feel sick

butterbear

Hi all

I'm after a little advice, guidance or just some reassurance.

I have worked really hard to stay dept free since my DRO in 2011. Yesterday I had a letter through the door from my council- it was saying it was a copy of an attachment of earnings that they have sent to my employer. The date on it for the Liability order is July 2013.

A while ago i received a similar letter and spoke to a member of the council, at the time I had believed that it was in relation to a debt that was included in my DRO- now I'm questioning if i had been confused, I havent got a copy of that letter and cannot remember when i received it- it was a while ago and if i'm honest i cannot remember the amount.

If the liability order was made in July 2013 would that be in relation to council tax from 2012- 2013? My partner takes responsibility for the council tax as he works full time. I have asked him and he says that he didn't miss any payments in this year.

What do i do? I know I have to wait till monday to ring them and find out what this is for but i'm going to pieces, i hardly slept last night and this morning I feel I just want to cry. I have gone through paper work and cannot find any debt letters, bailiff letters nothing to explain this. I have asked my partner iof he can check his account and make sure that he didn't miss any payments- if i'm honest things like this roll off him, he can be quite lazy when it comes to things like this.

If it does turn out that some payments were missed why is this letter only to me? why is it not joint. Also will I have to have an attachment of earnings or will i be able to make an arrangement direct with the council- and why would we not have received any missed payment letters or bailiff letters???

I feel so embarrassed that my employer is going to receive this, as i said earlier i have worked really hard to stay out of debt- I don't go out much, don't smoke rarely buy new clothes etc and now i feel like i'm crashing, it silly I've dealt with debt but i'm sitting here with tears flowing.
I'm sorry if this is jumbled and makes little sense- i haven't slept much :0(

Thanks in advance for any advice

runforlife

A while ago i received a similar letter and spoke to a member of the council, at the time I had believed that it was in relation to a debt that was included in my DRO- now I'm questioning if i had been confused, I havent got a copy of that letter and cannot remember when i received it- it was a while ago and if i'm honest i cannot remember the amount.

If you need that write to the council and ask for a SAR - subject access request. They should have the letter on file. Details on how to access the SAR will be on the council website, probably under Freedom of Information or the likes.

Take a few moments today to gather your thoughts and plan what you need to say. There is nothing that you can do today other than to prepare for tomorrow. Once you have planned what you are going to say and what answers you need then you'll feel better

Willowpop

Good morning! Just a thought, assuming your other half has been paying as you thought he was, I guess he must have receipts of some sort to prove it? Or bank statements showing the amounts leaving his account? Could he check this do you think and then you have something to take to the council if this is an error?

butterbear

thank you runforlife, i will look for the SAR form.

I'm trying to remain calm- I'm usually practical when it comes to things like this and able to put it aside until it can be dealt with and deal with it. But for whatever reason this has really effected me and i feel kind of lost with it- like the fight has gone out of me :0(

Thanks again.

butterbear

Morning Willowpop

I have asked him to check his accounts- he is paperless and is under the impression that he would need to go to the bank to go back that far- I want him to check his account online anyway for my peace of mind am waiting for him to get up- but like i said earlier he can be a bit un- bothered by this sort of thing!

But surely it should still be a joint liability- not just me! think that is what has really thrown me.

Thanks for the response

happy_bunny_2

Is there a chance it could be for an even older council tax period? Not sure how long it would take to get through the process to the attachment stage.

Could it be a previous address where it was in your name.

Quickest way would be to ring the council and ask. Then, your OH could focus his records search better.

As for your employer, just tell them you think there has been a mistake somewhere and you are looking into it.

Good luck

HB

Kate_fixing_it

Hi there,

Depending on the size of your company I wouldn't worry about the AOE. Payroll matters are confidential and can't be disclosed. Employers deal with these all the time (much more than most people realise) and if you are paid from a head office department it's unlikely that anyone at your branch will even know unless you tell them.

I can't advise on the debt side but I hope I've reassured you a little on the other point.

Kate x

sourcrates

Don't worry about this, phone call first thing Monday morning should sort this out straight away for you, as previously suggested, if its in your name only, could it be a debt from when you were single perhaps ? sometimes these things get "lost in the system" and pop up out of the blue, they may have even got the wrong person !!