Earnings Arrestment Schedule (form 30)

rodeodown

Hi all,

My partner has just received a letter titled 'Form 30 earnings Arrestment schedule (intimation to debtor)' through the post. It's relating to council tax debt from '03 and '04. This is the first he's heard of this, nothing relating to these debts has been seen before. There's no addresses or anything to show what properties these relate to and he's not even sure if it's his debt. The debt *may* belong to an ex girlfriend.

This leads me to my next point, the home address and employer on the form are incorrect. My OH used to work for a cleaning firm contracted to Tesco (never was employed by Tesco) and the employer is listed as Tesco Plc on this earning Arrestment form. I believe the ex girlfriend has given my partners details (it says he works at Tesco on his Facebook but this is around 2 years out of date). It may be the case that the council tax was for a property they both lived in years ago but without details he cannot check.

He's not looking to get out of paying something that he has to but this form was a bit of a shock and I'm not sure what we need to do going forward? Scott and co are listed as a contact for all payments and enquiries. Should my partner contact them? Does this form mean he has some sort of court order against him? We're in Scotland if it helps.

pineconesjay

Contact them to find out the details of the property they claim he owes tax on.

Honestly it smells a bit fishy that there are some incorrect details - make sure that he's not the victim of identity fraud.

CIS

The incorrect details aren't anything in itself to worry about - the council will have some mention somewhere on employment by Tesco so they've tried that. It happens a lot with companies who employ some staff through agencies or contractors where staff advise they work with a company but they don't mention they work as a contractor/agency so the council only have the name of the main company (I usually see it happen with hotel companies).

The only way to proceed now is to contact the council for more information. Bare in mind though is that it's generally an offence not to provide correct employment details to the council if an attachment of earnings is in force.

National_Debtline

Hi

As the others have said, contact the council to find out more details first of all and clarify whether your partner should even be liable for this.

The council would have needed to use the summary warrant process and issue a charge for payment before being able to use any form of diligence so it’s strange that this is the only paperwork your partner has received, although they may have gone to the incorrect address on the form.

If your partner agrees that he owes the debt and the council confirm the attempted earnings arrestment he could apply to the sheriff court for a Time To Pay Order (TTPO). A TTPO is a payment plan which would prevent the earnings arrestment or any other form or diligence being used as long as the sheriff approves it.

There is more information on applying for a TTPO on our factsheet here:

www.nationaldebtline.org/S/factsheets/Pages/03%20SCOT%20Council%20tax%20recovery/Default.aspx

James
@natdebtline