Bailiffs and Council Tax arrears

Gareth83

A friend of mine has had her council tax bill passed to a company called 'Swift Credit Services' in South Wales as her account is £800 in arrears.

She had been made redundant and is struggling with mortgage and other bills.

She has contacted them today to try to arrange a payment plan but they want the full and final amount within 5days or they will send the bailiffs round.

Where does she stand?

She has no access to any funds whatsoever

Please help

RAS

Hi

if she has been made redundant, has she asked for her CT bill to be re-assessed, applied for council tax benefit?

And has a liability order been issued (she needs to ask the council0.

Gareth83

Will find out later on.

I know she hasn't asked to have it re-assessed or applied for benefit.

is 5 days reasonable? I was under the impression 14days is the required warning?

RAS

Hi

Read up here

http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/index.htm

Either call the helpline on the above link or pm Herbie21 who runs the web-site and comes on here regularly- they should be able to advise you.

And for heaven's sake get to to apply for CTC immediately.

Herbie21

I am very sorry to hear of your friend losing her job. This must be a very worrying time.

If your friend is single please do ensure that she is claiming the 25% single person's allowance. If she is entitled to benefits then she MUST talk with Jobcentre Plus and register for housing and council tax benefit. If granted, as we are only in November this could reduce her council tax considerably. Whilst an application is ongoing she could request that the council take the debt back to them whilst an application is pending.

She MUST NOT allow a bailiff into her home and should ensure that she does not have a car parked outside...or better still does not have a car registered in her name.

She should NOT talk with the bailiff but should instead write a letter.

I am sending you a PM with the password to access template letters on our website that can be adapted to suit her circumstances.

moo_cow

hi gareth83. have had dealings with swift myself a few years ago and so has my neighbour. please tell your friend DO NOT let them into their home and PLEASE DO ALL ADVICE AS ABOVE ASAP. they will try every trick in the book. I don't want to worry your friend but please take the advice of all above and make sure you are all clued up.

moo_cow

forgot to mention that I am currently paying 'under special arrangement' with my local county council as mine also went to court. I am struggling to stick to it but am half way through now and it's surprising how quickly it has gone.

mouk

i was in a similar position and all i did was that i filled in a council tax benefit form after i was made redundant. and showed them my bank statement and where the other monies were coming from eg jsa etc.

worth filling out a ctb/housing tax form and then take it from there.

if you dont ask you dont get.

wish your friend all the best

ps if circumstances change ie she finds a job or has money coming in from elswhere etc then she will need to inform the council tax office.

Gareth83

RAS what is a CTC?

We have contacted the council and they will not accept the debt back, they have said to deal with Swift Credit Direct.

We contacted them to arrange a payment plan but they have said they cannot do it over the phone. They would need to send a bailiff (at £100 for a repayment plan) to arrange an appointment. They were about to arrange one and I rejected this on her behalf.

They have gave her till Monday to pay in full or the bailiffs will be sent.

From reading around (Cheers herbie) they need to give her 14days notice anyway, so I'm guessing if she sends a letter along the lines of:

Example Letter
Your Name
Address
Address
Address
Creditor Name
Address
Address
Address
Date
Dear Sir,
Account Number - Your Creditor Account
Number
I may be in a position to offer the full amount
to clear my outstanding unsecured debts as I
am looking to sell my house.
I would be grateful if you could confirm the
current settlement figure for this debt.
Once my house has been sold I will contact
you again to confirm payment to settle the
account in full.
In the meantime, please accept a monthly
payment of £xx as a gesture of goodwill and I
would ask you to freeze all interest and
charges.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully
Your Name

or the "ADVISING BAILIFF CO AWARE OF YOUR RIGHTS" template from https://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk

and enclose a payment of £50 by Monday they may extend the timelimit and keep doing so if a payment is made regularly?

What do you think is a suitable payment?

Is Swift Credit Services a bailiff or just a creditor for the time being?

Cheers in advance

Herbie21

The letter that you have drafted is good but there is no way that any bailiff would agreee to leave matters until a house is sold.

For this reason I would suggest sending our template letter to advise that the bailiff will not be granted access into the house but that you are offering monthly payments to start immediately.

Gareth83

The first letter was from the CCCS website,

I'll go with your letter then Herb. What amount is fair?