Council tax and Bailiffs - Advice needed please

lesley_mac

Hi I hope someone can help me and give me some advice on what I need to do next. Last night a bailiff from Constant & Co came to our door and told us that we need to pay £961.22 to them immediately for unpaid council tax. He warned us that the amount needs to be paid within 10 days or the amount will go up to over £1200.00.

I have read through some old posts re this situation and understand that I need to get in touch with the council and get a copy of the liability order would it also be wise to ask for a breakdown of costs from the bailiffs company as the letter he gave us had no information but the total amount now due.

The letter says that they were planning on closing our file and returning it to the council for their consideration to commence further action. My husband spoke to the bailiff and said we would arrange payment but did not comfirm anything with him also I must point out we did not let him into our house which I am very relieved by after reading others experiences on here.

My question is where do I go from here? We cant possibly pay this within 10 days but really do not want the increase in the bill. Can they do this? Why is it increasing?

After talking at length with my husband last night we came to the conclusion that the council will be wanting the debt paid before the year end in April. We have worked out that if we really tighten our purse strings then we could pay it by the end of Feb but obviously we only want to paid what is due to the council not any made up fees.

Is it possible to pay the outstanding amount to the council? We completely agree that we owe the money and want to pay it. We have been suffering with debt problems for a while now and this past year we have been really trying to get ourselves back together with a DMP. Unfortunately we only have one wage (my husbands) and three children. Our youngest has just turned one and was registered disabled last year, he has had many operations and has another one next month. The missed payments causing this to go to a bailiff was not on purpose and happened during a time we were going through a lot. I am not looking for sympathy but just want to explain to the council that the stress of bailiffs and extra fees is really not helping our situation, we would rather pay them direct and start afresh in April for the new tax year.

I hope what I have said makes sense and would really appreciate any advice that anyone may have on this matter.

bank_of_slate

Herbie21 is the best person to ask about bailiffs.
She runs https://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk
...Linda xx

RobertoMoir

lesley_mac wrote: »

Hi I hope someone can help me and give me some advice on what I need to do next. Last night a bailiff from Constant & Co came to our door and told us that we need to pay £961.22 to them immediately for unpaid council tax. He warned us that the amount needs to be paid within 10 days or the amount will go up to over £1200.00.

I have read through some old posts re this situation and understand that I need to get in touch with the council and get a copy of the liability order would it also be wise to ask for a breakdown of costs from the bailiffs company as the letter he gave us had no information but the total amount now due.

The letter says that they were planning on closing our file and returning it to the council for their consideration to commence further action. My husband spoke to the bailiff and said we would arrange payment but did not comfirm anything with him also I must point out we did not let him into our house which I am very relieved by after reading others experiences on here.

My question is where do I go from here? We cant possibly pay this within 10 days but really do not want the increase in the bill. Can they do this? Why is it increasing?

After talking at length with my husband last night we came to the conclusion that the council will be wanting the debt paid before the year end in April. We have worked out that if we really tighten our purse strings then we could pay it by the end of Feb but obviously we only want to paid what is due to the council not any made up fees.

Is it possible to pay the outstanding amount to the council? We completely agree that we owe the money and want to pay it. We have been suffering with debt problems for a while now and this past year we have been really trying to get ourselves back together with a DMP. Unfortunately we only have one wage (my husbands) and three children. Our youngest has just turned one and was registered disabled last year, he has had many operations and has another one next month. The missed payments causing this to go to a bailiff was not on purpose and happened during a time we were going through a lot. I am not looking for sympathy but just want to explain to the council that the stress of bailiffs and extra fees is really not helping our situation, we would rather pay them direct and start afresh in April for the new tax year.

I hope what I have said makes sense and would really appreciate any advice that anyone may have on this matter.

Well you can just contact the council and start paying them. They might tell you that you need to speak to the bailiff, but they will accept your money and update the amount outstanding.

What exactly does the letter he left say? What paperwork were you left with exactly?

Make sure you explain to them what the bailiff told you about the increase in the amount if you didn't pay within 10 days, because there's only one way a bailiff can increase the cost of a debt by that amount in one go (van fee, to attend to remove goods after a levy has been done), and it doesn't sound like they've gone through the steps needed to do this.

It sounds like you've had a difficult time but this underlines your need to stay in touch with the council when you have problems. Council tax is a priority debt, and you must have ignored quite a few attempts at contacting you to work it out to allow things to progress to the point where bailiffs are sent around.

Merlinexcalibur

ignored quite a few attempts at contacting you to work it out to allow things to progress to the point where bailiffs are sent around.

I'm always curious why the word 'court' is never present in these posts about council tax and bailifs. It's always been mine - and plenty of others; even on the council tax summons you must or should have received before bailif action becomes necessary - understanding that to have bailifs on your doorstep you have to have been taken to court by the council concerned, and they must be appointed by the court to do so.

The only reasonable scenario where such things may happen is that if you owed CTX on a previous address and ... then this kind of thing happens. Perhaps you need the advice of CAB as I have re-read, don't see anything about court action. Or complain to the council that they are acting without going through that process first. If that is the case.

**purpleprincess**

When I worked in Council Tax when the bailiff returned the case to the council we could then take payment and make arrangements again- BUT IT WAS PRETTY MUCH LAST CHANCE AND PAYMENTS HAD TO BE MADE AS AGREED, but obviously this involves fees and unfortunately by this stage you will have to pay the fees as it's really got too far down the line ie court costs etc only arguable at the time.

You can only really make a payment arrangement with the bailffs if they get walking possession and this means them entering your property.

Hope you get this resolved, I left the council tax department because I was never really allowed to help anyone and that got on my wick!!

lesley_mac

Hi thank you for your quick replies. I am going to write a letter to the council and to the bailiffs tonight and send by recorded delivery. To the bailiffs I will be asking for a breakdown of the amount owing and to the council asking for a copy of the liability order and asking if they are able to take on the debt, I will also explain to the council that the amount owng to them would be paid in full by the end of February. Perhaps to show I mean it we could make a first initial payment online to the council tomorrow of £100? Especially as you say that they will not refuse my money.

We have not had any letters or notices from the bailiffs about removing goods and as I mentioned I have certainly not let them into our house or indeed signed anything.

The letter contains the bailiff and council refs and says amount now due £961.22.

DO NOT IGNORE

Further to previous letter(s) regarding the above (we asked about these previous letters as we do not recall receiving them he was very vague and mentioned something about September, November but claimed he did not have all the details) this is to notify you that in the absence of full payment of the outstanding balance by return, we now plan to close your file and report to the council. They will then give consideration to commencing further action which may include bankruptcy proceedings, or a Warrent for your immediate arrest. If you wish to avoid this possiblity contact us urgently.

It says nowhere on the letter about paying in 10 days this is what he told my husband. The bailiff also did mumble something but again was not clear about the council wanting paid by the end of March which we obviously understand. This is why we thought if we started paying the council now and cleared by the end of February that they might agree to this.

Can I take this chance also to say thank you to RobertoMoir and Herbie21. I read many posts by both of you last night after our visit and they really calmed my nerves and made me realise that the situation can be resolved. You are doing an amazing job in reassuring people during these hard times and it does not go unappreciated. It is nice to know where we stand and what we have to look out for so once again THANK YOU x

lesley_mac

Thanks for your post Merlinexcalibur I have to admit we probably did receive a court notice but due to the extent of our problems at the time this may well have been looked over and put away. I know this is no way to deal with things and we are not disputing the fact that we owe the money and obviously the council costs for going to court but I am proud to say we are now finally getting on top of things. I just dont agree with the bailiff threatening to increase our bill to £1200 if we do not pay him within 10 days.

Thank you also purpleprincess for your advice as per my above post we will pay the council some money tomorrow to show we are serious in clearing this amount as soon as we can without obviously letting other bills suffer and ensuring we are all still able to live albeit on a very tight budget. We got ourselves into this mess and we aim to get ourselves out too!! I dont blame you for leaving that department I bet it was a very stressful job and I know there is only so much you are able to do. I bet some people who called do not feel that way though! Thanks again x

RAS

Please read up on council tax and charges on the bailiff advice site.

There is no way that he can legally add these sorts of charges even if he gets in the house, does a levy and comes back with a van.

And you are not going to let him in the house are you?

So you need advice on this urgently.

lesley_mac

No I am def not going to let him in the house RAS!! Had a look at the charges and it seems like he has just picked a number out of thin air so will be informing the council of this in my letter. Thank you!

RAS

Please send a pm to herbie with Constants name and the name of the bailiff who came to your door, so she can check whether he is authorised to make this sort of visit.

RobertoMoir

RAS wrote: »

Please read up on council tax and charges on the bailiff advice site.

There is no way that he can legally add these sorts of charges even if he gets in the house, does a levy and comes back with a van.

And you are not going to let him in the house are you?

So you need advice on this urgently.

Could be levy fee + Van fee, sounds about the right sum of money for that, but you're absolutely right - of course! - that the bailiff can't just add these as he pleases.

Would be interesting to see if they've added first and second letter fee for the letters the OP never received too.