Council Tax Bailiff Advice

Forever_Broke

Hi there, I'm after some advice on a bailiff i've had to deal with this morning.

Yesterday when my partner was at home there was a knock at the door and it was Jacobs Bailiffs regading council tax arrears. She didn't let them in and they left a number to call of the bailiff in charge.

We do indeed owe the council tax, once chunk from last year for our old house and the whole of this year for the new house. We were trying to sort this direct with the council as I would have rather paid direct to them.

I called him to see if we could setup a repayment plan and he said it would be a £50 up front charge and then we had 8 months to pay it off so I said I would leave a cheque with the other half but she wouldn't be signing anything and if he needed anything signing he would need to see me.

Cut to this morning I was called at work by my other half, she had let them in the house and they were trying to get her to sign something and were getting intimidating when she refused so I spoke to them and repeated what I said yesterday and after a brief argument they agreed to come to my work.

Sadly when they got to my work I was strapped for time so signed the forms and off they went. Now I've had a chance to look at the forms I see one is a walking possession agreement. Doh!
Looking at the other paperwork they are wanting £66 per week and have charged fees of £44 + £24.50 + £12 on one of the debts and £24.50 + £12 + £60 + £24.50 on the other so a total of £201.50 in fees!!!

I've done some digging and found out that the bailiff that was in the house this morning isn't certified either.

Now I may be wrong, which is why I need advice, but A) don't bailiffs need to be certified to collect council tax debts and i thought walking possession agreements had to be signed at the time of the inventory at the house. Is any of this true?

hallowitch

anyone levying distress for council tax must be certificated the register of certificated bailiffs is not always 100% accurate if you phone MOJ on 0845 4085302 they will tell if the bailiff is certificated date of certificate and company he is certificated to

the WPA does not need to be signed by the debtor

they cant charge multiple fees when enforcing more than one liability order at the same time
if you have been charged 2 sets of levy&WPA fees then you must have 2 notice of seizure's
the goods levied must cover all bailiff fees to include removal fees ,storage fees, auction fees ,and a potion of the debt

some goods are exempt from seizure
most fees are set by legislation
can you list the goods levied
the outstanding balance against each liability order
the fees charged as written on the notice of seizure

Forever_Broke

Thank you for that number, I will give them a call and check when I finish work.

This will teach me for not reading stuff thoroughly before I sign them, he just handed them to me one on top of the other and I signed without looking.

There are indeed two WPA's - one for £638.72 plus costs of £44, £24.50 and £12.

The 2nd one is for £1279.38 plus costs of £24.50, £12, £60 and £24.50.

They are both the same inventory wise.....

Bush flat screen TV
Black and glass TV unit
Book case
Brown corner suite
XBox 360
Wooden Dining Table (Landlords, not ours)
Red Hoover
White Chest Freeze

hallowitch

Forever_Broke wrote: »

Thank you for that number, I will give them a call and check when I finish work.

This will teach me for not reading stuff thoroughly before I sign them, he just handed them to me one on top of the other and I signed without looking.

There are indeed two WPA's - one for £638.72 plus costs of £44, £24.50 and £12.

The 2nd one is for £1279.38 plus costs of £24.50,(1st visit fee) £12,(WPA fee because you signed the WPA) £60 (levy fee )and £24.50.(i take this is a hedder H fee cant be charged at this stage of enforcement )

They are both the same inventory wise.....

Bush flat screen TV(new old on hp )
Black and glass TV unit
Book case
Brown corner suite(if this was removed would it leave enough seating for your family )
XBox 360
Wooden Dining Table (Landlords, not ours)(exempt from seizure if you don't have another table that and the fact it belongs to your landlord is it listed on your tenancy agreement )
Red Hoover (exempt)
White Chest Freeze

(do you have another freezer)

your levy is not looking to clever for the bailiff
the MOJ is only open between 10.00am and 4 pm.

I'm not on here all the time and there are very few people here that can help you with this would you please register with this site and post there please its free and full of experts
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?168-Bailiffs-and-High-Court-Enforcement-Officers

Forever_Broke

Thank you, I'll get registered on that site today and see what they say.

As for the items on the inventory.....

The TV is approximately 2 years old and is fully owned by us.
The sofa is the only seating we have (other than the chairs that go with the landlords dining table)
We don't have another table and yes it is on the tenancy agreement (my partner told them this but they still wrote it down)
No we don't have another freezer

HeadInTheSand

1 tactic, (i know has worked for lots of people) this is only if things get out of hand.

SELL ALL your stuff to a friend for £5. Get a written and signed reciept from your 'friend'

That way, they cant the goods from your house, as it nots yours. It belongs to your 'friend' who has loaned you the stuff as you dont have anything of your own.

McKneff

HeadInTheSand wrote: »

1 tactic, (i know has worked for lots of people) this is only if things get out of hand.

SELL ALL your stuff to a friend for £5. Get a written and signed reciept from your 'friend'

That way, they cant the goods from your house, as it nots yours. It belongs to your 'friend' who has loaned you the stuff as you dont have anything of your own.

You cant sell it now, its too late once it is on the list. I believe it is a criminal offence or so I read on here at one time.

Boundstone23

Ok , Dont panic firstly. Secondly dont let them in to your house. Close the curtains for the next few weeks. Now the you obviously rent. This means the property cant be entered with force. So they wont be breaking in, but make sure there are no open access points. Forget about them. Do Not talk to them. In 2-3 months this will be returned to your council whom will send a I&E form for you to fill in, make sure you have less than £150 free money every month and pay £50 / month...job done, easy as that...dont stress

bakerslad

Help had the bailliffs letter of collection
Phoned them rundles bailiffs they won't take anything apart from full payment
Offered to pay in instalments but have given me till tonight to pay
Saying they will come collect goods , car
Explained need the car for work but haven't got business insurance and car on hp
Haven't let then in or anything rented property
Really not sure what to do

hallowitch

bakerslad wrote: »

Help had the bailiffs letter of collection
Phoned them rundles bailiffs they won't take anything apart from full payment
Offered to pay in instalments but have given me till tonight to pay
Saying they will come collect goods , car
Explained need the car for work but haven't got business insurance and car on hp
Haven't let then in or anything rented property
Really not sure what to do

If your car is on HP then its exempt from seizure because the car does not belong to you it belongs to the HP company until its paid in full

you write to rundles and the local authority (e-mail) informing them that your car is on HP if you can attach a copy of the hp agreement send that also

if you cant send it by recorded delivery but send the e-mail informing them that its on hp and a copy of the hp agreement will be sent by recorded delivery

This puts the local authority and rundles on notice it would be very bad for the local authority and the bailiff if they removed a car on hp when they have been given prior notice

in the e-mail you send to the council you tell them that you are not refusing to pay the debt however rundles /the bailiff will not enter into a payment agreement and are requesting payment in full only.
you don't have the means to pay the debt in full therefore you are left with no option but to pay the council direct you will pay x amount every month to paid by the end of each month this is the most you can afford without defaulting on the payment and and putting your family into severe financial hardship

don't wait on a reply start making payments to the council using there on-line payment option

Is the bailiff certificated to rundles

http://certificatedbailiffs.justice.gov.uk/CertificatedBailiffs/

hallowitch

hallowitch wrote: »

If your car is on HP then its exempt from seizure because the car does not belong to you it belongs to the HP company until its paid in full

you write to rundles and the local authority (e-mail) informing them that your car is on HP if you can attach a copy of the hp agreement send that also

if you cant send it by recorded delivery but send the e-mail informing them that its on hp and a copy of the hp agreement will be sent by recorded delivery

This puts the local authority and rundles on notice it would be very bad for the local authority and the bailiff if they removed a car on hp when they have been given prior notice

in the e-mail you send to the council you tell them that you are not refusing to pay the debt however rundles /the bailiff will not enter into a payment agreement and are requesting payment in full only.
you don't have the means to pay the debt in full therefore you are left with no option but to pay the council direct you will pay x amount every month to paid by the end of each month this is the most you can afford without defaulting on the payment and and putting your family into severe financial hardship

don't wait on a reply start making payments to the council using there on-line payment option

Is the bailiff certificated to rundles

http://certificatedbailiffs.justice.gov.uk/CertificatedBailiffs/

P.S. if the letter was sent by post keep the envelope you cant be charged for letters sent by post