Council tax arrears were to be automatically took off ESA. Now I have a summary warra

1234catlady

Is there any way to make sure bailiffs/sheriff officers don't come to my door? I am terrified of them coming to my door. I have nothing of value in my home and I don't have a car but I am worried they would take my pets. I have cats, they are just plain tabby cats but I've heard horror stories about pets being taken away due to debt and that terrifies me.

HappyMJ

1234catlady wrote: »

Is there any way to make sure bailiffs/sheriff officers don't come to my door? I am terrified of them coming to my door. I have nothing of value in my home and I don't have a car but I am worried they would take my pets. I have cats, they are just plain tabby cats but I've heard horror stories about pets being taken away due to debt and that terrifies me.

They don't take pets away. Don't worry about that.

If the council has a liability order and you can't pay or don't make an arrangement to pay it's highly likely they'll send a bailiff to your address. Just don't answer the door. Difficult and scary but that's all you need to do. They'll usually visit twice before giving up.

You've said you are willing to allow the council to make deductions from your benefits so just get in contact with them and get them to sort it.

enfield_freddy

1234catlady wrote: »

Over a month ago, I got my first ESA payment on a Monday and I called the council to inform them that I was now getting ESA as I had to update my records for my HB and CT reduction and then on the Thursday I got the letter in saying I owed £300 odd and called them again saying I was on ESA and could set up a payment plan and they said they would take the money off my benefit automatically and said they had my bank details on record. I never heard anything back from council tax until today so I assumed it was all taken care of.

much as people are going on about getting liability / court order to take money from your ESA , what they do , is simply set up a monthly direct debit to take it from your bank, (not directly from your benefit at root) this keeps DWP out of the equation , and they can (and do) set up the amount THEY want , not what the government says

HappyMJ

enfield_freddy wrote: »

much as people are going on about getting liability / court order to take money from your ESA , what they do , is simply set up a monthly direct debit to take it from your bank, (not directly from your benefit at root) this keeps DWP out of the equation , and they can (and do) set up the amount THEY want , not what the government says

Since when? In my experience they have never done that. They wouldn't dare. They can't take income they can only take capital. The OP has no capital so can't take any money from a bank account....but that's not a direct debit that's an arrestment order on the bank account and even then they are extremely rare.

If they ever did that to me I'd demand the bank give me the money back straight away. Direct debits are not used for that purpose. The customer has to agree to set up a direct debit and the company billing has to advise the amounts to be taken they can't just take anything.

enfield_freddy

would a bank statement , with differing amounts prove this,
and not only DO THEY DARE , they DO IT


1: pay this direct debit , once per mth , its for your arrears , and currant bill OR,
2: lets play a morning in court with costs , and we will then get DWP to take it direct ,,,,,,,,,,,, costs or not!
they want back any arrears and a person to pay his currant CT bill , in the case of the OP , the figure of £6 will drop when the arrears are taken off


water , gas and electric are classed as utility bills and can be taken direct from ESA only by telling you , not asking you

HappyMJ

enfield_freddy wrote: »

would a bank statement , with differing amounts prove this,
and not only DO THEY DARE , they DO IT


1: pay this direct debit , once per mth , its for your arrears , and currant bill OR,
2: lets play a morning in court with costs , and we will then get DWP to take it direct ,,,,,,,,,,,, costs or not!
they want back any arrears and a person to pay his currant CT bill , in the case of the OP , the figure of £6 will drop when the arrears are taken off


water , gas and electric are classed as utility bills and can be taken direct from ESA only by telling you , not asking you

That's not true. Water, gas and electricity ask you to agree to pay your arrears through a scheme called Fuel Pay direct. The customer has to agree. It's not compulsory at all. They will never do it without the customers permission. It's completely voluntary.

https://www.gov.uk/bills-benefits

You also mention DWP. The OP has a debt with council not the DWP.

enfield_freddy

cannot be bothered arguing ,


clearly stated on that form "If it’s under 25% the deduction can be made without you agreeing to it. You’ll be told what the deductions are going to be, and if they’re going to change."


and yes , the water gas and electric start the procedure , not the customer , and yes they deduct without asking


because I applied for a discount on my water rates several yrs ago , (united utilities) they had my NI number , I was only receiving tax credits at this time .


2 yrs later , situation changes , they are straight on to DWP with my name and NI , and they initiate the claim , I have no say.

CIS

enfield_freddy wrote: »

much as people are going on about getting liability / court order to take money from your ESA , what they do , is simply set up a monthly direct debit to take it from your bank, (not directly from your benefit at root) this keeps DWP out of the equation , and they can (and do) set up the amount THEY want , not what the government says

If an arrangement is made to pay the council by a DD then it can be for whatever the council are willing to accept - a completely different issue to the fixed rate for a council tax attachment of benefit deduction.

1234catlady

Hi everyone. I went into see the council today and they said everything is fine and that letter was automated and can be ignored. They said it takes a while to get the deal with ESA to be set up but its all OK.

HappyMJ

1234catlady wrote: »

Hi everyone. I went into see the council today and they said everything is fine and that letter was automated and can be ignored. They said it takes a while to get the deal with ESA to be set up but its all OK.

Might be an automated letter but don't ignore it completely. Give it a few weeks and write back making sure the deductions are being made. You should notice a difference to your ESA payments...you'll get less.