Council Tax, bailiffs, errors - HELP!

lolacocacola

Hi, I hope this is in the right place,I wasn't sure where to post. I really really need some help, I'm really upset.

Some back story - mid-2006, my now husband was made redundant (we didn't get married till 2009). His company had gone bankrupt and we had to claim unpaid wages etc via the Inland Revenue. A month or two later our first child, DD, was born, she was premature and very sick and I suffered really badly with postnatal depression. At the time we were in receipt of statutory maternity pay, and DH got 6 months Contribution based jobseekers. He was then not entitled to Income Based JSA as apparently my maternity pay, and subsequently sick pay as I was signed off with the depression, took us over the threshold. We were given bad advice by the Jobcentre, they told us we were not entitled to the £500 surestart baby grant (we should have got it) and told us we would not be entitled to any Council Tax Benefit, as we were not in receipt of IBJSA. So, we claimed what tax credits we were entitled to and really struggled to pay everything ourselves (we had insurance to cover the mortgage).

We got into a bit of a mess and fell behind with the council tax, we set up a direct debit to pay it back, but the council then decided that we were not paying the arrears fast enough and took us to court. My husband got a job at the beginning of 2008, but we had one Liability Order made in Feb 2008 and another in Dec 2008 for council tax outstanding. The accounts were sent to bailiffs. We made an arrangement with them and paid off the accounts in full,wemade the last payments in Feb 2011 and received a letter from the bailiffs confirming the accounts were paid in full, with copies of our accounts showing all payments.

Since that time our council tax statements (current) have shown an 'outstanding balance not included in this years charges'. We have phoned and queried this several times and been assured that it related to the bailiffaccounts that had just not been finalised, and not to worry about it.

Today I have received two letters from the council entitled NOTICE OF LIABILITY ORDER. One is for £98, one for £175. They say they relate to the same reference numbers as the liability order accounts we believed we had paid in full. On querying with the council I was first of all told it was council tax benefit being reclaimed, I told them this was rubbish as we had never claimed CTB. Then I was passed to a manager who seems to think that their accounts department made an error, in 2009, thinking payments we were making for the current years council tax should have been allocated to the historic accounts, gave an instruction to the bailiff to reduce our account by that amount, then realising it wasa current payment, reallocating to the current year but not updating with the bailiff??

I have been through the accounts and there is one credit of £90 that is referenced ARREARS CR on ONE of the accounts. At the top this is referenced as 'Credits (Invoices)', separately from 'Receipts' (ie, what we paid them). No other credit amounts can be found.

Our arrears totalled £630. We paid the bailiffs, in total, £1053. The rest was their (totally unfair and extortionate but what the hell could we do) fees.

I just don't know what to do. I can't see that the full £273 can possibly be payable, but to be honest we would struggle even to find £90 in 14days. The letters say if we don't pay they will be instructing bailiffs again, which will mean more charges. I thought this was all over, we have a very tight budget but we are coping and on our feet and then this. If it was their error, do we have an argument for them to write it off? If not, can we legally require them to let us pay in installments?

I've just been put back on antidepressants and I just can't cope with this all over again, I want to cry.

Thanks if you made it through, I hope it all made sense, I'm really frustrated and upset.

CIS

Since that time our council tax statements (current) have shown an 'outstanding balance not included in this years charges'. We have phoned and queried this several times and been assured that it related to the bailiffaccounts that had just not been finalised, and not to worry about it.

The format of demand notices vary from the council to council but they will not include any amount subject to a Liability Order within the instalments scheme shown on the demand . The instalments shown will only include any balances for which you still have the right to pay, any other balances will be shown elsewhere on the notice, usually as a lump sum with a quick explanation or note next to it.

in 2009, thinking payments we were making for the current years council tax should have been allocated to the historic accounts, gave an instruction to the bailiff to reduce our account by that amount, then realising it was a current payment, reallocating to the current year but not updating with the bailiff??

From experience it is easily done in respect of moving payments, but they should have updated the balances correctly.

I thought this was all over, we have a very tight budget but we are coping and on our feet and then this. If it was their error, do we have an argument for them to write it off? If not, can we legally require them to let us pay in installments?

The problem is that irrespective of which years balance a payment was placed against you still have an outstanding council tax balance. How this balance is dealt with would be up to the council - if the original liability order was granted correctly and payments have later been placed against that and then removed it doesn't affect the fact that balance is part of the liability order and you have legally lost the right to pay by instalments. This all been said, I would (and I have many times) give people extra time to pay and I can't see why you wouldn't be given extra time if you asked.

hallowitch

Our arrears totalled £630. We paid the bailiffs, in total, £1053. The rest was their (totally unfair and extortionate but what the hell could we do) fees.

£423 this cant be correct
have you ever sent for a breakdown of fees from the bailiff firm
did they have a levy on your goods

if there is a levy on goods you would have received a notice of seizure from the bailiff
can you list the goods levied and fees charged as written on the notice of seizure
did they levy the same goods for both liability orders (this is not allowed)
what bailiff firm is it

hallowitch

ask the Council.
1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you
2 - the dates they were obtained
3 - the addresses they were for
if you have moved address
4 - the period of time each covers
5 - how much each one was for
6 - how much is still outstanding
7 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement
you should also ask if there has been any financial adjustments made to any of the liability orders
if yes
what liability was adjusted
date when the adjustment was made
reason for adjustment
amount of adjustment
was bailiff firm informed of adjustment if yes date bailiff firm was informed


you should also confirm with the council exactly how much of the £1053 you paid has been passed over to them from the bailiff firm

I know the bailiff firm said both accounts were paid in full but you need the council to confirm how much they have received from the bailiff firm

when you pay the bailiff there fees are deducted first from any payment made therefore there is alway an outstanding balance against the liability order until the fees and debt is paid in full

hallowitch

start by sending this to the bailiffco. it can done by e-mail also send it to the council this will tell us when the fees were added
From:
My Name
My Address
To:
Acme bailiff Co
bailiff House
Ref: Account No: 123456 and 78910
Dear Sir
With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a Breakdown of charges
This includes:
a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.
b - the reason for the fee.
c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.
d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were certificated at.
e - the date of the Certification.
This is not a Subject access request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.
I require this information within 14 days.
Yours faithfully

arcon5

hallowitch wrote: »

[snip]

Why is your post filled with useless links?

Reported as spam

hallowitch

arcon5 wrote: »

Why is your post filled with useless links?

Reported as spam

report away

links removed

I couldn't be bothered looking in my office files for the template letter so i copied from another site and simply forgot to remove the links

the template letter is on several sites including this one

never mind we are not all perfect and if the
op want to reclaim any bailiff fees they will need to send for the fees breakdown