Want To Be Free

RobertoMoir

Ok then. The notices you're talking about are from the council rather than bailiffs? That's a start - hopefully it's not with the bailiffs yet. I don't know how much you know about how this stuff works so please excuse me if I'm teaching granny to suck eggs, its not intentional.

Let's see - The Liability Orders are in his name yes? Not hers? It's a long time since I did this stuff so it may have changed and my memory is rusty but people can be jointly and severally liable for council tax, so they should have chased her too, but a LO is only ever issued to one person I believe.

And you mention debt collectors - are you referring to debt collectors for other debts? Or for this? "Debt collectors" for council tax are actually going to be bailiffs, whose powers are very different from debt collectors. If you can only pay off one out of a bailiff and a debt collector both demanding money, always pay the bailiff first.

Each council tax "year" is essentially a seperate debt or account, however you want to think of it, kinda like having 3 different credit cards with one lender. This is why you have 3 different letters for each year they say he owes on. That's probably something you know already but just making sure we're starting from the same place on the page.

It sounds like the council have liability orders for each account, which are court orders made in a magistrates court. It's entirely possible that your OH won't have been notified, they generally don't do that, and frankly its what I'd describe as a procedural matter rather than a court case as most people think of it. It's purely a case of the council swearing that the money is owed and the court issuing a LO on their say so. Not quite a rubber stamp but close to it.

On the third year, I'd imagine that what has happened is that partial payment has been made, e.g. the council tax liability for the year was £890, costs were £50 and someone has paid off £540 of that year's council tax prior to the LO being granted.

To the best of my knowledge, the statute of limitations does not apply to council tax once the LO has been applied for - and the council will almost certainly have applied in time (in fact I think you mention the LOs were applied for in the years the debt happened, which is what I'd expect)... You should check this though.

So sadly, the short version of the above is that he is probably liable. Sorry.

The next step is what to do about it. Not to worry you further but council tax is what is termed a priority debt - it's a debt you can in theory go to prison over. Now while that is very unlikely in practice so PLEASE don't worry too much about it, this does show that it is a serious matter that can't be put on the back burner.

He will need to phone the council and ask if they have sent the debt to a bailiff company yet. If not then he should make an arrangement to pay the debts off - he will need to make an arrangement for each year, so for example if you can afford £60 a month on this you'd want to be offering £20 per year. It's vital you stick to this debt repayment plan if it is made. If there is a problem meeting the payments one month then better to contact the council first.

If the debt has gone to the bailiffs then that can be a problem, but it's a problem that can be handled. There are a number of strategies for dealing with bailiffs. The first thing to always remember is DON'T LET THEM IN, KEEP EVERYTHING LOCKED AND DON'T LEAVE VALUABLE GOODS (including cars) OUTSIDE. If you are worried about bailiffs then also read this post (in fact the whole thread is pretty useful for debt in general).

The same principal applies to debts that are with the bailiff as they do to debts with the council - make an arrangement to pay and absolutely stick to it. They will threaten and bluster but a few letters to them, copied to the council, asking why they are refusing to let you pay the debt might sort that out.

Anyway, I've gone on for long enough and hopefully given you a starting point.

Want2beFree_2

wow thank you very much for that really great and helpful post.

Yes i think it has gone onto the bailiffs now, my hearts been pounding all day whenever anyone walks past the house. Could they come soon? What do you do if they do come? Do they give you the chance to pay or just start trying to take things? Yes he has a car, which would be terrible if it was taken.
On the council matter i think that as you have now confirmed it's going to have to be paid, as i've said im more than willing to give him my money for it too.

What do you advise doing next? He was going to email the bailiff company tonight and see if he could arrange to pay it off in a few instalments? Is this the right thing to do please?

and thank you so much again xx

RobertoMoir

Want2beFree wrote: »

wow thank you very much for that really great and helpful post.

Yes i think it has gone onto the bailiffs now, my hearts been pounding all day whenever anyone walks past the house. Could they come soon? What do you do if they do come? Do they give you the chance to pay or just start trying to take things? Yes he has a car, which would be terrible if it was taken.
On the council matter i think that as you have now confirmed it's going to have to be paid, as i've said im more than willing to give him my money for it too.

What do you advise doing next? He was going to email the bailiff company tonight and see if he could arrange to pay it off in a few instalments? Is this the right thing to do please?

and thank you so much again xx

I think emailing the bailiffs to make an arrangement to pay now is a great idea. Do ensure all communication with them is via email or post rather than telephone. Have you heard anything from them yet? If so what have they charged?

Ok the car - if it is wholly owned by him, that is, it isn't on HP, and it can't be parked out of the way for now then it should be sold to someone he trusts - presumably you - for £1 until the debt is sorted out. They can't take goods that do not belong to the debtor.

As for what the bailiffs will do when they call, it depends if they have called before (or are prepared to lie and claim they have ) and to some extent the whims of the person you speak to.

As such you should try and minimise the amount of times you speak to them to minimise the chances of speaking to a real jerk. Sorry, I'd love to sugar-coat it more because I know you're already stressed, but that's how it is.

They probably would want to do a levy on goods and get you to sign what is called a walking possession before they'll be entirely happy to let you have an arrangement to pay, and will try hard to insist this is the only way they can do installments. This is incorrect, but as a levy + WP provides them with security on the debt and secondly allows them to add on charges like they're going out of fashion they will almost certainly try it on.

Remain firm in your offer of payment, but equally firm in your refusal to allow them any opportunity to levy. Be quite clear to them that you are telling them what you are prepared to offer, not inviting discussion.

Do NOT sign anything they give you, no matter what.

Want2beFree_2

RobertoMoir wrote: »

I think emailing the bailiffs to make an arrangement to pay now is a great idea. Do ensure all communication with them is via email or post rather than telephone. Have you heard anything from them yet? If so what have they charged?

Sorry i took so long was talking to him about it all.
He has 3 letters all sent on the same day from the bailiff people in total owing about £1,600 he's going to email them in the morning and see if they will take instalments.

Ok the car - if it is wholly owned by him, that is, it isn't on HP, and it can't be parked out of the way for now then it should be sold to someone he trusts - presumably you - for £1 until the debt is sorted out. They can't take goods that do not belong to the debtor.

The car is fully owned by him and is normally parked across the street, is that far enough away from the house or will they know his number plate??
The car's that are parked outside the house is my dad's car and my mum's (2cars)

He is going to pay off a £300 chunk of it tonight by card do you think this will keep them happy enough to not come barging round and take the rest in instalments? EDITED: Well he was but couldn't find a Ref no on the letter so i think he has to phone and get that which he's going to do in the morning.

Thank you so much for your help with this. It really is very much appreciated!

:A x

Want2beFree_2

As for the other debt the bank loan, he thinks he might have paid a few instalments off on it well over 7 years ago but nothing since then or anything, would he have to pay this in full or would it be in the time limit bracket even though a few payments he thinks were made years ago?

As for the Experian credit report, he is very wary of doing this right now as it might open him up to every other debt out there on him, in that way it's bad but it would be good to see exactly what is there, but i understand why he is reluctant to do it.

RAS

[QUOTE=Want2beFree;30019555The car is fully owned by him and is normally parked across the street, is that far enough away from the house or will they know his number plate??
The car's that are parked outside the house is my dad's car and my mum's (2cars)

[/QUOTE]


They will know the number plate so he needs to sell it to you immediately.

Want2beFree wrote: »

As for the other debt the bank loan, he thinks he might have paid a few instalments off on it well over 7 years ago but nothing since then or anything, would he have to pay this in full or would it be in the time limit bracket even though a few payments he thinks were made years ago?

As long as he has not paid anything or made a written acknowledgement in the last 6 years (5 inScotland) this debt is statute barred unless there is a CCJ against him.

You could check the Registry Trust (open public site) which lists all CCJs.

RobertoMoir

What RAS said re: the car.

As for the instalments, I suspect they'll say they "need" to come round and levy to secure the debt. They don't need to, they just want to. You should say no.

At the moment it sounds like they've added very little in the way of bailiff's costs to the debt, so you should try and keep it that way which means no levy.

Want2beFree_2

thank you so much for your help with this, it's making me ill, today as well my OH was turned down for a job he went for his perfect one, twice the money he's on now, we're so upset everything is going wrong just our luck.

he sent a cheque off to the people and wrote them a letter saying he'll pay the rest in instalments.

Want2beFree_2

Hi.

Was wondering if there was anyone on to help me now.
The debt i spoke about above as the bailiffs were threatening things it was paid in full with everything he had at that time. Cheque sent. All the debt cleared we thought. Then today the bailiff comes round again banging on the door and left two letters for visits totalling £89 is this legal and will we have to pay it? The debt was already paid in full! But we don't want any more charges being added onto what is already there in the costs mentioned above.

Tixy

Hi wanttobe

There are very set rules about how much can be charged for visits - I think its something like £42 quid for 2 visits (total not each visit) and they are not allowed to charge anymore (though they often try) - I'll look for a link or someone else may post who knows.

EDIT - http://bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/counciltax_whathappensif.htm
http://bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/counciltax_howcani.htm can't find the exact advice - but I think you need to get a schedule of all charges etc applied by the baliff and then see how much you have already paid. Again hopefully someone will then say how much you should have paid - then you may need to raise a formal complaint with the baliff (and the court)