Need to sort my debts out - (Formally - Jacobs Certified Bailiffs)

bradigor

Hi,

We have just received a letter from Jacobs from a previous address (2005-2010) stating a Bailiff Removal:

Letter Reads:-

Dear....

If the above amount is not paid in full to this office within 7 Days of the above date, we will have no option but to enforce the liability order by the bailiff attending you premises with a view to siezing your goods for sale by public auction. You should note that if we do seize and remove your goods, it is unlikely that further costs will be less than £110.

If you cannot pay in full now, you must contact this office immediately to avoid the possibility of having your goods removed for sale and the additional costs of such action.

PAYMENT OPTIONS

We know we owe this money and this is now a case of past errors catching up with us. We are already paying another bailiff £80 per month and out current council tax is £90 per month which is being paid.

I have drafted two letters, one to the council and one to the bailiff that read as follows:

Bailiff:-

Dear Sir/Madam

Re: Your Reference - 5615477

I understand from your recent correspondence, that you are considering enforcing a Liability Order against me for non payment of my Council Tax.

Firstly, I would like to make you aware that I am aware of my rights, and I will not allow a bailiff entry into my property to levy on goods.
Doing this will not only ensure that I will have to incur additional charges that I cannot afford, but more importantly, will cause me real hardship which will lead me to fall into arrears with other essential bills and my current Council Tax.

I would like to make it very clear, that I am not refusing to pay my council tax liability. I am willing to pay this debt, but at an affordable level.

Taking the above into consideration, I would like to propose to settle the arrears over a period of 34 months by way of monthly repayments at the rate of - £40

I am aware that this is repayment proposal is spread over quite a considerable period of time, but I am confident that I can pay this amount without falling into arrears with not only my current council tax bill ,but other essential utility bills including rent payments.

I am hoping that you can agree to this proposal, and accordingly, I can make a payment of £40 by debit card on 24th of this month. My preferred method of repayment would be by way of standing order/ direct debit, and if this offer is accepted, could you also forward to me the relevant forms that I can send to my bank.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your co-operation in this matter, and if you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours Faithfully.

Council: -

Date – 08/07/2011

Dear Sir/Madam
Re: Your Reference – 54599623

I am writing to you with regards to the above reference and an outstanding council tax bill. I wish to inform you that I am not refusing to pay this balance. However we did try to sort this in the past over the phone, but nothing ever came of it (including promised calls back) so we are now doing this via letter to sort this once and for all.

From your files, you are no doubt aware that I have had difficulty paying my council tax. Therefore, forwarding my account to bailiffs, will not only ensure that I will have to incur additional charges that I cannot afford, but more importantly, will cause me real hardship which will lead me to fall into arrears with other essential bills and my current Council Tax.

I worked out my full finances and after my essential outgoings are accounted for (Rent, Utilities, Work Travel, Food, Current Council Tax) I can afford monthly repayments of £40 per month. I understand this would take a considerable amount of time to pay off, however this is the most I can afford with the promise I won't miss a payment and fall into further arrears.

Below is a copy of the letter I have sent to Jacobs Certified Bailiffs (should you refuse to respond or help), I would feel more comfortable paying direct to yourselves as the additional charges the Bailiffs add on will make it even harder to make the payments. There for this is a formal request for yourselves to take back the debt and accept monthly Direct Debit Payments for the required number of months to get this paid off.

Is this the right action to take? I have 5 months left of payments to the other bailiff for the record. Also the only things of value we have in the house are my partners car and our TV, games console and laptops. (do beds, white goods, wardrobe and drawers count?)

I need the laptops for work (these are vital to the job I do) I also have no receipt to say the TV is mine as I bought it from a neighbour for straight cash.

Is there anything I can do to see they accept the £40 per month payment? Or am I screwed?

Also, if a bailiff does come to the door, what happens if my 4 year old gets there first (he has a knack of running as quick as he can to door when it is knocked at). Can he legally gain entry via a child?

Thanks in advance.

kt1inamillion

Hi

Anything can be taken by a baliff unless its needed to care for a child. So fridge/freezer and cook and you little ones bed will be ok. You would need to prove the laptops are for wroking and they may leave them but they can take them unless they belong to the company you work for. A baliff can gain entry to a property within any means as long as they don't damage the property. For Example if child opens door yes, if they can gain entry throguh a open window yes etc...

I would suggest ringing them and making the offer of payment via phone you may find they will accept it as it cost them to send people out but also sned the letters. Are you sending a SOA with the letter? I would also suggest sending letters from other people you may have arrangments with.

Take Care
Katie

bradigor

I wasn't, but I can do that...Can I post my SOA here?

I have seen a lot of advice (to others) before posting here, that say one shouldn't ring or make arrangements over the phone.

Thanks for the advice on the gaining entry, I shall keep the front door locked even when in the, so he cannot open the door. I actually think the £40 was optimistic as I forgot completely to add the car tax to the record.
What happens if someone else claims to own the goods in my property? Can they take those?

Apologies if some of these questions sound idiotic, just trying to cover ourselves as best as possible.

bradigor

Ok, this has prompted me into looking at my main debts.

I currently owe the following


Knowsley Council / Jacobs Certified Bailiffs - £1375 - (Covering a period between 2005-2010 in Liverpool)
United Utilities - £1100 - (From living in Liverpool, but I think this has a lot of fees added too)
Water - £480 - (From current property)
Whyte & Co - £568 (Covering Last years council tax)

TOTAL - 3523

_______________________________

I am not going to pretend I have been an idiot. I now need to get my life in order. I have been letting this all get on top of me mentally too and I hate myself.

Everything I look at for IVA, DRO, Bankruptcy, etc seems to mainly cover unsecured debts such as credit cards, loans, etc. However these are my big worry.

I really do not know where to turn, everything I read at the moment seems to just go over my head and I cannot take it in at all.

Any help is appreciated.

Naide

Contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau. We had dealings with Jacobs many moons ago and they were horrible back then. CAB were fantastic and it stopped all the sleepless nights on our part. One thing I did do though, was organise all our bills in to files, attached letters, etc. Just to make things much simpler for CAB to go through everything with us. I put everything in order of date that I received everything too. They helped us stave off any creditors with sensible offers in place and we were left alone to make our affordable payments.
It's a terrifying place to be and I know what it felt like.
Good Luck!

HappyMJ

kt1inamillion wrote: »

Hi

Anything can be taken by a baliff unless its needed to care for a child. So fridge/freezer and cook and you little ones bed will be ok. You would need to prove the laptops are for wroking and they may leave them but they can take them unless they belong to the company you work for. A baliff can gain entry to a property within any means as long as they don't damage the property. For Example if child opens door yes, errr NO they cannot access a property if a child opens the door. That would be highly illegal. if they can gain entry throguh a open window yes etc... Yes that's true but if they come across a child and no adults appear to be present they MUST leave immediately without making ANY further enquiries.

I would suggest ringing them and making the offer of payment via phone you may find they will accept it as it cost them to send people out but also sned the letters. Are you sending a SOA with the letter? I would also suggest sending letters from other people you may have arrangments with.

Take Care
Katie

OP, do you have anything worth taking? I have laptops myself. I have purchased some of these with my company name printed on them (whether it's your own or your employer just use any name that is related to yourself) and affixed them to anything of value. http://www.seareach.plc.uk/sample-designs.htm

bradigor

HappyMJ:

My full list of items in my property:

HD TV
Xbox 360 + about 10 games
Various retro games consoles and games (not worth much as nothing rare)
Dining Table + 4 chairs
3 x Chest of Drawers (split between our room and sons room)
Wardrobe
Cooker (landlords own)
Washing Machine (cheapest model possible)
Fridge (cheapest model possible)
Freezer (cheapest model possible)
2 x Sofa (poor condition)
1 x Sony Laptop (main work computer)
1 x Netbook (used for testing work)
Small TV (sons room)
Old CRT TV
Sons bed
Our Bed (years old cost £45 ex hotel bed)

Car (worth less £700)

That is literally everything we own, bar toys and food.

RAS

Hi

You have been given a certain amount of duff information so far.

Unless you allow a bailiff to enter your home or own a car, he cannot levy on your property. This limits his capacity to get you to pay the debt. For the privilege of two visits he can charge £42.50 and no more.

We routinely find that baillifs add additional illegal fees when people come on here.

So we need to know with respect to each of the debts above whether the bailiff entered the house or levied on the car and what fees are charged.

Beyond this, when are the other debts going to be paid off; Councils usually ask for payments within 2 years, not 34 months. If any other debt was due to finish soon, you could add that allocation to increase the payment after it ends?

It is most unwise to own a car when a bailiff is around, unless it is on finace as they cannot take property which has debt secured on it or tools of the trade.

You need to start by asking each of the creditors for the value of the liaibility order.

RAS

bradigor wrote: »

HD TV
Xbox 360 + about 10 games
Car (worth less £700)

These items are vulnerable - and frankly you do not need the HD TV or xbox really, do you?

1 x Sony Laptop (main work computer)
1 x Netbook (used for testing work)

If these are used for employment they are safe, although the bailiff would moan

Do you absolutely need the car?

HappyMJ

bradigor wrote: »

HappyMJ:

My full list of items in my property:

HD TV Maybe worth £100-£150 second hand
Xbox 360 + about 10 games Worth no more £100 second hand with all the games
Various retro games consoles and games (not worth much as nothing rare) So about £10 max then?
Dining Table + 4 chairs They can take this. They leave one seat or chair per person and take the rest.
3 x Chest of Drawers (split between our room and sons room) What are they worth? sometimes they'll take depends on value.
Wardrobe again same as above if under £20 they'll leave it not worth the hassle.
Cooker (landlords own) They can't have this
Washing Machine (cheapest model possible) They usually leave this
Fridge (cheapest model possible) They will leave this
Freezer (cheapest model possible) and this
2 x Sofa (poor condition) so worthless then?
1 x Sony Laptop (main work computer) Make sure the work ID sticker is on it.
1 x Netbook (used for testing work) Same as above
Small TV (sons room) it's not yours
Old CRT TV Worth about £5 they won't be bothered
Sons bed They can't have this
Our Bed (years old cost £45 ex hotel bed) They will leave this

Car (worth less £700)

That is literally everything we own, bar toys and food.

Right probably best to avoid letting them in ever. I think they'll have enough to cover some of the debt. About £300 worth. They don't usually touch cars that aren't worth much. is the £700 what you think it's worth or the value they would get at auction? My car is a Puegeot 306 XLD - P reg worth £500 and every time I say take it they say they can't be bothered it's not worth the towing charge and auction fees. I don't have anywhere near enough stuff of value so they give up and return the debt to council.

RAS

Can I suggest that you need to joiin www.freegle.org.uk from which you can probably get some better furniture for free.