Bailiffs demand £1068

Quintain_2

Thanks to everyone who's contributed.

The couple have borrowed the money to pay the Bailiffs - from son's new employer! - and the Bailiffs have now seemingly relaxed the pressure and will allow time for two lots of cheque clearances etc.

I had already asked son and D in L to ensure that all of the Bailiff's charges are listed when the exchange does take place, as according to the National Debtline factsheet I was referred to by Fatbelly there is mileage in attempting to get the Bailiff's charges reduced.
I'll also make sure they know about the possibility of help from CAB in this respect too.

Once again .... thanks everyone.

This isn't the first time they've got into a scrape ..................... and of course we only get to hear what we are told.

bad_doo

Sorry this is totally off thread but out of curiosity, bailiffs will take items wihich they believe will recover the debt for them, lets assume they are being sold at auction and sell well enough that the total sales exceeds the debt, would the debtor then get that cash or would the bailiff pocket the difference?

exil

They must return the surplus. Often they will take a car which may be worth much more than the debt.

bad_doo

Thanks for the reply, that my curiosity answered.

My mum has helped me make the odd payment here and there and given me my "christmas present" early (usually some repair to the car) on more than one occassion, but Ive seen the disappointment when Ive had to ask and now make damn sure I dont have to ask anymore. She's also bailed my sister out of debt twice totalling more than £10k on each occassion and all shes done is get herself into debt again.

Quintain, I think you need to draw the line somewhere and make him stand on his own whatever the consequences, he may actually learn something. If parents are constantly bailing their kids out we (that is kids) never learn to manage on our own. To use a metaphor, it may be better to help pick them up after a spanking than to help them avoid the spanking.

Locana

I think that once I had a Council Tax bill that I did not pay, and it went as far as the bailiffs. I contacted my council direct to see if I could pay this off monthly, and they agreed. I never heard from the bailiffs again, except a letter to state that they had passed the bill back to the council. I think that the council had informed them that I was paying the bill, so no more hassle. It's worth a try, and I don't recall having to pay the bailiffs high charges....

Locana

Sorry!! Just realised that you have paid the bill!!

deecy

My friend was in a similar position, the advice after badgering the council tax people was this:

Eventually, after a long time, and if you don't let the bailiffs in they will give up and return the case to the council tax people who you can then negotiate with to pay off what you owe.

The bailiff fees will not need to be paid.

This was explained relunctantly to me by Herts Council Tax Customer Service.

fatbelly

deecy wrote:

The bailiff fees will not need to be paid.

Hmmm. Not sure about this bit - the rest seems fine.

Money_Bunny_4

exil wrote:

They must return the surplus. Often they will take a car which may be worth much more than the debt.

I had bailiffs threaten to take my car for a £200 debt when the car is worth at least £2000. I rang the national debt helpline and was told that it is illegal for the bailiff to take something of a much higher value of the debt and I could prosecute if they tried to remove the car.

I ended up bartering with the bailiff and paid the bill, although did point out that legally I could have sued if they'd taken the car and was told I was right. They use scare tactics to try and make people pay up.

As others have said the best thing to do is NEVER let a bailiff into your home in the first place.

Now my partner has moved in (bringing his debt with him) I fear that we are going to have to start goin through the whole rigmarole again, but at least I'm a bit wiser now.

Burlesque_Babe

I worked in the Council Tax recovery department many many years ago, and will just say - bailiffs cannot take a car which is worth significantly more than adebt, it is just not allowed.

Prison is a real last resort - we had people who had arrears, made arrangements, then had bailiffs banging on the door, made more arrangements, not paid, then referred for a commital hearing, made arrangements - yep, you guessed it, not paid.....it is a really extreme situation for a prison sentence - I only had one when I was working there (and I did Poll Tax before that - don't throw rotten tomatoes, I needed a job after graduating!!)

I would say to anyone with arrears - go and talk to the Council Tax department - in person. Take along your SOA. Be realistic. Be honest. Try to look at paying any arrears in that financial year. Make an arrangment that you can stick to - even if it is a smaller amount now, then the rest over the rest of the year. STICK TO IT. If you think you will miss a payment - TELL THEM.

Don't let a bailiff in your house. They can't force entry if you won't let them in, but once you've let them in, they can come in again to list /seize goods etc.

Council Tax recovery staff see people with arrears all day, every day. There is nothing they haven't heard before, so don't worry. But, remember, tell them you are going to pay X each month and then don't pay anything will make them less helpful the next time.

I can't help with the bailiff fees, but I did maybe think the council has charged too much for the £1068 amount??? Do they have the correct moving dates? might be worth checking, just in case- I often saw people who didn't realise we didn't know their moving dates and had got arrears they just didn't owe.

Just keep in touch and pay what you promise. And keep talking to them if you can't pay.