bailiffs help!!

jade2325 · 20 October 2009 at 1:16PM

hi, am new on here and after a little bit of advice.
I have got bailiffs on my case for some council tax arrears as i couldn't afford the repayments offered by the council once they had got a liability order. i have received 2 hand delivered letters of the bailiff. after the 1st i did ring them and try to sort a payment plan out but they wanted £800 a month which was 3 times as much as i offered and could afford!) then 4 days leter he came back and gave me the 2nd letter and told me to try and borrow the money as he could only accept £600 a month. he said it would be 6-7 weeks for any further action was taken so ive been trying to lend the cash to pay them off family members etc etc..then on saturday afternoon 2 bailiffs turned up on my doorstep with a van(4 weeks since the 2nd letter visit!not 6-7 as i was told) and demanded £1000 or they was going to take my goods. i told them under no circumstances could i magic £1000 up and asked if i could make a payment arrangement. they said no we will back monday for the money or your goods will be taken. they did not enter my house,nor did the 1st man who bought the 2 letters. after looking on here for advice as how to deal with the situation i read that the council could take the arrears back sometimes so i rang them first thing monday morning but to no avail.
i got straight back on the phone to the bailiffs and managed to get them to see that i cannot afford what they were asking for and she said the lowest amount acceptable would be £400 and £207 a month which i said i would try my best to get together and let her know today.
just rung them back and informed them that although i can pay the £207 a month i could only get £300 not £400 for them for today and surprisingly she said that was o.k and she would be coming back tomorrow for me to sign the payment agreement and pay the £300. i offered to pay with my card over the phone or online but she said this was not possible? so just wondered if anybody out there could give me a bit of advice as to whether i have to sign an agreement or is this just the bailiffs crafty ways of getting me to sign for other things???

oh also they have added £502.50 in costs onto my account! is this right?? (the arrears are 1 small amount from a previous address i was unaware of,1 largish from last year and then most of this years as i was still trying to catch up on last years!((very stupid to let it get like this i know)) they have tried to say that as they are listed as 3 seperate amounts i have to pay charges on each amount?

god that took some typing! but thought i best put as much info as possible to try and get some sound advice....

RAS · 20 October 2009 at 1:35PM

Hi

You have ow got to be very, very careful.

The idea is to get you to let the bailiff into the house and then he can do a walking possession order/levy. I suspect that the "payment agreement" is a WPO.

At the moment, legally they can only charge you £42.50 in fees. If you let them in the house, you are looking at £150 extra fees plus.

They have already added the costs for the levy/WPO and the van in that £500 without having any right to do this, so now they want you to sign paperwork that allows them to charge the fees.

Please send a pm to Herbie21 and I am going to get her contact details.

Do you hgave a car?

RAS · 20 October 2009 at 1:38PM

You might get some basic help from one of the debt charities, particularly NDl

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help

Have a look at http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/ which is run by Herbie21

or she can call 0906 802 0273 it's 60p per minute but right now you need to get some professional help in handling the bailiff! That phone call could save you £450.

jade2325 · 20 October 2009 at 1:40PM

hi thanks for the reply. yes my partner has a car, can they take this(when any1 from the bailiff company has been he has always been at work so the car has never been outside our house whilst they have been here)???

RAS · 20 October 2009 at 1:45PM

Right

Is the car in his name or joint?

Is the CT debt in your name or joint names?

jade2325 · 20 October 2009 at 1:50PM

the ct debt is in both names and the car is in his name.

RAS · 20 October 2009 at 1:59PM

In that case, yes, they can take the car. More likely to do a levy on it as this does not need to be signed. That means they can add the extra fees.

Do you have a good firend or family member to whom you can transfer ownership for a short time.

Otherwise, you need to make sure the car is well hidden and that he does not drive it home. Bailiffs do have number plate recognition.

jade2325 · 20 October 2009 at 2:42PM

partner just come home from work and has rung them and asked for a breakdown of charges that have been added onto our debt. she said ...

£235 for enforcement charges

£56
£54
£29 all for levy charges( 1 each for the 3 debt amounts)

£24.50 x 3 for redemption charges( 1 per amount again)

does this look correct????? have tried citizens advice but not got much joy so am gonna try the advice lines ras suggested.

RAS · 20 October 2009 at 2:57PM

What exactly have they made a levy on,if they have not bee in the house. They have to leave the document with you.

RAS · 20 October 2009 at 2:58PM

The charges are extremely wrong - there is no such thing as an enforcement charge, except in the imaginations of bailiffs.

Which bailiffs is this?

dancingfairy · 20 October 2009 at 3:06PM

I've not heard of a redemption charge either - but hey. The fees sound way out- I thought they could only charge a set amount for their visits?
Would try Herbies site or National Debtline or somone like that as has already been suggested.
Hope you get it sorted.
df

bailiffs help!!

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