Rundle & Co Ltd - Scared Newbie

R46

Hi all, I was told to come and post on this board by a friend who said that some of you may be able to give me some advice with regards to non payment of Non Domestic rates and Council Tax

1st off I know that this is completely my fault, but I have let lots of things get on top of me and after a bit of a rollercoaster year I am now in big trouble

Please take into consideration that back in December 2005 I was involved in a bad RTA. After 16weeks of being out of work I lost my mobile valeting business.

Anyway since my accident I never had a proper full time job, I managed to get a part time office job.

Then in June last year I got the opportunity to rent a small unit for a small fee. The rent was only £150 per month. I decided to try and set up my own joinery firm.
I sold my van and bought some machinery for the workshop. I begun getting the workshop set up ready for trading. This took a few months as the unit was a mess and I was still working part time.
However in August I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress syndrome & depression. I was prescribed anti depressants and sleeping tablets.
By September, I had split up with my long term girlfriend (6years), lost my house as I couldnt afford to stay there on my own so the ex bought me out and I lost my part time job.
When I met my ex, I moved away from where I grew up and had no real friends or family.
So when I moved out, I moved back to the area where I grew up into a private rented house with a friend and got myself a full time bar managers job.

To cut to the chase, I have not paid any business rates since I took possesion of the unit, and more embarrassingly I have not made any council tax payment on my current rented property either:o

The business rates side of things is the messiest so at the time of writing. I will give you the time line:

19th August 2008 - NATIONAL NON-DOMESTIC RATES DEMAND £457.85

11th November 2008 - Summons for Non-Payment of Non-Domestic Rates - Schedule £457.85 - Date to appear in court 10th December 2008 (Please bare in mind that I had already vacated my residence with my ex on Sept 12th 2008 and didnt not receive this summons until Jan 7th when the ex came to visit me with a hand delievered letter from Rundle & Co Ltd and a pile of mail)

7th January 2009 - Letter from Rundle & Co Ltd hand delivered - ATTENDANCE NOTICE THE CLEARANCE OF GOODS - Total now due £838.35 - Removal Bailiff Mr Burrowes

26th January 2009 - Letter from Rundle & Co Ltd - This Important Notice Needs Your Urgent Attention! - Total due £584.35 - We have been issued with a Liability Order obtained at the Magistrates Court - OUR BAILIFF WILL CALL TO SEIZE YOUR GOODS WITHIN THE NEXT 7 DAYS

29th January 2009 - Letter from Rundle & Co Ltd - Take formal notice - As you have failed to deal with the above matter, I will, if I do not hear from you within the course of the next 7 days, have no alternative but to return the liability order to the Council so that they may apply to the Magistrates for your commitment to prison:eek:

All correspondance has been sent to my old address and as a result I missed every single date set by them:o

Current circumstances:

Currently earning £1023 take home per month, rent is £700 and petrol to and from work costs me £50pw. That does not include bills, insurance and food. My house mate is moving out next weekend so I will be liable for everything.

I have £9k (unsecured Loan) in debt from the old house and my share of previous debts from living with ex.
I also have a credit card with £1100 limit, balance is £27 remaining
I am max'd out on my £1450 overdraft and exceed that monthly which in turn incures £35 charges.

I now have the local district council after me for non payment of council tax in this new rented property which I have occupied since Sept.

Time line for this case:

3rd October 2008 - DC sent me a letter telling me that for the next 6 months my rates will be £914.81 and they want payment in £229 instalments

17th November 2009 - DC sent me letter telling me about 1st missed payment

5th January 2009 - DC sent me a letter stating that previous reminder not paid in full. Unless payment of £914 in full is received by 12th january the council will commence legal proceedings

4th February 2009 - DC sent letter - Council Tax Adjustment Notice - Amount Owed £914.81

Now, I know I have been a complete idiot, and I should not of buried my head in the sand an hoped everything was going to go away but I would really like to get this ugly mess sorted out. Especially the Council tax case as that is not in the hands of the bailiffs at time of writing.

However, for 1 last twist in the life and times of R46..........I have just had an offer accepted on a property I am hoping to purchase. This property is going to be bought as a 30% share of a new build 2 bed apartment and will be owned by Key Home East housing association and myself.
I need to be out of my current private rented property by 11th March (end of 6 month tenancy and landlord has sold the property) and this shared ownership deal is great as my rent/mortgage will be a combined £400 for my own property.

Will this mess effect my chances of getting a mortgage and this property?

Not to mention that if this purchase goes through, I need to find approx £1000 for fee's and £300 mortgage application fee:o

Any help will be so much appreciated on this matter

Sorry for the essay

Regards

R46

Norfolk_Jim

There will be help and advice for you at some point, so I'm just "bumping" this up the list because at this time in the morning, few of the most knowledgeable posters are going to be up. The DFW pages seem to get busier every day and its so easy for a post to drift 2-3 pages down and get missed!

lilian1977

I don't really have any advice as I'm not sure of the answers but just wanted to bump again like Jim did to ensure you get the help you need xx

Herbie21

I have noot had time to read the whole of your post but in the first instance the bailiff can do very little if you do not allow the bailiff into your home or have a car outside on which he can levy.

It would also appear that you HAVE NOT applied for Small Business Rate Relief. This is vitally important as you will get 50% REDUCTION on the business rates.

In addition, if you are living on your own you are entitled to 25% reduction of council tax . This is single persons benefit.

On the bailiffs , you need to ENSURE that you do not allow a bailiff into your home and instead make sure that you write a letter to advise them that you cannot afford to repay this debt at the moment and offer instead payment proposals. What you need to ensure is that you DO NOT MENTION that you are soon moving etc.

I have sent you a PM with the password to download template letters from our website.
.

lilian1977

Bumping again.

madmalteaser

Hi there, just wanted to welcome you to the board. I'm afraid I don't have any advice for you but I'm sure someone will be along soon - they're all very helpful on this board!

RobertoMoir

Not sure what else there is to say on top of what Herbie has said. While I've got some experience in this area myself, following up with my advice after herbie's would be a lot like me offering you a lift in my ford focus after herbie had offered full chauffeur service complete with drinks cabinet.

R46

1st off i'd like to say many thanks for te friendly welcome and especially for the free bumps to keep this near the top of the board )

I'd also like to thank Herbie for her PM.

I'll give you a bit more info which I forgot to give you in my original post.

Rundle & Co Ltd do not know where I am living at present, all mail and visits have been to my ex girlfriends house and the ex has not given them a forwarding address for me.
The car out the front of the house is mine, however this is in the ex's name. When we bought it she put it in her name on the V5 logbook. When we split I got to keep the car. I have not changed the name of ownership as I didnt want an extra 'previous owners' on the logbook. Turns out this was a good idea afterall )

Can I apply for retrospective small business rates and council tax relief? If so will that be back dated to the beginning of the term?

Do I need to write to Rundle & Co Ltd with payment proposals, even if they are handing the debt back to the local authority?
Again they do not know where I live, only the Council Tax LA know where I live at present.
This may be a stupid question, but do I let Rundle & Co Ltd know where I am living to stop any dealings happening at my ex's house? or am I best off not letting on where I am?

Many thanks again all, especially Herbie for her PM

Regards

R46

R46

wow, dont take long to drop to page 6, busy forum lol

RobertoMoir

Firstly the stuff about Ctax/NNDR liability - you'll want specialist advice on this, bouncing the details of that around a forum possibly isn't the best way to get that one sorted.

R46 wrote: »

Do I need to write to Rundle & Co Ltd with payment proposals, even if they are handing the debt back to the local authority?

If they're going to hand the debt back, then let them, then contact council with repayment offers. If you make an arrangement on that basis you must stick to it precisely to avoid more hassle.

R46 wrote: »

Again they do not know where I live, only the Council Tax LA know where I live at present.
This may be a stupid question, but do I let Rundle & Co Ltd know where I am living to stop any dealings happening at my ex's house? or am I best off not letting on where I am?

I'm inclined to say why borrow trouble by telling them this. Unless of course it's earning you more grief how things are now than its worth. I suspect if you give the bailiffs an updated address while they still have the LO, they'll start trying to enforce it at your proper address.