bailiffs knocking, whats my rights?

poppasmurf_bewdley

I can't help you with your current problem, but it may help if you aware of the difference between a debt for council tax and a debt for anything else.

Council Tax should always be treated as a priority debt as it is the only debt you can go to prison for. Forget paying Sky, the electricity, gas, water, Wonga, etc, etc. They can't send you to prison. Not paying Council Tax can.

vax2002

Sign nothing, anything you sign becomes a legal and binding contract.
Baton down the hatches, open an upstairs window, acknowledge the contact of the Baliff and demand he produces the order he claims to hold by placing it through the letter box, not a letter referencing to one, if he claims to be holding a liability order which has been signed by a magistrate tell him to produce it.
Again, not a letter talking of it, the order.
You will have more chance of them coughing up a set of sunglasses for a shark and they will never let you have it.
There is a very good reason as well but as this forum is "infested" by people who pedal the liability order myth on behalf of councils you should seek clarification off site as to what one actually is and your legal rights when all they can offer up is a fake.
Instruct the Blaiff that in the abscence of any such order been produced you deny the liability and tell them to refer back to the council.
Once they have had 3 goes, they will.
Then call the council and pay the "statement of account" they sent.

In the meantime google some of those "awkward to watch" videos about council tax and baliffs and see how they are repelled when pulled up on producing documents they claim to hold.

nottoolate

i think people better tell national debtline they are wrong? http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=02_bailiffs_and_council_tax

Start paying what you can afford to the council. Send them a letter with your personal budget sheet and ask them to accept regular payments. Make the payments anyway even if they refuse your offer. They will add these payments to your account and it shows you are willing to pay.

i'm sure an [STRIKE]ross & roberts employee[/STRIKE] alleged council employee with 2 posts and a clueless numtpy ex bailiff know better?

hallowitch

claireb467 wrote: »

I work for a council but under a different department. Once we send any debts off to Ross and Roberts we are unable to then talk about the debt to the person at all and any payments via our systems are disallowed. All we are allowed to say is to contact R and R.

are you employed by the local authority or the company the authority that outsources to is your employer Capita

System

I haven't got time to read this thread, but they CANNOT ENTER IF THEY ARE NOT INVITED (unless they've already put a lien on your goods).

claireb467

DVardysShadow wrote: »

You work for a different department, so unless you are talking about Council Tax debt, you may indeed be talking carp without intending to. Council Tax debt is different in Law to other debt.

If the debt you are talking about is ordinary civil debt, then your council may indeed be selling the debt to R&R, in which case they would be right to refuse any payments. Council Tax debt is not sold on as I understand it.

Yes, fair enough it may be different in another department but the debt in my department is also not sold on.

I was only trying to give a perspective and a insight form someone who works and is employed by a local authority. I do deal with debt being passed onto bailiffs on a daily basis within my department. Yes i am a newbie but this related to my job and i thought i could help.

RAS

Hi

You can make payments to the Council for CT debt on-line; just make sure you have the right account number so it is credited to the right year.

The bailiff can charge for two visits when he does not make a levy. The total allowable charge for those two visits is £42.50.

They cannot add any further legal charges unless they get into the house or put a valid levy on a vehicle. there are a number of other rules avbout this so come back if they try anything smart.

You need to make sure that all doors and windows are locked and that you do not answer the door without know who is there.

They can levy on a vehicle used just to get to work but not on a vehicle used in the course of your work (shifting materials to site etc).

You ned to write to R&R and ask tham for a breakdown of the charges as the bailiff is adding illegal fees (or pre-loading the debt as an NDL rep politely called it).

But do get it paid off ASAP and then pay the £42.50 to R&R.

lizard821000

sgtbush wrote: »

if you pay any money to the council it will float round a surplus account as the computer will not know where to allocate the money.
the debt is not sold to a bailiff company for council tax
if you dont talk to the bailiffs you are running the risk of the debt being passed back to the council as non enforced and you will end up in court, facing the council and they will do SOA's etc and the judge will decide how much you will pay

this is exactalky what i want! the debt to be passed back so i can then pay the council direct. not some 3rd party beef cake shouting in my ear for basicaly..... the add-on charges!!

claire, your comment did help, it helped me realize that your in communication with the enemy, so gunna stay clear.

great info though guys , helps me out a lot. looks like ill have to memorize some of that legal jargen to repeat to the thug that knocks my door. i wont pay him a thing!! not giving him my account details in a million years, the guy will clear my account right out!!

as said before too, i understand how important the debt is and im not trying to get out of paying it, i missed some payments due to un-for-seen circumstances and theyve passed the debt straight over to these guys!

would it help if i called the original council bailiff that i arranged the original payment order with? as i still have his number and he was a decent enough chap too.....

i will get it payed off too asap its pretty much the only debt i have, so its not like im up to my eyes in debt and running around laughing at the system. im straight up but wont deal with these sorts of guys.

sounds like my work van will be safe then!! i have a rear garden with an ally access.... can they jump over the wall and call levy on some goods i might have lying around the garden? say an old honda CB200?? or would that mean they trespassed?? when they come to my door should i also deniey them the right to knock my door again? or even set foot on my pathway to the door in first place? and if they do ill contact the police ??
if they start badgering me ill whip out my phone and start recording! while i deniy them the right to enter my house and set foot on my land?

RAS

They can jump over a wall and levy on an old Honda.

But for the levy to be valid the old Honda has to be worth enough at auction to cover the debt and the fees.

So if it is a vintage offering, you need to get it out of sight, if it is just knackered and for spares, then it is not a problem although the bailiff may try it on.

That is why if they levy, you need to come back here.

There was one levy that contained furniture that had been given to the OP or got off freecycle (not valid as essential household goods), a child's gaming machine (not owned by the debtor), a very old TV and another bit of old stuff.

The valid items would not have fetched a tenner at auction, so the whole levy was invalid.

lizard821000

ah right! well its just a heap tbh. spares for other projects. ill move it out of sight though and cover it. iv got a shed with a lock, so could put it in there and lock it up. they cant break the lock can they!

its prob worth a few hundred just coz they can fetch that amount for cafe racer project.....

if i caught them at my front door first and told them i had the right for them not to tresspass on my property , would that then mean they couldnt go into the garden? same way if i told them i have the right and deniy them theirs to knock my door? iv read this on another site? just seeing if there is any truth in this?