HELP! Bailiffs, and what to do next

chris101068

OK first of all I admit we've been mounting up debt for a few years, but we are trying to sort things out. We had issues with water rates, and county court bailiffs, that was more down to Yorkshire waters mistakes, than ourselves (long story). But thanks to the nice bailiff at Dewsbury county court, who went out of his way to help, and in fact spoke on our behalf to Yorkshire water, this has been paid off and finished. We have also managed to pay off 95% of all our other debts, with just the one remaining. The last thing to sort out is our council tax, and to be honest, this money (for council tax) was used to get shut of all our other debts/CCJ's. I know it's wrong to do it this way, but at least now we only have one thing left to clear up.

Anyway Rossendales Bailiffs have been dealing with the council tax (2 accounts) and in Oct we signed a WPA on the first account, with an agreement to pay £5 per week, after paying £90 as an initial payment (account 1). We are not running from the debt, and had every intention of paying. A few weeks after paying the £90, we get a guy at our door demanding the full amount. I explained that we offered £5 per week, filled in income/expenditure form, and we were waiting for the OK from them. He claimed they had no paperwork from us, and no proof of my wifes income, so the minimum they would now take was £25 per week. I told him it was not possible, as we only had my wifes part time income coming in + tax credits, and I ended that conversation there and then. In Dec we got a letter stating they would act unless we paid the full amount, so I rang them up, and was told that they would no longer take part payments, and it was all or nothing. So in Jan they send a nice (NOT) man with a little van to see us, and then charge us £110 for doing so. That bumped us up to £367.45 outstanding on this one, which is even more impossible than the original £257.45. Silly thing was, the van he came in wouldn't have got any of the items listed in the WPA in it.
The second account we have with Rossendales, is about 6 months old. They never gained entry, neither did I sign anything. In fact when they came in June 08, I asked him to send it back to the council, as we had nothing of value for him to take, and he would not be let in. This one started off with a demand for £380.48 (9/6/08), they came back 23/6/08 (we were not in) and it was £355.98 + £42.50 for first and second visit fees? (£398.48), 25/9/08 and it was £545.48 (again we were not in), 23/1/09 and it was £435.48 and finally today and it was £398.48 + £37.00 Levy fee, taking it back to £435.48. Plus he handed me a "Notice of Distress" + WPA with my car details on, but said they would accept a payment plan on this one (I didn't sign anything and shut the door).

So I now start to think about their actions over the past 6 months, and what they have done to bump up our council tax debt, and cause us problems. I pull out the WPA for account 1, and check what is on it: LG 32" TV (that is in fact an Acoustic solutions TV from Argos gift from parents feb 08 with receipt), our 2 and 3 seater sofas (that would leave us with nothing to sit on, and is an exempt item), a computer desk and chair worth £20 at best, LG DVD player (that is in fact a surround sound system, not a DVD player given by neighbour in March 08), and finally a rug worth about £5. After reading up on the net, it seems Rossendales have done several things wrong. Not only has the amounts for account 2 gone up and down like a yo-yo, with charges being added then taken back off. But it also seems they have listed incorrect and exempt items on the notice and WPA of account 1.

So my question is now, where do I go from here? I've contacted the council, and pointed out these facts, but they say speak to the bailiff (they didn't want to know). I told the guy that came today, that exempt and none-existent items were on the WPA I signed, and he didn't want to know.
I'm going to see my local councillor tomorrow, but would value any input/advice people can give us.

scaredy_cat

you should pm Herbie21 or check out http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/index.htm which is her website.

chris101068

That's one of the sites I've been reading through today, and has given me the info regarding exempt goods etc. It's just so annoying when you want to clear your debt, and these idiots are only there to make it impossible to do so.
They put my car down on the distress notice today, and it's only worth £100 at best (old fiesta that I paid £60 for last year, as a fixer-upper). Now I'm sure they are going to charge me more than £100 to come and take it, so what is the point in that? Surely that must be classed as insufficient goods of any value, meaning they should return it to the council saying as much?

scaredy_cat

I understand that Herbie has knowledge of baliffs used by the courts and what they are allowed to charge etc, and what they are allowed to take and if they have acted lawfully or not.

I'd advise to call them asap.

chris101068

As much as I would like to phone them up on an 0906 number at £1 per min, or download the draft letters etc, I'm afraid I can't afford to do so. I know we are only talking £5-10 for their services etc, and I know that is cheap, but that is £5-10 I don't have to spare. Yes it may not hit me until the phone bill comes in, but it will still hit me:o Please don't think I'm being ungrateful, but I have to be a tight git, if we are going to come out the other side of this. I've managed to get shut of over £16,000 worth of debt in the past 2 years (in one way or another), and with only £1000 left to settle (inc council tax), I don't want to start building up big phone bills.

RAS

Hi

Pm Herbie21 on here and she will respond to your query on-line.

chris101068

OK guys PM sent, and thanks.
If anybody else has any advice, feel free to chip in:beer:

looktothefuture

Herbie will arrange to CALL YOU if you PM her and leave a telephone number and a short reminder from here of what's been happening to you... in the meantime, I'll pm you!

looktothefuture

You've come a long long way... hang in there and you will get through it!

chris101068

I have to admit, £11,000 of that debt was wiped off, thanks to the limitations act. Lloyds bank refused to pay out on a loan insurance we had, because they said my wife couldn't be pregnant and signed off sick from work at the same time I told them to stick their loan and insurance where the sun don't shine, but always gave them our address when we moved home. I heard nothing from them until 5 years 10 months later, when they sent letters via "winged messenger" aka Global debt recovery, demanding payment arrangement or full balance. I refused to acknowledge the debt, or make any payments, until they proved it was my account they were collecting on (they sent no docs or account details with the demands). Took them 8 months to do that, by which time my reply was "Sorry this debt is over 6 years old, and you have failed to contact me regarding this matter within a reasonable time." . That was it, and I've had no contact from them since (nearly 2 years). The rest was utility bills and other bits n bobs, that we have over time either paid off, or cleared in dribs n drabs.
I now refuse to have any credit, loans or finance of any kind. The only Direct debit I had was with Yorkshire water, and they stopped taking the payments out themselves. We contacted them several times about it, and they said they were going to take the payments out ASAP(only 2 months). They then took a whole 7 months water rates out over 4 days, using 3 DD instructions that were laying dormant on our account (emptying our bank account). Thankfully my bank refunded me the whole lot under the DD guarantee, and dropped their overdraft charges. Yorkshire Water then took it directly to court, and won the order. We paid £30 to suspend it, and requested a payment plan. The court set a payment plan, but Yorkshire water kept saying they had no record of it. The court bailiff came, acting on none payment of the original order, and was shocked to see we had the paperwork showing it was suspended on a payment plan. He had a stand up argument with Yorkshire water over the phone, and told them he would not act on the warrant.
I could go on and on about some of the crappy treatment we have had from creditors etc, but that's the past. We've only got council tax to get shut of, and we are totally debt free. Fingers crossed I can get them sorted before their deadline of the 11/2/09, then I can sit back and say "I've done it". Nobody else at our door, no wondering if they are coming today, just make some payments, and the debt is history:T

chris101068

bump to see if anybody has advice;)