help with bailiffs please

cozzierep

hi im posting this on behalf of a friend...

she has been claiming benefits as got 2 kids, well bk in 2010 she started work in a florist but as self employed and she was on BELOW minimum wage. she worked for 17 weeks in total but then couldnt afford to pay the council tax ect on the wage she was earning, so she sent all the documents and invoices she had to the council to prove she wasnt eligible to pay full rate council tax ect, WHICH THE COUNCIL THEN LOST ALL OF THEM AND NEVER BEEN SEEN AGAIN!!

well she went to court last year and because she couldnt prove what wage she was earning she agreed to pay the £240 arreas which they are now taking £3 a week out of her benefits and she thought that was that, BUT now last week she had bailiffs come to her house and post a letter saying if payment of £370 isnt made in full they will come bk and take goods, so she has phoned the council to ask where her £3 a week is going and they have said its only coming off the rent arreas that was run up at the same time and the £240 council tax was a totally diffrent debt in which she had been paying for over a year the £3 she thought was covering both, she has had no letters ect regarding this debt since the court date, till the bailiffs went to her house last week and dropped the bomb shell, she phoned the bailiff that day and offerd him £100 cash if could sort a payment plan out for the rest and he refused the £100 and to phone him back when got £170 then he can set a payment plan up, she is a single parent on benefits with 2 kids, 1 of which has adhd and autism, so to pay £100 wouldve skint her out never mind paying £170!!

she has tried all the normal routes like citizens advice ect but they have bassicly just said got to pay the baliffs which she cant do on her income,

could anyone give her some advice on what to do as she is worried now and dont want to go bk to the house alone with the 2 kids,

many thanks
rob

vax2002

The prime word is SHE AGREED.
If she was eligible for benefit then agreeing to pay what she was not due was a very foolish and expensive mistake.

cozzierep

hi thanks for the comment back,

she agreed to pay the £3 a week to stop this from happening, she wasnt aware that she would have bailiffs turn up at her door 12 months later for more money that she thought was paying off thru the court,

what can she do about the bailiffs if anything at all?

thanks,
rob

RAS

Two issues

1. Why she is paying a debt she may not owe

2. More immediately, the bailiffs.

Has she let the bailiff in the house? Does she have a car?

And a lot of the extra cost is the bailiff pre-loading (NDL speak) the fees which she does not have to pay if she keeps him out of the house/prevents a levy on the car.

CIS

she agreed to pay the £3 a week to stop this from happening, she wasnt aware that she would have bailiffs turn up at her door 12 months later for more money that she thought was paying off thru the court,

Council Tax arrears (unless you at the stage of committal to prison) aren't under court ordered payment arrangements - it sounds like she has a CCJ for a Housing Benefit Overpayment, this is entirely separate to any council tax arrears. She would have been separately notified of the court case (magistrates court) for the Council Tax.

CIS

1. Why she is paying a debt she may not owe

The problem is she does until any Council Tax benefit (CTB) has been awarded - if CTB should have been awarded and wasn't it doesn't affect the legality of the council taking action to recover, morally however is a separate issue.

cozzierep

RAS wrote: »

Two issues

1. Why she is paying a debt she may not owe

2. More immediately, the bailiffs.

Has she let the bailiff in the house? Does she have a car?

And a lot of the extra cost is the bailiff pre-loading (NDL speak) the fees which she does not have to pay if she keeps him out of the house/prevents a levy on the car.

she was bassicly orderd to pay the money due to she couldnt proove the income she was on due to the councill losing all her documents and invoices, and no mate she hasnt let the bailiff in the house, and im staying at her house and i wont be letting the bailiff in either, she hasnt got a car but ive got 2 cars outside her house but both registerd to me so cant touch them can they??

thanks

cozzierep

CIS wrote: »

Council Tax arrears (unless you at the stage of committal to prison) aren't under court ordered payment arrangements - it sounds like she has a CCJ for a Housing Benefit Overpayment, this is entirely separate to any council tax arrears. She would have been separately notified of the court case (magistrates court) for the Council Tax.

hi mate, sorry but we dont understand what you mean, this is all new to her and me,

its not the housing benefit over payment the ccj is for its for rent arrears (and council tax arrears as she thought)

DS4215

cozzierep wrote: »

she was bassicly orderd to pay the money due to she couldnt proove the income she was on due to the councill losing all her documents and invoices, and no mate she hasnt let the bailiff in the house, and im staying at her house and i wont be letting the bailiff in either, she hasnt got a car but ive got 2 cars outside her house but both registerd to me so cant touch them can they??

thanks

They can quite probably clamp the cars and you would then have to prove that they were yours to have them freed. Better to park them away from her house until it is sorted.

cozzierep

i have got both the log books in my name to prove they are mine,

when she phoned the bailiff about the £100 to give them he said about the cars and she told him they aint her cars and he said will do checks but if he has then he would know they aint her cars,

someone has told her to make a payment direct to the councill on the internet then the bailiffs cant do anything because she is paying the debt off, if that true or just wishfull thinking??

thanks

RAS

CIS wrote: »

The problem is she does until any Council Tax benefit (CTB) has been awarded - if CTB should have been awarded and wasn't it doesn't affect the legality of the council taking action to recover, morally however is a separate issue.

Rephrase - why did she not fight this decision and find alternative proof of income?