Rossendales Bailiffs Need Advice

shopaholic2639

Hi,
I received a letter from the company above stating they are now in charge of a debt for council tax recovery. I know I owe this money but had been speaking directly to the council about this hoping to sort it out between us.
Anyhow the council havent been too helpful and have now said that I must pay the bailiffs and deal directly with them.
So, I called the bailiff on the letter, he says I have 3 choices:
1. I pay the full ammount (Not an option as I dont have the spare money)
2. I dont pay & they will come take anything I own to pay for the debt
3. He comes to my house, takes a list of property that could be sold, I pay £50 deposit which comes off the debt & fill out an income & expediture form with him to come to a payment plan.
I opted for 3. but since thinking about it, I really dont want to have him in my house taking lists of things I own (not that I own much anyhow). Not only that but the bailiff isnt local to my area so he told me he wasnt sure when he would next be around. I have to call him on Thurs this week if he hasnt called me to see if he knows a date/time he will be in my area. This means I have to take time off work which is not convienient at short notice nor something I wish to do.
So, my question is when I call him on Thurs I would like to be in a position to know my rights. I want to be able to set up a payment option without him coming into my home. Am I within my rights to do this?
Would appreciate anyones guidance as this is making me ill with worry. Im already on medication for aniexty & panic disorder, this is not helping.

chanz4

"Im already on medication for aniexty & panic disorder, this is not helping. " is your jail free break. Copy your doctors notes and send them to your council stating your vunerable, don't let the baliff in

CIS

I want to be able to set up a payment option without him coming into my home. Am I within my rights to do this?

The bailiff has no legal requirement to accept anything other than full payment- taking a levy before making a payment requirement can be a condition that the bailiff can make

RAS

shopaholic2639 wrote: »

Hi,
So, I called the bailiff on the letter, he says I have 3 choices:
1. I pay the full ammount (Not an option as I dont have the spare money)
2. I dont pay & they will come take anything I own to pay for the debt
3. He comes to my house, takes a list of property that could be sold, I pay £50 deposit which comes off the debt & fill out an income & expediture form with him to come to a payment plan.
I opted for 3. but since thinking about it, I really dont want to have him in my house taking lists of things I own (not that I own much anyhow).

He is lying through his teeth.

He may not be legally required to accept anythign other than full payment, but then the Council is not required to accept anything other than full payment either.

It is really important that you do not let him into your house. Why - because if he delivers two letters he can charge you £42.50 on top of the liability order.

In practice, you can make payments against the account and then pay off his fees.

If you let him the house, he can charge you lots of extra fees. he can force you to offer a payment schedule that you cannot keep. If you fail to make a payment, he can ring you and threaten you with taking away your possessions and if he comes to your house he can add loads of extra fees. hwe can bring a locksmith and break in.

If you let him in the house, it will be very stressful and you will end up paying anything upto another £250 in fees.

Not letting him in means you have to keep the doors and windows locked at all time.

Do you have a car?

Please get this straight however. This is a priority debt. If you have a credit card, paying off your Ct is much more important than paying the credit card this month. You need to rein in all other spending, see what you can sell on e-bay or amazon etc and clear this debt ASAP.

fatbelly

Good advice from RAS

If you can clear this by instalments over say 6 months, it may be worth contacting Rossendales head office and requesting time to pay

They do a payment barcode option

That's the option 4 the bailiff didn't mention

Edit - just had a closer look at that Rossendales form. It might be safer letting the CAB or someone else negotiate an arrangement for you rather than doing it yourself.

shopaholic2639

Thanks for the advice...fatbelly I have filled in the form and emailed to Rossendales just now.
I am on a DMP & I am aware that this is a proirity debt hence why I am not trying to ignore it. Problem has been where I was talking directly with the council to sort this out, not getting a response from the council to arrange a payment plan and then receiving this letter out of the blue. I have offered a reasonable monthly ammount in comparison to my expediture & hope to clear this debt by end of year.
When I speak to the bailiff again I will inform him what I have done & my reasons for it. I cant handle the stress and worry of him being in my home with the problems I have.
Thanks again!!!

[Deleted User]

shopaholic2639 wrote: »

2. I dont pay & they will come take anything I own to pay for the debt

They can't take anything you own.

Thy can take some things, but there are some things that can't be taken.

RAS

Do you have a car?

hallowitch

I have filled in the form and emailed to Rossendales just now.


E-mail a copy to the revenues depart of your council

If rossers refuse your payment proposal tell them to send the debt back to the council and you will deal with them as this is the most you can afford without going into default

INSIST you pay by standing order again if they refuse ask them to return the debt back to the council as you will not agree to pay every month by card payment or there on-line facility due to the fact you will forget to make payments thus putting you back to square one

If they insist they need to levy goods before they can set up a payment agreement again tell them to return the debt to the council as you will under no circumstances allow them into your home to levy your goods

if they refuse get in touch with your MP and local councillor

all e-mails you send the rossers copy to the council

If they agree to your payment proposal make dam sure you confirm in writing the date they expect payments to reach your account

say the agreed date to reach your account is the 8th of every month set up the standing order to leave your account on the the 1st

in the meantime if you have your councils payment details and your account n.o. pay them using there on-line payment facility

shopaholic2639

My reply just now from Rossendales
Thank you for your email.

Please provide us with a letter from the hospital or the doctor which states your condition.

Your case is allocated to the first call bailiff who is here to assist you. His role is to carry out a levy to secure the debt and leave you all the relevant paperwork to complete and return to the office to have instalments considered.

You do need to contact the first call bailiff on 07894480074 to discuss your account further.

Thanks for advice Hallowitch I am now going to forward to my contact at council too.

vax2002

Option 4, tell the bailiff to get stuffed from an upstairs window 3 times, the debt goes back to the council, pay the council the council tax in full