week The Tribunal Courts & Enforcement Act 2007 this will remove what many of us feel is sacrosant "the right of peaceable entry" though this is still in place, I and I think many others fear that they will use this to gain access when they do not as yet have that right.

 

You must now keep every single door window both upstairs and downstairs locked shut, it seems that Equita are hell bent on getting this money.

 

Please call the council now and tell them that you will deal with Equita but please could they ensure that they accept your repayment schedule.

 

Hope this helps

 

Sfx

[Rob S]

Jen,

 

Saffron has given you some good advice there, but I will reiterate the most important thing:-

 

When the bailiff comes do not let them in under any circumstances.

They have no power to force entry, but they can enter peaceably so if they find an open window or unlocked door they can enter by those means. So, keep all windows and doors locked.

[jenjuly82]

dont worry all windows and doors will be locked at all times, what about the garden can they jump the gate or garden fence? can they break a padlock open to gain entry to my garden shed? will they take my daughters climbing frame its only about £50 worth but do you think they might take that?

[Saffronflowers]

The problem is that they are legally not allowed to - but they do and then you play catch up to sort it out.

 

A case in point they levied a car on our property on the 07.02.07, even thought is was Enviromentally Scrapped by a DVLA approved scarpyard on the 29.01.07, it is very very hard to prove what they have done and what they have not done correctly. I can tell you this from experiance as I am working on a court case that has taken me nearly 3 months to sort out, sadly as the situation stands at the moment is the burden of proof is on you that a legitimate peice of work was not carried out. I have paper work they say is legitmate though I have the DVLA certificate that proves that it was not!!

 

What I am trying to say is you are playing with people who do not play on a level playing field and if you insist on not trying to go through the council, the pressure will become unbearable especially for your children, mine still get scared 3 months later when we cleared the whole situation up in 6 weeks.

 

Sfx

[groovychickmum]

firstly, dont panic.........yes, the council has refused payment, but there is nothing stopping you making payments to the council via the internet. when doing this, as soon as the payment has been debited from your bank account, write a letter to the bailiffs including this:

 

THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR CLIENT HAS ACCEPTED THE FIRST PAYMENT IN AN OFFERED DIRECT PAYMENT PLAN ON THIS DEBT. I EXPECT WARRANT ON THIS DEBT TO BE RECALLED SHORTLY.

 

I AM AWARE OF THE SCHEDULE OF FEES ABLE TO BE CHARGED BY COURT-APPOINTED BAILIFFS AND ANY ATTEMPT TO OVERCHARGE FOR ANY SERVICE ALREADY RENDERED WILL BE CONTESTED VIGOROUSLY,ESPECIALLY NON-EXISTENT VISITS AND LETTERS.

 

also, add this in the letter,,,,,(if charges have been added by bailiffs):

 

I AM ENTITLED TO MAKE A WRITTEN REQEST FOR A FULL BREAKDOWN OF THE FEES THE BAILIFFS HAVE ADDED ON MY ORIGINAL DEBT, AND NOW I MUST INSIST THAT I AM IN RECEIPT BY (I GAVE THEM two weeks FROM DATE OF LETTER),OF SAID BREAKDOWN 'DATES,TIMES,NAME OF COURT-APPOINTED BAILIFF AND ADDRESSES VISITED' iIF YOU FAIL TO SEND THIS FULL INFORMATION, I WILL MAKE A FORMAL COMPLAINT TO THE COURT WHICH ISSUED YOUR CERTIFICATE.

 

 

so, the above will give you some time, make sure you make a payment each week via internet, n the letter to bailiffs will keep them off your back for a couple of weeks,

 

if you are making weekly payments, its not in the councils' interests to persue for full payment, as you will be making weekly payments, and any court will see you making payments too.

 

GOOD LUCK

[seanamarts]

dont worry all windows and doors will be locked at all times, what about the garden can they jump the gate or garden fence? can they break a padlock open to gain entry to my garden shed? will they take my daughters climbing frame its only about £50 worth but do you think they might take that?

They cannot take anything that belongs to your children.

There are a number of things you can do.. phone the CAB and get some debt advice from them etc

if and when this bailiff comes round don't let him in.. talk to him from either an upstairs window or go outside and close the door behind you, they are not allowed to force their way in.. but they do believe me Ive been in that situation and they don't give a dam about what they can and cant do, don't listen to his threats and try and stay calm. Get his name and try and find out first if he is certified, PM Herbie and she can find this out for you, ask about the charges that he has put on the bill .. try and get a witness to be with you just in case he does break their rules ie by trying to gain entry by forcible means, if he does then call the police and tell him you are calling the police.. he may even makes threats to call them if you don't let him in, but there is nothing they can do unless there is a breach of the peace.

Tell him straight that all you have is £300 and that you will make arrangements to pay £100 a month and if he does not take that offer then tell him you will ask the council to take it back and he wont get anything. he wont like that so he may take the offer. call your council again and plead your case, tell them that this bailiff has threatened you and you are worried that he may scare your children if he tries to break in ..

Good luck i hope this helps .. keep us informed

[groovychickmum]

o.forgot this ......please make the letter to the bailiffs registered post, basically so they have to sign for it, therefore cannot say they have not recieved it........and after making a few payments via internet to your council, telephone them again, explaining that you have been paying the bill via internet and obviously they have been taking payment, so could they now ask for the bill back from the bailiffs......

[groovychickmum]

omg.......do not pay through the bailiffs, as if they have added charges, they get paid off first, not off the council bill

[seanamarts]

omg.......do not pay through the bailiffs, as if they have added charges, they get paid off first, not off the council bill

Good advice I wasnt aware of that

[groovychickmum]

just to let you know, i got all bailiff charges thrown out because once it goes back to the council, the bailiffs debt then becomes a civil debt, n then they have to prove that the charges are legal and correct to a court. and once it becomes a civil debt, they CANNOT enter your home.

[Saffronflowers]

GCM - my worry is that the council will not recall it due to the lenght of time it has been outstanding, they are not obliged to, equita seem to be a bit keen to hold on to this.

 

You are right regarding their fees, but with experiance of other cases, that does not mean that they will let it drop.

 

SFx

[groovychickmum]

as soon as the council take back the original debt, the debt to bailiffs(if at all legal ) will become a civil debt which they have to prove it is at a correct amont.....regarding the council, once payments have been paid via internet, the council are obliged to take back the debt, if not, write to someone higher up in the chain of council officials to take it back, stating that the debt is being paid, and if it stays with the bailiffs, it will not get paid for some time due to the bailiffs taking payment first for their charges rather than paying the council debt first...............but i dont thing it will come to that, writing the letter to the bailiffs asking for the breakdown of charges etc, and paying the debt via weekly payments through the internet, i think it will be sorted then.

[jenjuly82]

firstly, dont panic.........yes, the council has refused payment, but there is nothing stopping you making payments to the council via the internet.

 

i cant make payment via the internet because they dont except my debit card visa electron. so all payments have to be done at my local housing office.

so because im trying to pay off this debt (last yrs bill) plus this yrs bill i cant prove the money im paying in is to come off last yrs balance.

[maybelline]

I do see what you mean, you have to make sure the council allocate the money exactly where you need it to go, especailly if it is an electronic payment, my council refused to take my council tax debt back no matter what I argued, in the end I spoke to the Local Govt Ombudsman who rang them for me and I started a complaints procedure, at the second stage of complaint level they finally took it back, I cannot tell you how glad I was to be shot of the Bailiffs, they were a nasty shower who told lies, threatened to break in with a locksmith and the police, threatened my duaghter and did not care one jot, believe me, take a deep breath and negotiate with the council and get tough on your right to request they take it back.

[maybelline]

National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 02 Bailiffs And Council Tax

Local Government Ombudsman - How to complain

[maybelline]

anothing thing, sounds simple but, if you do open the door to the bailiff, they may try to distract you to walk in or send you to get your phone or a pen or something, DO NOT BE DISTRACTED OR THEY WILL COME IN, they try all kinds of tactics, banging constantly for twenty minutes, shouting through the letter box, one will go to the back and one to the front, it is like a battle with bailiffs and I have experienced this, it is what they do. they might try the being nice tactic, be careful. I do not want to scare you but bailiffs are after one thing, goods or walking possession, by any means.