Council Tax and Bailiffs

popeye3000

HI everyone, I was wondering if anyone can help/give me any information on my problem. Me and boyfriend stupidly got behind on council tax payments as we weren't sure how much we owed so we didn't pay enough. I rang the council a couple days ago to find out how much we owed as we hadn't received any late payment letters and found out that our account has been sent to bailiffs to sort. They have given me a number of different contact details to sort payments but I haven't been able to talk to anyone as I should have received a letter from the bailiffs with a reference number and I can't talk to anyone without it. I rang the council again to tell them my problem but they just told me to wait for a letter to arrive. I am now worried that bailiffs are going to turn up at my house as the account was sent to them at the start of November and I haven't received any letters and the council have just told me to wait it out but that doesn't seem like a very good idea when it comes to bailiffs! Also they told me that no additional fees will be added in this small time period if I have missed any letters/deadlines but after reading other horror stories I'm not sure I believe that one. Any help would make me extremely happy!

National_Debtline

Hi

You should have received reminder letters, a court summons and a notification that a liability order has been granted from the council. As you haven’t received any of this I think you should insist that the council call the debt back from the bailiffs and deal with you directly. If they don’t agree make a written complaint and you could even take the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) to investigate if the correct process hasn’t been followed.

In the meantime don’t let a bailiff into your home, keep your door locked and keep any vehicle you own well out of the way. The bailiffs will probably have added their £75 compliance fee but I think you should argue that this isn’t fair as you haven’t received a fair warning.


James
@natdebtline