Rossendales Bailiff - Please Help!

Musical_Joe

Hi all,

I've searched through quite a few posts, and note Rossendales reputation isn't the best (!), I wonder if anyone is kind enough to answer a specific query for me?

I owed around £800 on council tax from last year. Despite offering a monthly payment, Rossendales refused this, demanding payment in one go.

A bailiff dropped a letter through my door, adding £110 to the outstanding amount, saying each van attendance would add this to the outstanding sum.

My employer was very kind to me, and phoned the bailiff on my behalf. They agreed between them to pay £500 one month, and the rest the next.

We paid the £500 last month, and this month I phoned their head office to ask the exact remaning amount. They told me that the chap I spoke to was no longer dealing with it, and they had no record of an agreement.

They then said that extra charges had gone on the account, including some for when the bailiff took a list of my goods etc. - but this never happened! No-one ever came into my property! They even said "What about your white Renault van?" - I don't even own a van!!

Despite this, they've given me a figure, which we're just about to pay. However they say they needed the money by today, and therefore will send a bailiff round again with a van, and I'll be charged another £110.

So despite paying more than I originally owed, and fees for things that didn't happen, they say I'll STILL owe money for another bailiff visit...

Is there anything I can do? I don't want 'fees to go on fees', and end up owing more money again!

How often are they allowed to charge this £110 fee? every day?

Sorry for the rather panicked tone of my post, I'm close to breaking point with this one. Any advice or help would be MOST appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

Joe

aligerdie

hi,

you need to pm Herbie21 - she's bailiff expert on here, or take a look at her website www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk

She has a helpline, which costs a bit to call, but I would strongly recommend you give her a ring now.

Forgot to say, I've had dealings with Rossendales, and they will lie and try every trick to get you to pay.
At the moment it sounds like they're trying to add charges on to your account. They can only charge you £24.50 for the first visit if no levy is made and they did not gain access.

Ring the helpline from the bailiff website urgently so you know where you stand.

Good luck

Musical_Joe

Thanks aligerdie, just trying to call the line now, but it is engaged - I'll keep trying!

Thanks again,

Joe

dotstar24

joe

If they haven't levied goods they cannot 'send a van round' this is scare tactics.

do you have the name of the bailiff? and what authority do you owe the money to??

rog2

Musical_Joe wrote: »

A bailiff dropped a letter through my door, adding £110 to the outstanding amount, saying each van attendance would add this to the outstanding sum.

Despite this, they've given me a figure, which we're just about to pay. However they say they needed the money by today, and therefore will send a bailiff round again with a van, and I'll be charged another £110.

So despite paying more than I originally owed, and fees for things that didn't happen, they say I'll STILL owe money for another bailiff visit...

Is there anything I can do? I don't want 'fees to go on fees', and end up owing more money again!

How often are they allowed to charge this £110 fee? every day?

Joe

Hi Joe - looks like Rossendales are up to their old tricks again. :huh: :huh:

They can not keep charging exorbitant fees - the fees that they are charging you also appear to be illegal.

There are fixed fees that a 'bailiff' may charge for collecting Council Tax - from April 1998 a bailiff can charge £20 for the first visit, and £15 for the second visit, when no levy or siezure is made.

For an overview of your rights when having to deal with bailiffs: http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/debt_basics/bailiff-guide.php

Musical_Joe

Thank you to everyone here for their advice;

I contacted Herbie21 on her helpline through bailiffadviceonline . co . uk (I'm not allowed to post links, sorry!) and I would just like to say how helpful she was.

I feel like I've now taken step one in the battle to get this settled! Any more advice that people have is obviously welcomed, and I would like to say to anyone else that is in the same situation (or any!) with bailiffs (especially Rossendales!) PLEASE visit the website and give her a call - very knowledgable, and very helpful.

Thanks again,

Joe

Musical_Joe

Oh - Dotstar24,

sorry, I missed answering your question!

It's West Berkshire Council; I have the name of the first Bailiff, but after he agreed to accept two installments, their head office told me he had been 'reallocated to another area' and I have a new chap now; he has a foreign accent (which of course makes no difference to me!!), won't tell me his name though

Thanks,

Joe

carolyn4863

Joe i was in a much worse situation than you.

I missed on paying my council tax for years when i was a single parent. I was working to keep a roof over my kids head, food in their mouths, and gas electric and water something had to give and for me it was council tax. I've moved a few times to get away from them but they always catch up with me. Last time the caught up with me i made an arrangement to pay and i was sticking to it but then just before christmas my partner lost his job and we were barely affording to live so again, i didn't pay my council tax. I did try to explain this to the lady in the Bailiff office but she didn't want to hear it and just said your payments are overdue, we will send someone out to collect your goods.

This time we are settled and my eldest has started school so it was time to stand up and fight. I had been out one afternoon shopping and i came back and there was a letter through my door from a Rossendales Bailiff saying that i had to make a full payment of nearly £2,000 within the next 48 hours or they would attend on my property and remove goods even in my absence. I rang them and they said that they were not willing to accept installments and i had to pay a substantial amount. When i asked what a substantial amount was i was told £1,000.

I am settled now and living with my partner but i am not working at the moment due to having the kids. When i told him that i could not come up with that sort of money he said that he would give me till next Friday. I was at this point under the impression that if i put my stuff at my other half's father's house and let them in and they could take nothing they would go away - WRONG! I searched on the internet all day Friday and rang up helplines and i knew all my rights and exactly what i wanted to say to them but quite honestly i didn't have the balls. I knew they would be coming on the Monday because i didn't have the money to pay them on the Friday. Then it dawned on me on Sunday night that i would write a letter and leave it stuck on the door for them, so this is what i wrote:

Dear Mr Bailiff

I am fully aware that you will be visiting me following my 2 failed arrangements to pay my outstanding council tax by installments and also for my failing to make payment of a somewhat ridiculous £1,000 by Friday, 17th April 2009.

I have taken the necessary advice and I am well aware that I do not have to let you into my house. The fact of the matter is that I moved into my partner’s house when it was fully furnished and hardly any of the possessions inside belong to me. My problem is proving it. For this reason we are not going to let you into our house and take things that do not belong to me. I am aware of the fact that you can only charge for 2 visits to our property and that your “reasonable” charges will be added to the amount I already owe. You are also required by law to leave me information detailing those charges. Please do so through the letter box and I will check your “reasonable” charges of the OFT. By all means visit twice, come as often as you want. The house is locked, the shed is locked and there is nothing in the garden for you to take. I know that it is illegal for you to break into my house and/or shed. Yet I also notice from the previous letter through my door that it states that you may enter my house even in my absence which I know is an empty threat and i have received advice that Bailiffs are not supposed to use intimidating/threatening behaviour so I will be making an official complaint about this through the appropriate channels.

I would also like to add that I spoke to a lovely lady at Preston City Council on Friday to see if I could make an arrangement directly with them. She asked for my previous addresses so she could locate my files. I gave her the address of 157 C******* C****, Preston which she said was in your hands and i’d have to deal with you directly. I said that there were 3 liability orders so she asked me for the other 2 addresses which I gave as 17 W******* S****, Preston and 25 C******** R****, Preston. This is where it gets entertaining. They said that the liability orders at these addresses had been with you but had been returned. I have also had the process explained to me whereby the liability order is made and then you are contracted by the council. Then I make arrangements with you to pay which I have done but failed to maintain. Then you visit and I do not have to let you in. When you give up (probably after 2 visits, because that’s all you can charge for) the case is then passed back to the council for further action and that is then when I contact the council to make a reasonable arrangement in repaying the debt. In theory, the fact that you gave up on the other 2 liability orders and passed them back to the council in theory means that you are going to do the same with this when I have ignored you for long enough. The fact that you couldn’t link the other 2 to the 3 you already have is interesting. I wonder if there may be a flaw in your system somewhere and something you may consider having looked at. The liability orders for 145 L****** R*** were dated back to 2003 and then you have the one for 157 Centenary Mill which would have been 2007. If you had looked into the matter properly you surely would have linked the 17 W******* S***** and 25 C******* R*** liability orders.

At the end of the day I am aware that you have no power should I choose not to let you enter our property. Which, surprise surprise, I am not going to do. I have been warned about various tricks that Bailiffs use, i.e. “fine if you want to be like that, please can I come in to use your phone to ring the office” or “can I please just use your toilet”. No, no and no. You will not be gaining access to my property. Please be assured that the doors are double locked, as are the windows. If you break into the shed it is a criminal offence and I shall be getting the police involved.

I am also aware of the fact that some Bailiffs just look through windows and make a list of possessions and note them on a walk in possession order. I’m afraid to say I will not be falling for that either.

Even after having received this letter I am sure that you will still be stood knocking at my door and whilst i’m sure you are a very charming person, I look forward to ignoring you.

I stuck this letter to my door before going out on the Monday. My neighbour said that the bailiffs did come round about half an hour after i left and went and knocked on the door and went away. He said that they also sat at the top of the road for about 10 minutes, and that was the last i saw of them.

The following week I had a letter from them saying that i owed just under £500??? That must have been just for one of the liability orders and to pay straight away or it also gave a number to ring up and pay by installments.

The bailiffs are bullies. They have no more power than you or me. They just like to intimidate you into believing they do.

My debts will be returned to the council and i will make arrangements with them because they are a whole lot more reasonable than the Bailiffs.

Please dont worry about them. They are gorillas in suits!

rog2

carolyn4863 wrote: »

Please dont worry about them. They are gorillas in suits!

Great post carolyn and well done for standing up to these 'semi-legal' thugs. :T :T