Extortionate Bailiffs

Luffy321

This morning I woke up and I found a bailiff note from Chandliers Limited demanding £258.77.

The original story was I owned £458.77 but I made an arrangement with the bailiffs to pay £55 a month. I have been regularly paying since January before the 1st of every month. But due to extenuating circumstances I missed one payment for May. I contacted then and told them I could not pay for that month but I will pay May and June's installment together ,in June, which I duly did on the 26th of June (£110), with a remaining balance £128.77 to pay.

As far as I was concerned I was up to date on my latest payments but was surprised to learn that they were demanding full payment with an incurred cost of £130 added (£258) when I only had two payments left.

The Bailiff said if I had a problem making a payment I could contact them which I did. They were fully aware I would promptly pay May and June's installment when I did. After speaking to the enforcement officer, it is clear that they are arbitrarily adding costs and demanding that I will pay immediately or they will come and remove my things.

Is there anything I can (external organisations?) do to get them to go back to the original agreement of £128.77 to pay left.

isplumm

Luffy321 wrote: »

This morning I woke up and I found a bailiff note from Chandliers Limited demanding £258.77.

The original story was I owned £458.77 but I made an arrangement with the bailiffs to pay £55 a month. I have been regularly paying since January before the 1st of every month. But due to extenuating circumstances I missed one payment for May. I contacted then and told them I could not pay for that month but I will pay May and June's installment together ,in June, which I duly did on the 26th of June (£110), with a remaining balance £128.77 to pay.

As far as I was concerned I was up to date on my latest payments but was surprised to learn that they were demanding full payment with an incurred cost of £130 added (£258) when I only had two payments left.

The Bailiff said if I had a problem making a payment I could contact them which I did. They were fully aware I would promptly pay May and June's installment when I did. After speaking to the enforcement officer, it is clear that they are arbitrarily adding costs and demanding that I will pay immediately or they will come and remove my things.

Is there anything I can (external organisations?) do to get them to go back to the original agreement of £128.77 to pay left.

Hi,

Not sure why you have put this under travel?

Try http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76 debt free board or

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=211 citizens advise board

Mark

visidigi

isplumm wrote: »

Hi,

Not sure why you have put this under travel?

Try http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76 debt free board or

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=211 citizens advise board

Mark

Its on consumer rights?

Luffy321

I thought it was under consumer rights? Is this not the right place? I will try your links.

Fosterdog

What debt are the bailiffs chasing you for?

It may be worth contacting whoever has instructed them, however it was you who originally broke the agreement so even though they may be in the wrong now it will reflect badly on you.

How did you contact them to arrange a later payment? How much notice did you give them that payment would be late? Have they given you a list detailing what fees they are allowed to charge? What does this say about costs for a late/missed payment?

isplumm

Luffy321 wrote: »

I thought it was under consumer rights? Is this not the right place? I will try your links.

Weird - I was looking at the travel board - saw this post - thought wrong place - so suggested change .... now it is under consumer rights ....

Ok - so I'm finally losing it!!!!:o

Mark

Luffy321

Fosterdog wrote: »

What debt are the bailiffs chasing you for?

It may be worth contacting whoever has instructed them, however it was you who originally broke the agreement so even though they may be in the wrong now it will reflect badly on you.

How did you contact them to arrange a later payment? How much notice did you give them that payment would be late? Have they given you a list detailing what fees they are allowed to charge? What does this say about costs for a late/missed payment?

Thanks for the reply.

They were instructed by the council because I was late on paying my council tax.

I am taking the council to court because they deferred straight to bailiffs without providing me with any notice that I was in debt.

I phoned the bailiffs as soon as I knew I could not make the payment. I accept that I am in the position of being wrong however if they knew they were going to charge me for defaulting regardless of whether I paid for May and June or not, why did they agree that I could pay late?

Clearly, I am in the grey area of the law, I am not really interested in who is right or wrong.

I just want to know what I can do or say to get them to back off a little bit rather than having to pay a lump sum at a go which I cannot afford.

arcon5

Ask them for a breakdown of the charges added.

There is a member on MSE who deals with council tax debt and can advise more accurately if he finds this post but I do remember him saying the charges for council tax related debts are fixed in law so you should try to clarify what the charges are and whether they are in keeping with this.

If I was you I want simply continue to make the agreed payments each month and send them a letter telling them of your intentions and that you deem the charges unfair after they agreed to defer a payment 2 months ago.

You say it was sent straight to baliffs, was the court involved at any point? Did you change address or anything? Seems a bit of a knee jerk reaction to go straight to baliffs and nothing else after missing 5 payments

hallowitch

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4071445

i posted on this thread

Luffy321

arcon5 wrote: »

Ask them for a breakdown of the charges added.

There is a member on MSE who deals with council tax debt and can advise more accurately if he finds this post but I do remember him saying the charges for council tax related debts are fixed in law so you should try to clarify what the charges are and whether they are in keeping with this.

If I was you I want simply continue to make the agreed payments each month and send them a letter telling them of your intentions and that you deem the charges unfair after they agreed to defer a payment 2 months ago.

You say it was sent straight to baliffs, was the court involved at any point? Did you change address or anything? Seems a bit of a knee jerk reaction to go straight to baliffs and nothing else after missing 5 payments

The council has already taken me to court because they wanted to evict me. The case was settled. The case was a bit pointless as it seems the purpose was to get me evicted because at no point did I say I was not going to pay the money (I didnt even know). They just deferred the debt straight to bailiffs and took me to court to try and evict me.

After I have settled my debt with the bailiffs, I am going to take the council to court for the way they have conducted themselves. All of this could have been avoided if they had forewarned me that I was in debt and that I needed to pay. Within the space of missing 1 payment of council tax after 10 years of paying it on time, they came down on like this is quite incredulous.

CIS

I am taking the council to court because they deferred straight to bailiffs without providing me with any notice that I was in debt.

Before a bailiff has been instructed you would have a a demand notice, at least 1 reminder, a court summons and a 14 day notice before bailiff action. This takes at least 6-8weeks at the very quickest so you they didn't just refer it straight to a bailiff for a missed payment.

The council has already taken me to court because they wanted to evict me. The case was settled. The case was a bit pointless as it seems the purpose was to get me evicted because at no point did I say I was not going to pay the money (I didnt even know). They just deferred the debt straight to bailiffs and took me to court to try and evict me.

In any case you cant be evicted for council tax arrears so its two separate issues. There seems to be more to this than meets the eye.