council tax being returned to council for committal

bakerslad

hello there
could use some advise please
i have an outstanding debt on my 2012/13 council tax
i have been paying this off via the councils online payment system
i received a letter from the bailiffs stating that
the bailiffs has been unable to secure payment of the full amount and has recommend that the case be returned back to the council for committal proceedings and that they are writing to me to offer a final chance to set up an agreement plan to discharge this debt

i also received a phone call from the bailiffs asking me to contact them

what should i do?
as any contact i have had with the bailiffs there plan has been to high

i have kept making payments on the tax and i am up to date this year

thanks
bl

Buzby

Contact the Council - they can call them off. Clearly one department hasn't told the other of your arrangement.

HappyMJ

bakerslad wrote: »

hello there
could use some advise please
i have an outstanding debt on my 2012/13 council tax
i have been paying this off via the councils online payment system
i received a letter from the bailiffs stating that
the bailiffs has been unable to secure payment of the full amount and has recommend that the case be returned back to the council for committal proceedings and that they are writing to me to offer a final chance to set up an agreement plan to discharge this debt

i also received a phone call from the bailiffs asking me to contact them

what should i do?
as any contact i have had with the bailiffs there plan has been to high

i have kept making payments on the tax and i am up to date this year

thanks
bl

As long as you have been making payments then you have nothing to fear. The council has to pay for committal proceedings and if you have been making payments as agreed then they can't pass that cost onto you. The council makes the choice to go to committal the bailiff does not.

bakerslad

i have contacted the council as the debt is with the bailiff they say i have to deal with them , there is no official agreement in place i have just been using the online system to make regular payment on my debt

RAS

Hi

The bailiff cannot recommend that you are sent for committal. It is NOTHING to do with them. All they can do is to return the debt to the Council; nothing more. They are misrepresenting their powers.

And since you are paying the debt if the COuncil were stupid enough to take you to court (most unlikely), then all you need to do it explain that you are paying the debt off.

Committal happens very rarely and is for people who refuse to pay and you have prima facie eveidence that you are paying.

Assuming they have no levy; then you might find that paying them the basic visit fees for visits they did make will shut them up. Something like £24.50 for the first visit and £19 for the second visit. That is what they want - the fees.

bakerslad

HappyMJ wrote: »

As long as you have been making payments then you have nothing to fear. The council has to pay for committal proceedings and if you have been making payments as agreed then they can't pass that cost onto you. The council makes the choice to go to committal the bailiff does not.

thanks
so just keep paying using the online system

RAS

bakerslad wrote: »

i have contacted the council as the debt is with the bailiff they say i have to deal with them , there is no official agreement in place i have just been using the online system to make regular payment on my debt

Is this Equita by any chance? They and one other bailiffs are owned by Capita. Capita run the back-room Council tax staff for a lot of Councils and Capita staff routinely tell people to contact the bailiff.

Fix and appointment with your local Councillor to start with.

If that does not work make a formal complaint about the threat from the bailiffs and the behaviour of the back room staff.

HappyMJ

bakerslad wrote: »

thanks
so just keep paying using the online system

Yes, I would continue as you are..how long to go until fully paid off?

Make sure the current years charges are paid first (pay the exact amount asked for on the bill) and the arrears are paid off seperately via another payment.

bakerslad

thank you both
ras, will get onto councillor first thing

happy, about 4 months ,have been keeping payments separate also keeping evey email receipt

so they are just hoping i phone them up to pay them so they get there fees?

bakerslad

RAS wrote: »

Is this Equita by any chance? They and one other bailiffs are owned by Capita. Capita run the back-room Council tax staff for a lot of Councils and Capita staff routinely tell people to contact the bailiff.

Fix and appointment with your local Councillor to start with.

If that does not work make a formal complaint about the threat from the bailiffs and the behaviour of the back room staff.

rundles bailiffs

ValHaller

bakerslad wrote: »

so they are just hoping i phone them up to pay them so they get there fees?

Yes, it is just beating up small people who will pay anyway, to make it look like they are doing something useful.