Ross and roberts

mel03

Hi all,

I have had an extremely bad day.
I got into Council tax arrears when my husband walked out on us ithought bills were being paid when they wasn't. long story short I set up an agreement with ross and Roberts to pay £58 by the 4th of every month.
Me being stupid have always made a payment of £61.50 every month. 3 weeks before the 4th. I have never missed a payment with them. I always like to just pay my bills when the money is there so then I know they are paid and I do not have to worry. being a single mum I need to be organised and I thought I was doing ok.
Anyway this morning a ross and Roberts ballief came knocking on my door demanding £160 to be paid today or they will take my stuff. he said a late payment was received. I argued this I knew I was up to date, checked my emails and theres the proof I paid it on the 6th of last month. iv been paying like this for 5 months I thought it was ok to make a payment any time between the 5th and the 4th before its due as long as it was paid before midnight 4th.

I spoke and argued with the manager over the phone he Demanded £190 instead of the original £160 the ballief had slammed on me. Apparantly I cannot make a payment 3 weeks before the due date and apparently I signed a piece of paper stating that I understood this. When the ballief came back to collect the money he explained the part of the sgreement that has caught me out .

"If an overpayment is received it will not be taken as payment in advance. "

ok I get that, But I paid £61. 50 instead of £58. An overpayment of £2 if you take off the visa card charge they take from you. This was paid on the 6th of Aug which was due on the 4th sept. The £58 isn't an overpayment that's a payment. There is nothing in the agreement stating that I cannot pay this bill 3 weeks in advance.

"if your payment is not received by the due date" doesn't this mean I can pay on any date in that month before the 4th as long as they get their payment by the 4th.
anyway I have paid them the money I aint happy because I was doing so well with it making regular payments and yet still have bullies at my door. Its disgusting how they treat people how they change their charges to suit themselves how they can just demand you to get that sort of cash within hours or they will get your stuff. I wouldn't mind so much if it was a late payment or if I didn't pay but I did I have all records and reference numbers. I have always paid on the 6th of every month so I know it has been paid before the 4th of the following month. I thought I had between the 5th and the 4th to pay.
Apparantly not.... payments have to be made between the 1st and 4th. I was never once told that and there is certainly nothing on the agreement that I signed that stated that. iv been doing it my way for month why now have they decided it aint right.
Can they really justify their actions today. rant over .... please excuse the bad spelling.... bad day and im all worked up. Any one else had any problems with these pests or is it just me.

onamissionEU

Take a deep breath and relax... By the sound of it you have been bullied into making an extra payment. Unfortunately this is a tactic most of the use; fear... Do you have a judgment against you for non payment of CT on which this firm is acting? Have they had access to your home before to make notes on your posessions? This makes your situation very different to that of a normal debt collector working to collect arrears. The former needs to be treated very carefully wheres as normal debt collector has virtually no power over you. More info needed.

You best bet here would be to set up a direct debit or standing order for the 1st of every month to ensure payments are credited promptly and in the month payment is due - one payment a month only. It may not be your personal choice of payment methods but it will stop any further problems like this for appearing. Make the payment for the exact amount required each month. You can always make little overpayments as & when.

ilovelondontown

unfortuately I've been in a situation similar with my local council. I was making payments as I always had done and missed the April payment as I though it was a CT payment free month, alas it wasn't, so I carried on making payments from May onwards and got a letter saying my account was in arrears by 2 months, I KNEW that wasn't true and rang the council and they said that I'd missed one month and all addtional payment made to the account were going to back payments, and because I wasn't paying the exact- to- the penny due (I too was paying over the amount) it was being registered as unpaid.

Unfortuately I'm not aware of what you would do once the debt has been passed to a debt collection agency, but don't be bullied into paying anything. If they want something from you it needs to be in writing, once you have something in writing try and renegotiate the rate, can they divide the outstand payment over the payments you currently make?

Sorry I can't be much help but I've been there you have my empathy!

hallowitch

What an absolute load of tosh they cant charge an attendance to remove fee because you over paid or because your payments are 3 weeks early
if your agreement is to pay £ £58. by the 4th of every month it doesn't matter what date you pay it as long as it reaches their account by the 4th then you have adhered to the terms of the agreement made


can you tell me what council you are with ?
amount of the liability order (confirmed by the council not the bailiff)?
what goods have been levied on the notice of seizure/distress ?
what fees have been charged as written on the notice of seizure /distress

what if anything you have in writing regarding the payment date?

mel03

hallowitch wrote: »

What an absolute load of tosh they cant charge an attendance to remove fee because you over paid or because your payments are 3 weeks early
if your agreement is to pay £ £58. by the 4th of every month it doesn't matter what date you pay it as long as it reaches their account by the 4th then you have adhered to the terms of the agreement made


can you tell me what council you are with ?
amount of the liability order (confirmed by the council not the bailiff)?
what goods have been levied on the notice of seizure/distress ?
what fees have been charged as written on the notice of seizure /distress

what if anything you have in writing regarding the payment date?

Hi thanx for your relies everyone
I had a letter through my door about 5 months ago saying that a ballief had called twice regarding unpaid council tax and I was to contact them immediately. which I done straight away. I was sure there must of been a mistake my ex had just left so I didn't worry to much, They told me on the phone that I owed £565 and that they could with their court order gain entry into my property and take my goods. I knew nowt about any of this so he came to my property and said I was to either pay the full amount or set up a payment plan which is what I did. I was charged an a sum of £250 which they demanded I pay before 3pm that day just to start this plan which I believed was going to come off my bill but it didn't. Anyway he made a list of my goods and I had to sign it.
Like iv said I have been making regular monthly payments admittedly 3 weeks early but I believed I could as long as it was paid on time. I made sure the payment was always after the 4th for the following month so it wouldn't be seen as an overpayment. I pay as early as I thought I could just in case life throws some obstacles like it so often does in my face.
The £190 I paid yesterday has come of my bill so im glad about that its just the way they instantly demand this type of cash they just wont listen. Thank god for my dad otherwise I could never of paid it. I feel for those who have no one. This is with South Somerset Council.

hallowitch

They told me on the phone that I owed £565 and that they could with their court order gain entry into my property and take my goods. I knew nowt about any of this so he came to my property and said I was to either pay the full amount or set up a payment plan which is what I did. I was charged an a sum of £250 which they demanded I pay before 3pm that day just to start this plan which I believed was going to come off my bill but it didn't. Anyway he made a list of my goods and I had to sign it.

O dear you have well and truly done over the maximum bailiff fees due on the day of the levy total £55.50 bailiffs are allowed to deduct their fees first therefore £195 should have gone to the council

can you please tell me the goods levied outstanding balance owed to council and the fees charged that's on the notice of seizure please

[Deleted User]

mel03 wrote: »

Anyway he made a list of my goods and I had to sign it.

You didn't HAVE to sign it.

BTW, Where was he, when he made the list?

mel03

My outstanding balance now is £222.31. i have to pay £58 before the 12th of each month. i have made paid £60.00 each month for the past 6 months. They made a list of all my goods including TV, Laptop, dining room set. My daughters xbox.
I havnt got all the paperwork on me at the moment just all that they gave me yesterday which was a default notice first posted through my letterbox and then when he came back to my property after me arguing to him and his boss on the phone he filed another agreement and a receipt for the £160.
His manager demanded £190 but the ballief who attended tol me to ignore that and just pay him £160 and don't know how they can just pick and choose how much they can demand and surely they could give you time to find the money. i was told it had to be paid by 3pm otherwise it will be too late and they will come and remove goods the ballief then told me he might not even be able to get to my house before 4. they just make it all up as they go along. as soon as i get hold of previous paperwork i will give you exact figures. thank u so much for your time

mel03

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

You didn't HAVE to sign it.

BTW, Where was he, when he made the list?

i thought i had to sign it otherwise they were gonna take my things there and then. He was in my house at the time i just let them in i thought it was just something that had to be dealt with and this was how it worked. i knew council tax arrears are the worst and r a priority. iv never dealt with any thing like this before so i just thought it was the correct procedure. stupid i know.

[Deleted User]

Is there no-one (by which I mean a private individual, rather than a loan company) you could borrow £223 from, so you can see the back of this debt?

mel03

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Is there no-one (by which I mean a private individual, rather than a loan company) you could borrow £223 from, so you can see the back of this debt?

Not really it was embarrassing enough having to ask my dad for that £160 the other day. I would love nothing more than to get them off my back I will b paying as much as I can as soon as I can so they can clear off and ill never have to deal with these trolls again.