I have been bullied and manhandled by my local authority contractors

woody01

The £1,500 I gave to the thugs today were the very last part of our savings

Instead of saving this £1500, you should've paid your council tax then.

Oh no...sorry!
Keep your savings and let my council tax be higher next year for the people that don't bother.

Welcome to Great Britain!

If you don't like it then feel free to leave at any time!

This is the country that I have been calling my home and paid vast amount of taxes in for over twenty years

So have the rest of us....we also pay our bills aswell though

Do I really want to stay here and contribute further?

Is that the 'contribution' you are not making then?

Brooker_Dave

Meromanche wrote: »

I asked them which one was rude to my wife and grabbed that person’s jacket to make him move out of the way.

And for some reason you got a slap?

Meromanche

DCFC79 wrote: »

I dont believe they would barge in as you said, i would have called the council to check that A they were actually from the council and B i wouldnt have manhandled the guy at the front door.

Stepping in the door as soon as the door is open and before announcing yourself, I call this barging. In this case, this was also illegal as the debt is not the result of income tax default or a fine.

Meromanche

dmg24 wrote: »

OP, you were the one that started with the aggressive behaviour. How did you expect them to react? The police saw a situation where both sides have overreacted, and did their best to resolve it without further action.

BTW, you are aware that you are not allowed links in your signature?

No I did not and have now removed the link.

Meromanche

Ivory_Tinkler wrote: »

I don't understand if you offered to pay the bailiffs a cheque to clear the debt, why didn't you pay the bill before and save yourself from the bother and humiliation. It is very pompous to say "why should I spend my savings on council tax" I am in the position of having NO savings left because I have used them all to pay bills/food etc having suffered a change of circumstances to our income as a result of the recession. Why therefore should I pay all my bills on time and you don't - what makes you so special that you are above paying for the council services you have received?

This fund was for absolute emergencies. Please also bear in mind that I have been talking to the council to solve the issue as we are not liable to pay council tax for the moment due to our low income.

Meromanche

woody01 wrote: »

Is that the 'contribution' you are not making then?

Over the past twenty years, I have contributed to all my taxes and paid an average of £20,000 in income tax every year.
I own a struggling business employing 3 people. My staff gets paid every month and so do all the business taxes i.e. rates, VAT, etc...
I think, I can call this contributing.

The bad news is that I have not been able to pay myself for one year now and all our savings bar the £1,500 are now gone. Savings that were there for real emergencies i.e. boiler break down, etc... Yes, I am now asking for benefit. I must admit that applying for benefit has not come easy to me and that I delayed doing this longer than I should, hence why the thugs came to my door yesterday.

I have been totally focussing on saving the business and keep people in employment to the detriment of looking after my personal affairs. Yes, I do owe money to my local council and yes I have been ignoring the bailiffs’ letters. However I did speak to the council in view of getting benefit for the council tax. The form arrived a few days ago and before I could return it, the bailiffs turned up despite being re-assured that this would not happen.

Yes I mishandled the situation yesterday when I arrived at my house to see my wife stressed and three very large men bullying her. One of those guys put his foot in the door as soon as the door was open and even before announcing who they were. They then said, they were council employees. You will agree that this is not within the laws of this country. I normally exert self control but in this case I could not.

The police when they arrived, very much sided with the thugs whom they seem to know as they greeted them. They were going to arrest me and would not even hear about them barging in the house. They were not even sure of the powers bailiffs could or could not use to gain entry.

Over the past twenty years, I have always paid my way and have never asked for handouts. I have not only contributed financially but also been involved in various education projects, been a school governor and created employment. So yes, I have been contributing.

Despite what you all wrote, I still feel that we did not deserve to be treated this way and that the bailiffs were the first aggressors, I only defended my wife, myself and my property.

No doubt, given time I will get back on my feet and be able to contribute again but right now I am really not sure I want it to be here if people who have fallen on hard time are treated this way. And has the more jingoist of you lot have said, I can always p... off to my own country and may well do so.

maninthestreet

The bailiffs are alllowed to enter your property in the way that they did - it's called 'crossing the threshold' - they did not break into your property, the door was opened to them.

Mrs_Thrify

What a sad situation op and a lesson to be learnt. By not looking after the bills things got bad. Violent behaviour gets you nowhare. When you think it over not listenening to what they said in the warning letters.....
I would also recomend getting a chain for the front door, now you have reached botton you have to get up and get sorted. Best of luck and think positive.

Nukumai

Meromanche wrote: »

And has the more jingoist of you lot have said, I can always p... off to my own country and may well do so.

It's hardly Jingoism...'ignorance' and 'intolerance' would be more apt.

I'm also not a 'native' Brit (having moved here from NZ some years ago) and find such an attitude contemptible - members of my own family (and countless other families, of course) gave their lives fighting in the British and NZ forces during World Wars I and II, having immediately and resolutely followed the lead of the "homeland". Such lives were lost, in part, to preserve the very rights (well, what is left of them) that are enjoyed today by people making such obtuse statements.

I now have British citizenship and more than pay my way; if anybody cares to suggest to me that I should feel "free to leave" because I complain about something...they can kiss my hairy @rse! I prefer to contribute towards changing things for the better than to walk away.

And, OP, as for the bailiffs entering your house...I'm a fairly laid back, easy-going guy, but would not think twice about sorting out anybody who either threatened my family or forced their way into my house without being invited. As for any legal niceties? Well, I'd deal with them after the event.

Whilst it is probably fair to say that you contributed somewhat to bringing about the situation you describe, I have every sympathy with you and hope things work out for you.

ckerrd

"Whilst it is probably fair to say that you contributed somewhat to bringing about the situation you describe, I have every sympathy with you and hope things work out for you."

Interesting use of the word "somewhat."