URGENT: bailiff seeking arrest warrant.

pennyfrog

I'm sorry for the long waffle- but could really appreciate some help on what to do about this.

We have a problem with Rundle & Co bailiffs. We have admittedly large council tax arrears- (bit of a long story) just over £2000 and, stupidly, I admit, didn't do enought to sort things sooner (also a long story). We didn't attend the original court hearing, which was dumb, I know- but that's all tied up with previous problems.

Anyhow, they turned up on 18th of June and were very unpleasant but we managed to get their head office to talk with the guy at the door and eventually agreed that we would send a breakdown of our income and outgoings with an offer of monthly payments to them. I did this by recorded delivery the day after their visit. We've had a very hard time of it financially for the past few years and are trying to sort out debts etc. I'm due to be on a debt managment and budgeting course coming up soon and we've been seeking help about these debts. Our joint monthly income is about £1200. Our rent is £616 and household basic bills about £290- leaving us around 294 to buy food, pay for petrol so my husband can get to work (rural location- so vital that he drives), clothing, a few other debts and my travel costs from work, etc. We took some advice on what to cut down on and pared back as much as we can for now. We showed this clearly in our breakdown and offered £20 per month, which we know isn't much but we thought we have to be realistic.

We heard nothing back until the end of lst week when my husband got a phone call from them at work saying that they want £300 a month. He pointed out that they can see from our details that we can't afford that- but their response was, literally, "Not our problem". They said that it MUST be £300 a month and payable now, or they'll seek an arrest warrant. We've tried to contact our CAB but they haven't responded to calls. My husband texted me 2 hours ago today to say that Rundle rang again and said that they're seeking goods clearance and arrest warrants today. We aren't trying to evade paying- but we just can't pay what we physically don't have and have no idea where to turn now. We're so worried. Any advice would be appreciated.

HappyMJ

pennyfrog wrote: »

I'm sorry for the long waffle- but could really appreciate some help on what to do about this.

We have a problem with Rundle & Co bailiffs. We have admittedly large council tax arrears- (bit of a long story) just over £2000 and, stupidly, I admit, didn't do enought to sort things sooner (also a long story). We didn't attend the original court hearing, which was dumb, I know- but that's all tied up with previous problems.

Anyhow, they turned up on 18th of June and were very unpleasant but we managed to get their head office to talk with the guy at the door and eventually agreed that we would send a breakdown of our income and outgoings with an offer of monthly payments to them. I did this by recorded delivery the day after their visit. We've had a very hard time of it financially for the past few years and are trying to sort out debts etc. I'm due to be on a debt managment and budgeting course coming up soon and we've been seeking help about these debts. Our joint monthly income is about £1200. Our rent is £616 and household basic bills about £290- leaving us around 294 to buy food, pay for petrol so my husband can get to work (rural location- so vital that he drives), clothing, a few other debts and my travel costs from work, etc. We took some advice on what to cut down on and pared back as much as we can for now. We showed this clearly in our breakdown and offered £20 per month, which we know isn't much but we thought we have to be realistic.

We heard nothing back until the end of lst week when my husband got a phone call from them at work saying that they want £300 a month. He pointed out that they can see from our details that we can't afford that- but their response was, literally, "Not our problem". They said that it MUST be £300 a month and payable now, or they'll seek an arrest warrant. We've tried to contact our CAB but they haven't responded to calls. My husband texted me 2 hours ago today to say that Rundle rang again and said that they're seeking goods clearance and arrest warrants today. We aren't trying to evade paying- but we just can't pay what we physically don't have and have no idea where to turn now. We're so worried. Any advice would be appreciated.

They can't seek an arrest warrant that's a load of rubbish.

All they can do is ask you to pay the debt and if they can't get money out of you they'll return the debt to the council.

If you really cannot pay then if the council tries to commit you to prison for refusing to pay your council tax you can show the court you are not refusing and simply can't afford it. You won't go to prison.

When you create an SOA for the court you must not prioritize unsecured debt repayments over the council tax arrears. The only other debts that should be paid first are court fines and child support arrears.

molerat

Possibly they mean an arrest of earnings or bank account ?

National_Debtline

Hi

It sounds like they’re mentioning arrest to pressurise you into paying. You’ve done the right thing by offering an affordable amount and showing willingness to pay. It’s not for the bailiffs to pluck a figure of £300 out of nowhere.

If the council felt that you were deliberately avoiding paying then they could potentially issue an arrest warrant but it’s the council’s decision not the bailiff’s.

I think you should contact the council directly to let them know you’re making a realistic offer and the bailiff is being difficult and hasn’t considered your finances. Ask the council whether they’ll consider taking the debt back and dealing with you directly.

If you haven’t let a bailiff into your home so far they can’t force entry so don’t let them in and keep your door locked.

You might find it useful to telephone our helpline on 0808 808 4000 to discuss your situation with an adviser.

James
@natdebtline

CIS

At this stage (assuming England or Wales) the enforcement agent can only return it to the council with a recommendation for committal action - the enforcement agent cannot apply to the courts for committal unless they have been specifically contracted by the council to carry out these functions.

In any case the arrest warrant can only be issued by the courts once the council have made an application to the courts for a committal hearing. The council themselves have no power to issue an arrest warrant themselves.

pennyfrog

Thank you so much for your replies. You've helped me a great deal. It's scary how certain bailiffs will say things that are blatantly untrue as scare tactics!

I've written a letter to our council and will take it in person to the offices tomorrow afternoon (luckily they're within walking distance) along with a copy of what we sent the bailiff. I'll make sure I talk to someone as well.

Hopefully they'll be able to help us come to some sort of arrangement. It can't hurt to pre-empt the bailiffs in case they claim we've refused to pay!

Obviously this is still a pretty stressful situation (let's face it, any debt situation is stressful!) but I'm gobsmacked at how it was made so much worse this afternoon when hubby actually thought that the bailiffs were getting an arrest warrant for him today. (Exactly what they told him!). It's a good job that they weren't talking to someone so at the end of their tether who'd have been so scared by that that they may have done something drastic!

(On another note- I did contact National Debtline via online chat- and had a bit of a talk with them and have some ideas to follow up)..

Thanks again for taking the time to respond everyone.

dancingfairy

You might want to have a look at the bailiff , advice online website. It's run by one of the posters from here (Herbie?). Once you have dealt with the initial issue and set up a payment plan you might want to take this further and complain about the bailiffs. There are various routes you can take, from complaining to the bailiff company to complaining to the council etc.
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Herbie21

Penny,

You said in your initial post that you had not dealt with the council tax arrears sooner and that you also did not attend the court hearing. It would also seem that you had not addressed the debt when the initial Notice of Enforcement had been sent by Rundles and this led to the debt being passed to an individual bailiff and the 'doorstep' visit. Unfortunately, an 'enforcement fee' of £235 has now been added.

By and large, bailiffs make their money from individuals who keep their 'head in the sand' and you are no different from thousands and thousands of other people and as you will have seen, it was the ultimate threat of being arrested that has led you to this forum and in some small way, is leading to your debt being addressed.

The bailiff should NOT be making such a threat (about an arrest warrant) and unfortunately, if a complaint were to be made it would very likely not go very far as the bailiff would simply deny making the comment. I would love to have seen the bailiff make such a threat in a text message or in writing but I suspect that I will be waiting a long time!!

As you have seen for yourself, it is far more difficult to get a payment arrangement set up when a bailiff attends the property and the reason for this is because once the debt gets to this stage the PURPOSE of the visit is to 'take control of goods' and this is why vehicles are an easy target.

Please do post back with any response to your payment proposal.

KLou

With such a small amount available to go towards the council tax debt have you considered seeing if you qualify for a debt relief order? If your not a homeowner, your car is worth less than £1000 and you have less than £50 per month available after living expenses you may qualify and have all your unsecured debt written off. However, with you having prioritised other debts over the council tax this could present a potential issue. I would recommend speaking to a debt advisor over the phone and addressing your whole financial situation instead of just the council tax debt, and can also let you know the pros and cons of different debt solutions.

gfplux

Did you pay the £20 a month you offered. This would have been for July and August and probably September before they then contacted you again.