Bristow & Sutor Bailiffs-C.Tax Debt-Vunerable People

RAS

Elsie1975 wrote: »

Please, please, please help! He is due here at 2pm-do I answer the door or ignore it??:(

For heaven's sake!

Ignore him. Go out now and stay out until 4pm if necessary.

HappyMJ

Ignore the door...They'll give up and go home eventually. Then they'll send the debt back to council if you continue to ignore them. You can then negotiate with council directly.

If you answer the door they'll refuse to leave without having a walking possesion agreement. They'll threaten you with locksmiths, police and even with prison. All illegal so if you do answer the door (even if only to play games with them) make sure you film the experience.

hallowitch

get a letter sent of to B&S(recorded delivery) and copy to the council asking for the debt to be returned to the local authority because you are pregnant and unemployed therefore classed as vulnerable according to the national standards for enforcement agents 2002
http://www.dca.gov.uk/enforcement/agents02.htm

provide proof of your unemployed status and your pregnancy

ask the council to deduct payments from benefits under the Council Tax (Deductions from Income Support) Regulations 1993.

100% agree with HappyMJ

hallowitch

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/CertificatedBailiffs/

Is your bailiff certificated to Bristow & Sutor this list is not always 100% if you cant find him or he is not certificated to Bristow & Sutor phone Ministry of Justice Public Register of bailiffs on 020 3334 6355 and ask for the status of his current certificate
court he was certificated at
date of certification
to what bailiff firm he certificated to

hallowitch

send this to B&S
Name
Address
Bristow & Sutor Ref: Account No: 123456
Council Ref No: 435672
Date
Dear Sir,
With reference to the above accounts, please provide me with a breakdown of all fees charged and payments made for the above account
This includes:
a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.
b - The reason for the fee.
c - The name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.
d - The name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were certificated at.
e - The date of the Certification.
National Standards for Enforcement Agents state that if a written request is made an itemised account of fees will be provided.
Please provide the information requested within 7 days of this E-mail /recorded delivery letter
Yours faithfully
Ripped off customer"

Elsie1975

hallowitch wrote: »

Is your bailiff certificated to Bristow & Sutor this list is not always 100% if you cant find him or he is not certificated to Bristow & Sutor phone Ministry of Justice Public Register of bailiffs on 020 3334 6355 and ask for the status of his current certificate
court he was certificated at
date of certification
to what bailiff firm he certificated to

He is yes, have double checked the list and he is there certified to Bristow & Sutor. His certified until June 2011.

I will get the letters sent ASAP.

With regards to HappyMJ's advice, if he does threaten police, locksmiths etc and you say this is illegal, surely if I stand my ground & do not let him have a walking posession order-then legally I am ok? Does that mean he is just making illegal threats that cannot be carried out anyway?

We have talked all morning about if we should ignore the door or talk to him again and agree a monthly amount ( affordable to us ). Because I am so heavily pregnant, with a booked C section next week, if we ignore him today, I don't think I could stand cowering everytime the door goes, the worry would be too much. Plus, we have a 2yr old and its hardly fair to her that we hide when the door goes!!

He has confirmed via text to me today that we now owe £1053.79. Monthly thats around £87, which we may just be able to afford. If we agree to pay monthly do we ask his office to write & confirm?

HappyMJ

hallowitch wrote: »

send this to B&S
Name
Address
Bristow & Sutor Ref: Account No: 123456
Council Ref No: 435672
Date
Dear Sir,
With reference to the above accounts, please provide me with a breakdown of all fees charged and payments made for the above account
This includes:
a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.
b - The reason for the fee.
c - The name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.
d - The name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were certificated at.
e - The date of the Certification.
National Standards for Enforcement Agents state that if a written request is made an itemised account of fees will be provided.
Please provide the information requested within 7 days of this E-mail /recorded delivery letter
Yours faithfully
Ripped off customer"

Nahhhh...that's just wasting time, stamps and paper. Just let the debt return to council then tell council you are unemployed on job seekers allowance and can't pay a penny towards it. They'll then come back with a Deduction from Benefits order for £3.40 per week. That'll do.

HappyMJ

Elsie1975 wrote: »

He is yes, have double checked the list and he is there certified to Bristow & Sutor. His certified until June 2011.

I will get the letters sent ASAP.

With regards to HappyMJ's advice, if he does threaten police, locksmiths etc and you say this is illegal, surely if I stand my ground & do not let him have a walking posession order-then legally I am ok? Does that mean he is just making illegal threats that cannot be carried out anyway?

We have talked all morning about if we should ignore the door or talk to him again and agree a monthly amount ( affordable to us ). Because I am so heavily pregnant, with a booked C section next week, if we ignore him today, I don't think I could stand cowering everytime the door goes, the worry would be too much. Plus, we have a 2yr old and its hardly fair to her that we hide when the door goes!!

He has confirmed via text to me today that we now owe £1053.79. Monthly thats around £87, which we may just be able to afford. If we agree to pay monthly do we ask his office to write & confirm?

On JSA and you can afford £87 per month. Where do you get the money from? Debtors on JSA only have to pay £3.40 per week to repay the debt but only council can do that the bailiff can't. Tell them you are unemployed and skint and they can't come in. Tell them through the window or through the door. Don't open it.

Oh and another thing...when it goes back to council all the bailiff fees incurred so far are magically written off. Prior experience!!!

Elsie1975

HappyMJ wrote: »

On JSA and you can afford £87 per month. Where do you get the money from? Debtors on JSA only have to pay £3.40 per week to repay the debt but only council can do that the bailiff can't. Tell them you are unemployed and skint and they can't come in. Tell them through the window or through the door. Don't open it.

I would have no option but to us my child tax credits or child benefit to pay it. I would struggle, but what choice do I have?

Shall I text the bailiff now and tell him we are on JSA, can't afford to pay and will be writing to his office with proof of this to ask the debt be returned to council and to not bother coming round?

HappyMJ

Elsie1975 wrote: »

I would have no option but to us my child tax credits or child benefit to pay it. I would struggle, but what choice do I have?

Shall I text the bailiff now and tell him we are on JSA, can't afford to pay and will be writing to his office with proof of this to ask the debt be returned to council and to not bother coming round?

YES!!!! that's it...Your only option is to deal with council they won't do that as the debt is with the bailiff it must be returned to them. Your choice is to pay the debt from your benefits at a token amount. Do not feel pressured into paying more than you can afford.

As hallowitch said there is a law that allows deductions from benefits.