Baillif coming

Herbie21

The professional association for all aspects of local taxation administration including of course the collection of council tax is the Instutute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation (IRRV).


They have produced a Model Code of Practice for Bailiffs employed by Local Authorities where if states under Paragraph 23 the following:

TIME LIMITS FOR PAYMENTS AND PAYMENT AGREEMENTS,

"The IRRV suggest that where possible, agreements for deferred payment should seek to avoid adding to the arrears carried forward at the end of the financila year, but where this is not feasible.......... that a MAXIMUM PERIOD OF 12 MONTHS FOR AN ARRANGEMENT IS RECOMMENDED......"


I hope that this helps.

RAS

Hi Mrs P

how are you doing?

Herbie21

RAS

What's with the Mrs P ?

If that is a message to me......wrong.

H would be more like it........

meme_3

plonker wrote: »

Had a summons today for council tax, rang the office they won't accept payments smaller than £240 a month which we can't afford so they said let it go to court and then the baillif will come out and arrange a payment plan, we have a date for this but just wondering what we can expect if anyone can advise will be very grateful.
Will they accept smaller payments?

They might say they won't accept smaller payments, but..... can you make payments online, or over the phone? We can. Try it! You need your reference number as well as your address to do this.

If this facility is available, then at least if you do get bailiffs at the door, you will be able to prove that you have tried to make some inroads into your council tax debt.

Crown

Herbie21 wrote: »

RAS

What's with the Mrs P ?

If that is a message to me......wrong.

H would be more like it........

I think he may of actually been refering to the Original Poster Mrs Plonker

rog2

plonker wrote: »

Had a summons today for council tax, rang the office they won't accept payments smaller than £240 a month which we can't afford so they said let it go to court and then the baillif will come out and arrange a payment plan, we have a date for this but just wondering what we can expect if anyone can advise will be very grateful.
Will they accept smaller payments?

Hi plonker - I have, deliberately, not posted in your thread because the last time that I posted regarding somebody in a similar position, certain posters simply took my comments as a personal attack on council tax collection (without having read my posts properly) and the thread subsequently attracted the attention of a resident Troll, completely detracting the discussion from the problem of the OP.
I have seen that you are receiving some good advice, but I would like to go back to your original post, in which you say: 'Had a summons today'. Does this mean that the case has yet to be heard by the magistrate?
If the answer is yes, then please do not forget that you have a right to attend the Court Hearing and can put your defence to the magistrate. The council, equally, have a right to put their case for full and immediate payment, but the magistrate has a duty to listen to BOTH sides, before granting any Liability Order.
Remember that the Law, and the Courts who decide whether that law is administered correctly, are there as much for you as for the Local Council.
I have a friend who was a serving magistrate, and he tells me that the magistrates would far sooner come to an arrangement with the plaintiff than to send in the bailiffs.
It is, therefore just a suggestion, but would you possibly be better off by actually attending the court hearing and asking the court to consider your offer of payment, as the council appears not to want to listen?

Herbie21

ROG 2

Very good advice.

Although everyone has the right under article 6 of the Human Rights Act to not only be heard in court but to have a fair trial, I can count on my hand the number of people that ACTUAL turn up at the Magistrates Court and when a Liability Order is being sought, and to be fair I haven't got a clue why.

Some magistrates can be very stuffy, but there are many who are very helpful in cases where there is a genuine financial difficulty in meeting their council tax.

BAILIFFCHASER

Crown wrote: »

Hi, Dont want to discourage you although if the Bailiffs are assigned by the court they have every right to enter if they have a court warrant as the law is then on there side. This is different to a standard Debt Collection agent who I agree has no right of entry. Lets hope the OP can seek the legal advice needed before it gets to this stage.

They are allowed peaceful entry but not forced entry. If a bailiff gets in you have a right to defend your property. If you need further info on this then pm and i will advise.

sethsmum

Just thought I would share my experience...had the baliffs round a few months ago for a previous years CT debt. I had made sure that I kept a record of all my correspondence with the council, and when the bailiff came made it very clear that I had no intention of not paying the debt.

Although he was the spitting image of Grant Mitchell, the bailiff was actually very pleasant. He explained what he could and couldn't do, and that the first step was to make a walking posession agreement (basically he made a list of my stuff, car, TV etc.) which the bailiffs would be entitled to come back and take if I didn't keep to my payment arrangement. He also said they weren't allowed to take my son's stuff, or essentials like clothes etc.

He also let slip some interesting but not pertinent info that the bailiff companies don't actually make any money from the Council. Apparently by law bailiffs have to provide a service in respect of council tax debts etc, and all they get back from the council is a minimal fee plus their expenses, they make most of their money on commercial contracts, which is why they charge such extortionate fees for such jobs! Don't know how much truth there is in this, but I found it interesting...

Good luck with your debts (by the way, can't stress enough how good the other posters suggestions have been, you really have to bite the bullet sometimes, cut down and work like a slave to clear those debts, you'll be glad you did).:D

Herbie21

Some if this information given to you is correct, but it not all correct.

If you cant pay the debt when the bailiff arrives he will instead "reserve" items that he believes belong to you ( the onus of proof is on you, not the bailiff to provide proof of ownerwhip), this is referred to as "levying" on goods which he will then officially record by listing those items on a form called a Walking Possession. Up until the past couple of years this was a most satisfactory arrangement which ensured that you had time to pay the debt and if you fell into arrears on the arrangement.....the bailiff can return and remove those items listed to pay the debt.

Sadly, most bailiff companies use walking possessions as a means of applying large charges to the account. This is because he can charge a one of fee for the WP , a "levy" fee which laid down in law, a daily fee, but most importantly it provides the bailiff the right to return........and enter your home even if you are not in......to remove those goodslisted. This will involve him charging an "attendance to remove" fee which can be hundereds of pounds. The bailiff will do this within just a few days of a late payment or bounced cheque.

Bailiffs DO NOT get any fee at all from local authoritites. That stopped many years ago. Instead they keep all of the charges ie: letter fee, visit fees, attandance to remove fees etc.

There is talk within the industry that the government is looking at the local authorities paying an upfront fee to the bailiffs when the debt is pased to them, but this is still in the discussion stage.


However in cases where they are unable to locate the individual etc, they do receive a small fee called a nulla bono fee.