Baillif coming

pigpen

I don't know how other councils work with the courts but I was under the impression most are run on pretty much the same terms.


Here.. they call most of the council tax cases on the same day each week.. they call ALL the people into a room and give them the offer of paying £3 a MONTH if they agree to that they can walk away.. no more interest just £3 a month..

If you don't attend the court they usually slot in an attachment of earnings if one of you is working.. they don't give a hoot about your other priorities.. they take their percentage and you have to manage!!

They tell you the bailiffs will call a LOT earlier than they actually will to scare you.. which is exactly what this has done... made you panic!

When you get the court date.. go.. talk to them they are usually quite ok once you get to the courts to be honest. They aren't going to drag you off to prison there and then!!! Take a copy of your SOA, and other debts.. you have a valid case, you are making an offer of payment, not refusing therefore there isn't very much they can do if you can prove you don't have the extra to offer them. The council will not make any other arrangement than to work out what you owe over the remainder of the tax year, so it is going to court regardless unless you can cover that £240 a month. It isn't so scary .. they are people the same as us.. they often just think they are better!

And speak to your mother.. on what you owe, there is no way those payments she is asking you to make will be the monthly catalogue payments.. unless you ordered £4000 on each!!! and she is your mum.. if she doesn't understand, well.. she just should!!!

It could be a lot worse!! it'll sort!

Good luck!!

Herbie21

I've never heard of a council accepting £3 per month, that would mean just £36 a year. Which local authority is this !!!!

In order to obtain a liability order all the local authority needs to do is to present a computer printout with names, addresses, amount of debt outstanding and this is presented to the court.

If the council tax payer does not attend (and most don't,...then the debt is established as legal and the printout is stamped accordingly. Without this process, the debt CANNOT be sent to bailiffs.

As far as I am aware, the magistrates court will award the liability order even if you cannot pay....after all most people are in arrears because they have no money. However, once a liability order is obtained, the local authority can keep the debt ih-house and accept nominal payments. Once it has passed to bailiffs it is not quite so simple.

plonker

Sorry I haven't been around to answer any questions and to thank you all for your help

The court date is set for the 17th September. I rang the CT office on Thursday last week but they couldn't help as computers were down, but asked for general advice, said if I agreed to the payments they were asking that it would still go to court but no baillif would call, she said they still need to get the liability order

So I think I'm going to ring back today and agree to the payments, how I will pay I don't know. I suffer with depression and there is no way I could go to court, I just couldn't The thought of baillifs coming is making me ill, I haven't slept properly since the letter came.

Thanks everyone for your advice

azjh77

We had a similar problem with CT baliffs. They came to our house demanding entry...we didn't let them in. The woman kept going on about prision and my kids being taken away..(I've got 4 kids too) didn't let them in. I told them I would have the full amount to pay them in 7 days when I cashed in my endowment. They weren't willing to wait. They even asked if the van parked outside the house belonged to us...
"no it's a works van"
"can you prove it?"
"Ummm it's got Telewest printed on the side of it.."

She eventually left, and when I got my money through I phoned them to pay the debt. They had given up and given it back to the council. I phoned the council and offered them payment which they accepted no problem.

I hope you can resolve your problems, I know it's a bit scary but you'll get through it.

azjh77

Just read your last post...don't agree to pay an amount if you can't do it...it will just cause further trouble.

Herbie21

If you offer more than you know you can afford the situation goes like this:

1st payment: paid on time.

2nd payment; a few days late

3rd payment; bounces

Result: bailiff arrives to remove goods and charges huge "attending to remove costs", "broken arrangement fees" "new walking possession fees".....as many fees as he can think of.


Just remember the following:

Question: What will a bailiff charge me?

Answer: Whatever he can get away with !!!

BAILIFFCHASER

plonker wrote: »

Sorry I haven't been around to answer any questions and to thank you all for your help

The court date is set for the 17th September. I rang the CT office on Thursday last week but they couldn't help as computers were down, but asked for general advice, said if I agreed to the payments they were asking that it would still go to court but no baillif would call, she said they still need to get the liability order

So I think I'm going to ring back today and agree to the payments, how I will pay I don't know. I suffer with depression and there is no way I could go to court, I just couldn't The thought of baillifs coming is making me ill, I haven't slept properly since the letter came.

Thanks everyone for your advice

I would go along to thearing and put my case to the magistrates also take as
much paperwork as you can to the court. You must do this. The magis court is straight forward.

moneymare

The Liability Order hearing is exactly that - to ascertain whether the individual is liable for the Council Tax or not - The Magistrates at a Liability Order Hearing have no power whatsoever to enforce or set a payment arrangement.
There are only a certain number of defences to the issue of a Liability Order.
These are:
1. Council Tax has not been charged in accordance with the Valuation List.
2. That the Tax has not been properly set.
3. That the Tax has not been demanded in accordance with the statutory provisions.
4. That the amount demanded has been paid in full.
5. That more than 6 years have elapsed since the day on which the sum became payable.
6. That the sum outstanding is in respect of a penalty, which is the subject of an appeal or arbitration.
7. That bankruptcy or winding up proceedings have been initiated.

Herbie21

Exactly right.

All the liability order does is to confirm that there is a debt......and allows the debt to be given to bailiff if the council wishes.

It also allows councils to charge a fee of £65 in ADDITION to the outstanding amount and they in turn pay a fee of £3 to obtain the liability order.

A most unsatisfactory way of bringing additional revenue into the councils at the expense of vulnerable individuals who are already struggling to make ends meet.

moneymare

Herbie21 wrote: »

Exactly right.

All the liability order does is to confirm that there is a debt......and allows the debt to be given to bailiff if the council wishes.

As one of a number of options to collect the debt. The liability order allows the council to;
1. make a payment arrangement outside of the statutory scheme of instalments
2. implement an attachment to earnings order
3. implement an attachment to Income Support or JSA
4. Send the account to Bailiffs
5. Apply for a Charging Order
6. Commence Bankruptcy proceedings