Council Tax Arrears - Please Help!!!!

kittieme0w

First of all, sorry if I have posted in the wrong section.

I'm in debt with my local council - council tax arrears. I did not know we owed this money until the baliff contacted me. The one that I did know about, I had been told (by the council) was paid off via attatchment of benefits. Turns out it was not. I did not know that it had gone to court, because I had not recieved any notices what so ever from the court, council, nothing. The next thing I know, the baliffs are in contact with me (they hand delivered a letter through my letterbox), stating that I was to contact them regarding council tax arrears.
I contacted them and they told me to send in proof of benefits along with a breakdown of all my incomings and out-goings, which I did but they say they never recieved. Me being the idiot I am did not send it via recorded delivery (all good in hindsight though isn't it?).
I said that I would send in another copy of proof of benefits and the breakdown of incomings and outgoings to which they told me not to bother, as it had already been passed over to one of their visiting baliffs and that I was to contact him on his mobile number which they then gave to me.
I contacted the baliff and he said that infact I had THREE outstanding council tax arrears to pay off. I told him that I had not recieved any notice of these and whilst I understand that it is not their fault if I am having trouble recieving post where I live, it was odd how the council never even phoned me to notify me that I owed them money, as they have my phone number; to which he just said yes well that council is terrible like that - they don't know what they are doing half of the time.
I explained my situation to him, that we have a small child to feed, we are only on ESA benefit at the moment and that I also have the shortfall to pay on rent each month (my housing benefit doesn't cover all of my rent because they haven't put me on the new rate yet), alongside every day outgoings and debt repayments, etc. However, I am willing to pay the debt if we could come to a payment agreement.
He said no, they want the 3 debts paid within three months.
The three debts he wanted paid as follows: £97.50 this month, £146.17 in June and £223.25 in July)
I explained that I could not afford this, but if it could be spread over 6 months then I would struggle greatly but should be able to pay it off. He refused to allow me to pay it over 6 months and told me that if I do not do as they have requested, they will come and lift my goods, or I could go to prison - which obviously scared the living daylights out of me!
I contacted the council again to get the case numbers and double-checked what court it had gone through (county or magistrate's) and they said they did not know. They told me to try phoning both with the case numbers and find out.
I phoned the county court, who told me that the case numbers were not for anything to do with them so to try the Magistrate's court, which I did. The woman I spoke to at the Magistrate's court said that they did not deal with this type of thing because they only deal with criminal matters, and that what actually happens is the council have a room in the court offices to deal with council tax arrears, and just to try phoning the council again to sort this mess out.
The reason why I tried to contact the court in the first place was to see if I could stay the writ and pay it off at a lower amount each month.
So I phoned the council again(council tax department), and they said that they didn't have a clue what I should do next. They also said that there was no point in even trying to phone the payments department at the council because you can never get through to them and they are too busy at the moment to deal with anything else (I did try anyway, and have been for weeks now; but the line is always engaged, one of the advisors on the front desk at the council even emailed them asking them to contact me a few weeks back regarding a DHB overpayment of £14, no reply as of yet).
This morning I got three letters (again hand-delivered), with the reference number for baliff, the and it says on it in huge letters "REMOVAL OF GOODS". Below that it says:
"The council has instructed us to collect the above debt. Despite previous requests, the debt still remains outstanding. Jacobs have instructed me, as Baliff in Charge, to arrange for the removal and sale of your goods. To stop removal action you must contact me (and his name) IMMEDIATELY on (number provided) and make payment in full.
And then at the bottom is a signature.

Is this letter official? As in court-ordered official if you see what I mean? It has no court stamp on it or anything though. I don't even know if they have a warrant to gain access to my home! Really confused and have no idea what to do next. Tried contacting Citizen's Advice Bureau but can't get through at all.
I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice please???? I'm really scared that I'm gonna go to prison, or get my goods lifted; I got !!!!!!-all as it is. Please help!!!!

GeorgeUK

Don't answer the door to them or let them in the property. If they want to talk, they can shout through the letterbox.

I would suggest keeping all communication with the bailiff in writing.

We have a resident bailiff expert who should hopefully be able to assist with this. Herbie21 - who also has a website http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/

Send Herbie a PM and see if she can advise on how to tackle this.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/private.html?do=newpm&u=204019

dancingfairy

o.k you need to find out (preferably ) which council tax years these debts stem from as if they are this years there is more you can do to sort things out.
Secondly it should have gone through them magistrates court as that is how it is done.
Thirdly you are unlikely to go to prison. Yes it is possible but it is only a last resort and for people that are either deliberately playing the system and trying to not pay anything at all ever or for people that are complete muppetts basically. At these times of recession it is unlikely that they will send you to prison as it will not look good for them at all , especially as they do not appear to be assisting you particularly well.
Try bailifadviceonline website - there are certain charges that bailiffs can make and some companies will try it on and charge for all sorts.
You need to work out how much you can realistically pay and pay that whatever then if, (and it's a big if) it ever goes to a commital hearing you will be able to prove you are paying what you can.
Will see if I can find some links for you.
df

dancingfairy

Having had a further think:
I have found the following which looks quite helpful (just googled it):
http://www.reading.gov.uk/adviceandbenefits/counciltax/frequentlyaskedquestions/General.asp?id=SX9452-A7816DF7


specifically the bit about complain to the bailiffs then the council if no joy.
Also I'm not sure if ESA can be an attachable benefit or not - CAB should be able to help with this - basically where you get a small amount taken out of your benefit to pay off concil tax arrears but it is only for some benefits - it's about 12 a month they take I think.

You need to contact the council and find out what years the debts are for and why (ie non payment, how much is charges, shortfall in benefit - whatever).
Speak to bailiffs and if necessary complain
complain to council
Contact councillors/mp's etc as they may be able to assist you.
Phone CAB or try National Debtline/CCCS for some help.



Hope the above gives you some help.
df

Widelats

They should not refuse if you have offered a small payment arrangement.

Do not let them baliffs in your house, they can only force their way in if you have already let them in your property before, otherwise it is illeagal entry and you could call the cops if they try. Usually baliffs try to intimidate people into paying with threats and lies, this is how they make their money, don't believe a word they say.

The CAB will contact everyone involved if you go to them, this is your best bet as official people do not always know the law or what they are talking about.

kittieme0w

Thanks everyone.
And in reply to the ESA thing - the council have told me that it is not an attatchable benefit. But yeah I have offered to pay the arrears off, at the end of the day it's not like I've said sod off I'm not paying - they will get their money so hopefully I'll be okay IF it goes to commital.
Still trying to get through to the CAB. If no lucky by Mon afternoon, gonna go down there and see if I can get seen on the spot. Fingers crossed.
The arrears I've been told are for the following dates:

£97.50 - 18/12/2006 (summons date), the council could not find the court hearing date - this was the one I had been told was paid off already but turns out it was not.

£146.17 - 15/09/2008 (summons date), 03/10/2008 (hearing date)

£223.25 - 12/12/2008 (summons date), 09/01/2009 (hearing date)

Another thing I forgot to say earlier - when I was on the phone to the council yesterday and today after they finally told me the case hearing numbers and dates - I pointed out that the one for 12/12/2008 was especially odd, because we were and still are in full reciept of council tax benefit (exempt from paying council tax); and so I could not understand this because we had no breaks in benefit at that time, and were on ESA and housing benefit! They just dismissed this and said oh well it's gone to court now so nothing we can do, it's in the baliffs hands and no longer our problem!:mad:

And many thanks for the links - will keep updating on how I get on.

Yeah I definately won't let the baliff in they can sod off trying to get into my house if they have no warrant. Bullies.

GeorgeUK

I would write an official complain to the council about the 12/12/2008 one. You should not be liable for their incompetence. If this gets you nowhere, a letter or visit to your local MP to get answers as to why this has happened should sort them out.

RAS

Kittie

Several things we need to know but your basic story is shameful.

When you say there was an attachment of earnings, did this relate to any of the debts listed?

Are the amounts you list what is on the bailiffs letter, or is the value of the liability order? How much are the bailiffs claiming for each of these accounts?

Do contact Herbie21. But also do the following:

1. Check out your council web-site tonight and find out when and where your local councillors do their next open surgery and explain the situation. Ask them to get hold of the CT department on Monday and put a hold on all bailiff action until matters are sorted at a higher level. Several posters here have done this to good effect. One even found the surgery was that night and it was all sorted in hours.

If any of these relate to the debt you thought was covered by the attachement of earnings, you want an explanation as to why this was not collected in full and why you were not informed there was an outstanding debt.

And you want not only an explanation as to how the last debt has arisen when you are on full CT benefit biut also an apology for the behaviour of their staff, as the response below is totally inadequate.

I pointed out that the one for 12/12/2008 was especially odd, because we were and still are in full reciept of council tax benefit (exempt from paying council tax); and so I could not understand this because we had no breaks in benefit at that time, and were on ESA and housing benefit! They just dismissed this and said oh well it's gone to court now so nothing we can do, it's in the baliffs hands and no longer our problem!

2. Send a letter to the Revenue Protection Officer at the Council (ring the main switch board and ask for their name on Monday) covering the same points. Send that registered post.

In the mean-time you need to keep all the windows and doors locked (including garage or shed) so the bailiff cannot get peaceful entry and if you have a car or bikes, they have to be moved so they cannot have a levy put on them.

The bailiff can only come in if you invite him and you are not going to do that because it make your situation worse and he can add extra charges to each of the accounts.

kittieme0w

Okay thanks for all of that. I just tried phoning council but can't get through AGAIN. Will keep trying til their close at 6 and if no luck will try on Monday.

A huge thanks again to all of you advising me

RAS

No

Please get on the council web-site, look up your local councillor and find out when there surgery is. It may be tonight or tomorrow and you can just go.

CIS

And in reply to the ESA thing - the council have told me that it is not an attatchable benefit.

ESA is attachable - we've done plenty from our authority.The choice however is the authority's they may have a policy of not attaching certain benefits even if the law allows.

As a council tax recovery officer I do find it hard to believe that over several years you have not received a demand notice, reminder, summons. You need to speak with the council as to where these have been sent (I have seen cases with old contact addresses etc used in error). and as to the period they apply to.

The usual issue with Liability Orders for periods when you are on benefits is that 1) the L/O can be encompassing debt from previous years under 1 order and 2) people often have a non-dependent deduction which stops the full CTB being paid and leaves a small balance owing.