Rossendales Debt Collection Company

yorksrabbit

Bart wrote: »

Well said:T I became disabled 7 years ago, as a result we went on benefits, to cut a long story short my incapacity benefit went up £12 a month thus giveing us too much money:rotfl: The result was they stopped our income support and housing/ poll tax benefit. We were told a month later when the rent and poll tax were not being payed. It came as a shock as I also had to pay for my prescriptions @ £50 a time.
Just out of curiosity which would you pay? poll tax or prescription for pain killers etc?
NOT every case is so black and white.

A superb post, Bart (though I'm really sorry you've been shoved into this situation, one which exactly mirrors the type of case CAB has already come across elsewhere.)

If it's at all possible, please contact your local CAB immediately: the local branch will be able to draw upon a wealth of expertise and experience which CAB nationally has developed for handling cases such as this.

Good luck and, once again, my sympathies: no-one in your situation should ever be further penalised by being the innocent victim of massive and massively incompetent bureaucracies.

intellilaw

Anyone worried about any debt collectors or "bully bailiff's" should google gov.uk bailiffs and debt collectors, I would post the link but as i am new here I cannot.


Do not let the bailiff in your house and if you open the door to them do not turn your back or walk away from the door because they WILL work in and once on your premises peacefully thwey CAN remove your property! Make sure windows and doors are locked and be extra careful as most of these scummy people will try every trick in the book. Know your rights......DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR AND THEY HAVE NO RIGHT IN YOUR PROPERTY! IF they threaten to call a locksmith call the police and tell them someone is trying to break into your house, as by law they are not allowed to break in the police will ask them to leave and if they do not will arrest them. Rest assured you are not the first to experience this scum and you will not be the last but spread the word as much as you can so more people know their rights!
What bailiffs can and can't do

If County Court bailiffs come to your home, you don't have to let them in.
They can't force their way in on their first visit, but they can enter through an open window, or an unlocked door. Forced entry includes pushing past you once you have opened the door to them or leaving their foot in the door to prevent you closing it. Such action would make the whole process illegal.
Bailiffs trying to recover money you owe to HMRC are allowed to break into your home, providing they have a magistrates' warrant.
Bailiffs recovering unpaid magistrates' court fines, however, do have the power to force entry.

BYALPHAINDIA

They are onto me again for the Council Tax?

Going to CAB in the morning (Early Doors)

Any more advice??

Morglin

Bart wrote: »

Well said:T I became disabled 7 years ago, as a result we went on benefits, to cut a long story short my incapacity benefit went up £12 a month thus giveing us too much money:rotfl: The result was they stopped our income support and housing/ poll tax benefit. We were told a month later when the rent and poll tax were not being payed. It came as a shock as I also had to pay for my prescriptions @ £50 a time.
Just out of curiosity which would you pay? poll tax or prescription for pain killers etc?
NOT every case is so black and white.

You shouldn't have to make the choice - have you made sure you are getting all you are entitled to?

Try this:

http://www.entitledto.co.uk/

If you are on a low income, you may be able to get your prescriptions etc., free or reduced:

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23069022/

And, this organisation give legal help regarding welfare benefits etc., to anyone disabled:

http://www.dls.org.uk/

Lin

landlady74

This is my first time on a site trying to get advice i hope i get it right

I ran a pub for 11 months had baliffs round for the this years council tax, i have paid 6700 already on a payment plan i have left the pub now but still owe about 850 which should have been paid on the 29 dec

They have said i cant have another payment plan as i have already had one now i fear they will come to my home and i dont have the money what should i expect and how long before they knock my door.

Help keep expecting the door or for my car to be clamped getting very stressed at home with small children

Guitarmonkey

MellyG wrote: »

Take warning this company will break the law and become violent to get money from you, whether you owe it or not.

I definitely don't owe any money but it seems that Rossendales Collect have a different idea. CAB and Consumer Direct just told me to write to them (which I had already done) but the threatening letters still come and I'm concerned that my young daughter may open the door to one of their thugs. Any ideas for getting them off my back? I'm guessing that the police won't do anything unless a crime is committed?

bloodymoney

Butlers1982 wrote: »

yes and what im saying is, you wouldnt have to deal with companies like that if you paid your council tax on time.

Ive never had any dealings with such companies, because I paying my bills.

What a 1st class P**** Maybe one day someone will burst your bubble!

bloodymoney

yorksrabbit wrote: »

Thanks to hollydays and other posters here for the voice of reason.

Paying Council Tax is a "there-but-for-the-grace-of-God-go-I" situation, so those who do shouldn't necessarily feel morally superior to those who don't, because amongst those who don't are many, many who can't.

Yet they're caught up in a cycle of viciousness that the holier-than-thou would much prefer not to acknowledge. So here are a few reminders:

* A client in Warwickshire had council tax arrears going back six years. The client was unemployed due to injury and depression and was unable to deal with financial matters. He had a liability order which had been passed to the bailiffs for collection. The bailiffs called and took his entire fortnight’s benefit, less £4. As a result the client could not pay other essential bills including electricity, gas and water or buy food. The client was extremely distressed and attempted suicide.

and:

* A client in Surrey was a lone parent, who prior to separating from her partner, had got into arrears on two council tax accounts. After separating, the client was making payments to the bailiffs but they were denying receipt of these. While trying to sort out the problem by sending the bailiffs copies of her bank statements, she stopped all payments. The bailiffs then added £168 to each account as an ‘attendance fee’. They also phoned the client to say that if she did not pay them £200 by Friday, they would take her into custody and “’tough luck” if no-one was there to look after her children (she recorded the call).

and:

A West Midlands client had given up his job to care for his terminally ill wife. As a result he fell into debt. He was on income support and deductions were being made to pay off his council tax arrears. He was moved from income support to jobseekers allowance. He queried whether the deductions would be continued and he was assured that they would. However, when he contacted the jobseekers allowance office, they said that they could only make deductions if the local authority requested it directly. The local authority refused to do this so the debt was passed to the bailiffs.

and:


* A client in Sussex was in receipt of means-tested benefits with council tax arrears. Although the client had been trying to make arrangements with the council to pay off their arrears, the council insisted that they had to wait for the case to go to court before they would come to an arrangement. This would add further costs to the client’s arrears and meanwhile the arrears would continue to accumulate.

All the above are actual Citizens Advice Bureaux case histories.

The picture they paint is of a situation infinitely less acceptable in any Society which calls itself civilised than any non-payment of the iniquitous tax.

I pay it, because that's the Law, and in an ideal world it would be great if everyone else did -- though don't let anyone make the mistake of thinking that if the collection rate was 100%, Council Tax would go down because it wouldn't: local Councils would quickly figure out a way to recruit yet more £20,000-a year Anti Smoking Enforcement officers on final salary pensions in a taxpayer-funded Local Authority pension scheme now running into £billions.

Moral of the story: if you're fortunate enough to be able to keep up with your Council Tax payments, then lucky you. If you're not, then contact CAB immediately otherwise you'll find yourself no longer living where you think you are, but out in Stalinist Russia circa 1948.

The last one has just happened to me I received a letter from the council 2 months ago saying they over paid me benefit in 2007 and I owe them £633, I rang said I can't afford to pay it all at once can I make an arrangement with which they answered not until it goes to court!!so I wait it goes to court and then I receive A letter from Rossendales..I rang the council who then told me once it goes to court they send it to rossendales and sorry if I was given the wrong information but its tough :mad:

I_know_my_ABC_and_my_CMYK

I have heard that Rossendales can be extremely difficult to deal with and don't always abide by the law.

bloodymoney

I just rang Rossendales and offered £70 a month more than I can afford really but want to get rid of it as quick as poss, they refused it saying I had to fill in the means test form which if it was a normal means test form would show I couldn't afford a tenner a month lol...but it isn't it lists
rent/mortgage
water rates
childminding
school meals
house/life insurance
work travel costs
and says standard allowances will be applied to gas/electric etc what is standard I have to teenage boys surely i spend more on gas/electric FOOD than someone with a 3 and a 5 year old