Council tax and Ross and Roberts

zubakuki

I went through a marriage breakdown last year and left my bills and subsequently my council tax was passed to Ross and Roberts. I got back with it and sorted it out when they threatened to come to my property. I made a payment of £70 on a debt of £950. I also told them I was disputing this amount. 1 month later I have an enforcement notice and my bill went up by £235! I called the agent and told them I'd made a payment of £70 to hold off the baliff whilst disputing the amount with the council. She didn't care and told me it wasn't her problem. I started making a token payment of £10 per month, whilst still disputing that I owe now over £1100!

On the 12th Oct, a baliff comes to the door issuing another I forcement notice...
Client debt: £580.97
Compliance fee £75
Enforcement fee £235
Total paid £99
Outstanding £791.97

It's the first I have heard that my arguement on this debt was accepted and in fact I did not owe the £950 as stated originally.

What I would like to know is can they charge me £235 for hand delivering a letter? I accept I owed 580.97 less the 99 I paid and I will accept the compliance fee of 75 but it can't be legal to charge £235? For posting an envelope through my door?

my mum is going to settle my bill in full today, does that make any difference to the enforcement fee?

HappyMJ

zubakuki wrote: »

I went through a marriage breakdown last year and left my bills and subsequently my council tax was passed to Ross and Roberts. I got back with it and sorted it out when they threatened to come to my property. I made a payment of £70 on a debt of £950. I also told them I was disputing this amount. 1 month later I have an enforcement notice and my bill went up by £235! I called the agent and told them I'd made a payment of £70 to hold off the baliff whilst disputing the amount with the council. She didn't care and told me it wasn't her problem. I started making a token payment of £10 per month, whilst still disputing that I owe now over £1100!

On the 12th Oct, a baliff comes to the door issuing another I forcement notice...
Client debt: £580.97
Compliance fee £75
Enforcement fee £235
Total paid £99
Outstanding £791.97

It's the first I have heard that my arguement on this debt was accepted and in fact I did not owe the £950 as stated originally.

What I would like to know is can they charge me £235 for hand delivering a letter? I accept I owed 580.97 less the 99 I paid and I will accept the compliance fee of 75 but it can't be legal to charge £235? For posting an envelope through my door?

my mum is going to settle my bill in full today, does that make any difference to the enforcement fee?

Why are you allowing your mum to pay your bills?

I wouldn't ever dream of allowing that. I would fall out with her if she did that.

If you don't have any money then all the fees that can be added have been added and you won't incur any more costs even if you make no further repayments.

Only pay what you can comfortably afford. If that is £10 a month then so be it.

zubakuki

I wrote to them offering £10 a month, with a financial statement showing that I have a deficit but they wrote back rejecting it and said they wanted £51 per month.
My mum is loaning me the money to stop them hounding me at the front door, to stop them taking what little stuff my children and I have.

Do you think I want to be in this position? I've managed to sort out every other debt with direct debits and the like, Ross and Roberts refuse dd or standing order payments and refuse any offer I've made. The debt will go up again because they will charge me for removing goods from my home, then they will charge me for selling those goods.

Karonher

zubakuki - do what you feel best and safest. If you are happy and feel safer borrowing to pay the debt then do so. Lots of councils will get Liability orders to ensure it is paid - this is after the normal processes have been followed so as long as you are making payments that should not be a problem - so the comments about not paying anything further should be ignored although I know it is not suggesting you dont pay anymore.

Everyday people borrow to pay debts - I have borrowed from family in the past and have just lent to a friend who needed to clear a bill.

Its good that your mum is prepared to help and don't be made to feel its wrong because others would not take a loan from family.

You might be able to fight the £51 request and be allowed to pay £10 a month but that will mean dealing with them for ages and the risk of missing for any reason. This way it is clear and hopefully you wont hear from them again.

Good luck with what you decide.

National_Debtline

Hi,

Unfortunately, the fees listed are correct – they are allowed to charge £235 as an enforcement fee but this is only applicable to the debt once (no matter how many times they visit). You should also be aware that as long as the bailiffs don’t get inside your home or make a list of your goods there are no more fees they can charge.

This type of bailiff can only come inside your home through open or unlocked access or if you invite them. So if your home is locked and secure and you don’t invite them in, they cannot force their way in (despite what they may have said to you). And if you have anything of value outside of your home, such as a car, you would also need to hide that from now on to keep it safe from the bailiffs.

I hope that helps you,

Laura
@natdebtline