Rundles - Council tax debt

cassiopeia1975

Good afternoon,
I've just received a letter from Rundles in which they are announcing the "removal of your goods for sale at public auction". They also mention that they previously attended our property and identified goods, with a view to taking control of them.

First of all, the outstanding debts were on my partners' and my name. The enforcement agent visited us once 2-3 months ago but we didn't let him in and he just saw our couch whilst looking into the house.
Since then my partner entered successfully an IVA and already started his monthly payments. The council is also on the list of the creditors and they even voted in favour of an IVA.

My question is if Rundles still can try to get the money from me because the debt was between my partner and me. We live together but the tenancy agreement from our new house is in his name (we wanted to change that in a month or two). I don't have any income at the moment (staying-at-home mum of a disabled child).

Could someone give me a tip on how to handle this situation, please?

CIS

As a joint debt they can pursue the other person if one goes bankrupt or has an IVA (even without that enforcement can only be pursued against one individual at a time, with the council choosing which person).

They can't take goods that are seen through a window, they have to have physical access to the goods before the process to take control of goods could be done. Unless they have had peaceful entry to the property then they would have no change to actually list goods inside the property.

cassiopeia1975

Hi CIS, thank you for your reply.

I'm just concerned because they mentioned that they identified goods. How can that even be possible when they never entered the house?
They also mentioned that they plan to re-attend their visit during the week commencing 12th November 2018 to complete this action, which may occur even in my absence.

CIS

Did you sign anything when they visited originally ?

cassiopeia1975

No, both of us never signed anything and the front door and windows were always locked.

CIS

He cannot enter the property by force or remove any goods from within the property without having first had peaceful entry.

fatbelly

You can deal with the bailiff by refusing entry and keeping doors locked.

However, you still remain liable for the joint council tax bill even though your partner's liability is covered by the IVA.

That means in practice you will either need a payment plan or your own form of insolvency (DRO, IVA or bankruptcy)

cassiopeia1975

Good morning,
I would be more than happy to pay the debt off as it is the only debt I have. My problem is that I have zero income and I maybe can pay £10-£15 monthly but that is at the moment really the limit. I guess Rundles will not agree to that?

fatbelly

cassiopeia1975 wrote: »

Good morning,
I would be more than happy to pay the debt off as it is the only debt I have. My problem is that I have zero income and I maybe can pay £10-£15 monthly but that is at the moment really the limit. I guess Rundles will not agree to that?

No - they will likely want the debt cleared in two or three months and I'm guessing it's a few hundred pounds or more. You could try talking to the council direct, but that may also be unsuccessful

Do you have other debts? You could look at a DRO?

If you have no income or assets there is not a lot the council can do here. If you set up a standing order to pay £10 per month into the council tax account you would at least protect yourself from 'wilful refusal or culpable neglect' if yours is a council that likes to try for committal.

Their bank details are usually on their website and you just use your council tax account number as the reference.

Another option would be a s13a request and I think there are some details here

https://lgfa92.co.uk/section-13a-write-off/

cassiopeia1975

Thank you for your advice, I'm really grateful for that.
The debt is £490.62, Rundles wants £718.10. We moved a year ago and the council has changed. Could I still set up a standing order in this case?

I have no other debt and before that and since then we are always ahead with payments. I would like to pay more but it is not possible at the moment and I really hate to have debts. If there is no other way out, I might look at the s13a request. Thank you for the link.

iolanthe07

They don't have to gain access to identify your goods if there is a car outside that they think might belong to you.