Vulnerable neighbour - Bristol & Sutor

Tim1111

Bristol & Sutor have sent a letter to a vulnerable elderly neighbour regarding a Council Tax debt, which vaguely threatens the future possibility of entering the property and seizing his goods if it's not paid. It's not a large amount (<£200), but I'm unsure of best way to tackle it.

A council dept manages his money for him, so I'm a little unsure how they've managed not to pay themselves and let it get this far! Strangely they haven't even got his name right (using his middle name as his first name), so not even sure this is genuine - although it sounds like this company does chase CT debts.

Even if a bailiff turns up, the neighbour can't get to the door so wouldn't be able to let them in.

What's the best course of action:
a) Ignore it on the basis they would never get in (although a carer could let them in);
b) Pass the letter to the council and let them deal with it; or
c) Phone B&S to explain he is vulnerable and they need to pass it back to council as they will never recover anything on the debt?

Any advice welcome, thanks.

sourcrates

I would say get in touch with the council and find out what's gone wrong.

You don't want this to escalate, to be honest, best nipped in the bud if it's someone's error !!

CIS

As above - contact the council. Bristow & Sutor are a genuine enforcement agency.

I've seen the same problem occur a few times, usually because social services didn't advise the council tax dept that they were actively managing all the finances.

National_Debtline

Hi

As the others have said, it sounds like a mistake by the council so ask them to take the debt back. If there’s a possibility anyone might let a bailiff in make sure they don’t. The bailiff can’t force entry as long as they aren’t allowed inside in the first place.

If there are any issues with this remind the council of the ‘Taking Control of Goods – National Standards’ guidelines, which talk about vulnerable situations. Paragraph 16 says a creditor should be prepared to take control of a case should someone be identified as vulnerable.

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/353396/taking-control-of-goods-national-standards.pdf

James
@natdebtline