Bailiffs (Bristow and Sutor) please, please help

stressed123

Hi all, I would REALLY appreciate some advice!

I had a letter put through my letter box this morning from a bailiff from Bristow and Sutor with a 'Notice of Intended seizure of your goods' The letter states that I owe £550 which includes costs up until now. It says below that to prevent any further visits I must pay this in full- if I cannot pay this full amount I should ring the office immediately, which I did. I was told over the phone to ring the bailiff to arange a visit to discuss payment.

BACKGROUND

I had fallen behind with council tax payments which we phoned and thought we had sorted out. We then had a letter stating that our account was being passed to Bristow and Sutor (liability order I think if I remember correctly?) I phoned the council and was told that we still some money from last year so the money we paid the catch up wasn't enough ?(we were NOT told about this on the phone previously otherwise we would have been able to pay it, was only a smallish amount) hence this action was taken.

My husband phoned Bristow and Sutor and arranged to pay £37 a week via the internet. We paid around £300 off but very stupidly missed a couple of weekly payments, purely due to personal family circumstances (I could seriously kick myself, have been so bloody stupid letting this happen) I was told because of mising payments, the installment plan has ended and as a result have been passed on to the bailiff.

Anyway, I have phoned the bailiff to try and arrange something, have left a voicemail with my number but haven't heard anything. He is in my area all day today, not sure when he is again next.

We just can't afford to pay this now, I'm on maternity leave and have newborn twins. We thought about offering £100 today then trying to come to an arrangement for the rest?

I know NOT to let them in, and have read some fantastic advice on here already. I would just like to know:

• if it's likely the bailiff would let me pay £100 when I see him then the rest within 2 months (at the latest?) if we don't let him in? Would this add extra charges anyway?
• we have a car- we would be in serious trouble if we lost this as my husband would be unable to do overtime. I read about parking it elsewhere- what do we say if the bailiff asks if we have a car?
• I have also read about asking the council to take it back if I pay them directly, and to ignore the bailiff..... unsure about this? I don't want to bury my head in the sand. Have also read NOT to ring the bailiff but I really want to get this sorted, I feel ill. Also, the council were unhelpful orginally and said just to contact Bristow and Sutor and that they generally let you pay in installments (that I stupidly messed up)

Sorry if this is long, I would be so grateful for any input.

Thank you

Just to add:

the car wasn't here this morning when he called round, and I only noticed the notice had been put throught the door when I went past the front door, was in all morning so pretty sure he didn't knock, just put it through the letter box

littleladybird

Hi Stressed I'm really not able to offer any advice regarding your situation but I'm sure someone will be along soon with the information you need.

Good luck and congratulations on the birth of your babies

llb x

dancingfairy

Hi - the less talking you do to the bailiffs the better. They shouldn't ask you about a car - not sure why they would - it's not up to you to tell them about it. Just make sure it is parked several blocks away as far as possible.
DO NOT let them into the house at all.
The bailiff should accept the 100 pounds although they are likely to put severe pressure on you to let them into the house first to complete paperwork or some other such nonsense. Letting them in will incur extra charges and leave you in a much worse position. The bailiff will not want to accept the 100 pounds without getting into your house but frankly they would be pretty stupid if they didn't take it (just make sure you get a receipt). If on the off chance they were very stupid and refused to take it I would complain to the council and the bailiff's head office in writing.
Can you not pay it online still as this would remove the bailiff out of the equation somewhat and mean you are less likely to feel threatened/bullied by them.
The council CAN take the debt back if they so feel like it. Genenerally they will tell you that they can't - after all why would they employ a bailiff firm and then take the debt back??
The bailiffs can only charge for a maximum of 2 visits (about 42.50 ish in charges I think) as long as they do not levy on your items - to do this they would either need to levy on your car (which you will have parked a long way away or been into your house). Eventually when the bailiffs realise that you will not be dictated to they will get fed up and return the debt to the council anyway. You MAY be able to appeal to the head of council tax to take the debt back based on the fact that you have newborn twins.
Oh and make sure the money you are paying goes against the correct council tax year as it seems you are now uptodate with this year (and possibly have had to pay for the rest of the year already?) but you owe for last year? Do make sure it goes against the right debt otherwise you can end up in the silly situation of being in credit for this year/next year but in toruble for owing on last years bill still.
National Debtline have a very helpful factsheet on how to deal with bailiffs for council tax as well.
Best of Luck
df

stressed123

Thanks so much for your replies. My husband has tried to contact both bristol and sutor (had closed) and the bailiff, who isn't answering his phone, so guess we're going to have to wait until Monday, (have read bailiffs aren't supposed to come around on a sunday?) when we're going to phone the council and really appeal to them to take it back (know this is a long shot but worth a try)

Thanks again

McKneff

The council wont normally take it back unlesss there are no assets to sieze, as far as I know.

hallowitch

First thing Monday phone the council (recorded if you can)

ask them to confirm

the amount of the liability order
the date it was passed to Bristow & sutior
What fees bristow & sutior have added to your account
the date each fee was added
the reason for each fee

If the person on the phone tell you they cant give the information regarding the fees tell them you want to speak to head of revenues as you know this information is on there screenshot if he refuses ask him his name tell him you are going to complain to the Chief executive
if he does tell you
the fees should be
1st visit fee £24.50
2nd visit fee £18

if he mentions a levy fee tell him you have not recived a notice of distress tell him this document is a legal requierment under The Council Tax (administration and Enforcment )regulations 1992

ask him what goods the bailiff has levied (he may/wont know the answer to this) ask him his name(if you don't already know) and tell him don't ask tell him to phone you back within the hour to confirm what goods there contractors have levied on behalf of the council) if he doesn't phone you back phone him
van attendance fee (don't worry about this fee at the moment)

once you have this information post back here

in the meantime keep your car well away from your house

stressed123

Thanks for your advice, I am very concerned about the car, we have parked it around the corner so not far at all- we don't really have anywhere to park it further away. We do have a garage (at the back of the house but still part of the house, if you see what I mean), would storing it in there work if the bailiff still doesn't gain access to the house?

Is it likely they will give us reasonable time to pay it off? If my husband managed to do more overtime we may be able to pay it off fully within a month- does anyone have any experience/general idea of time frames/what a bailiff would accept? Would they be wanting/willing to come to an arrangement even if they managed to levy my car?

Sorry for all the questions, I do really appreciate all your help

hallowitch

is your car on HP/finance

i forgot to mention in my previous post you need to also ask the council the outstanding balance

bailiffs work Monday till Saturday 6am till 9pm

as long as your garage is locked then it should be OK in garage if your garage has a window cover the car with something

bailiffs can legally open your door and walk in so keep all outside doors locked especially when you are at home don't even put the rubbish out without locking the door behind you

if you are going to make an offer of payment to the bailiff record the call if you cant put your offer in writing to the revenues dep of your council

you can make payments to the council direct using there on-line payment facility if you are paying this years liability

as long as the bailiff doesn't levy your goods you should be OK

stressed123

Thanks for that hallowitch, hadn't even thought about the window in the garage!

I had considered just paying either online to either the council or bristow and suitor, but I'm worried it could make things worse with regards to ignoring the bailiff (Bristow and Sutor said it had now been passed on to this man so had to deal with him).... but surely he is employed by them so is under their control? Also the fact the note pushed through my door said to contact the office immediately if we couldn't pay the full amount, yet all they did was refer me back to the bailiff.

We've parked the car elsewhere for now- not sure whether the car is ok there but seemed the best option for the moment. Garage is full of things. although I could move into the house if needed, but I'm concerned about having the car near the house anyway incase my husband is seen going to and from work!!

Thanks again everyone, I will update tomorrow

hallowitch

if your hubby uses the car then yes the best option is to park it away from the house
tell him to be very careful and to have to have a good look about before he goes near it

you may not be able to pay B&S on line as a rule if an agreement is defaulted on they suspend this service

Is the car on finance /HP (if yes they cant levy it)
if the car has little/no value when sold at auction they shouldn't levy it (they will but they shouldn't)

goods levied must cover all bailiff fees to include
1st&2nd visit fee .levy fee, van/attendance fee, removal fee, storage fee, auction fees , and a large portion of the debt

stressed123

UPDATE


Well my husband phoned first thing this morning and was told we can set up another payment plan through the office instead of the bailiff. They said they couldn't offer to do this on Saturday due to banking (!) which is why they said to speak to the bailiff directly.

They asked what we had in mind for repayments and we offered some upfront today with the rest to be paid in 2 months. They have put a note on our file to say we have done this and are contacting the bailiff to let him know our file has been updated and no visits are needed.

Why they couldn't say this to me on Saturday I'm not sure. This has been one hell of a wake up call though.

Thank you so much for all the comments and advice