Bristow and Sutor - absolutely petrified!

fiona1125

Hi,
we had a letter come in the post on the 24th November from Bristow and Sutor requested payment of a joint debt.
They requested the first payment of £450 to be made on the 23rd November and then 10 payments after £420 after that.
My partner was declared bankrupt a few months ago but found out this debt has fallen to me as there were liabilities and couldn’t be included.
I am the only earner in the house now, my hubby is looking for work and we have 3 children.
I have explained my situation and that I am the only earner and we have 3 kids and sent a full breakdown of our income and expenditure and the most we can spare after canacelling life insurance and another few items is £250 per month. This will increase to £400 per month in 5 months when I have paid back another debt.
Bristow come back this morning and refused by offer and have now requested £554 to by next Monday and another 8 payments of £500 plus.
We have no family to ask for help, nothing to sell, no assets and the £250 is all I can afford and can barely afford that, this could risk us not been able to pay for gas and electric not to mention Christmas is out of the question.
Really don’t know what to do, if I hadn’t cancelled the life insurance to raise some extra cash I could easily just jump in front of a train right now.

Mjen779

Hey lovely, bless you. I also have bristow and suitor on my tail for a late counsel tax bill for an old property, I had an arrangement with them, done via the council as bristow and suitor would not accept my offers no matter how much I pleaded, always wanted loads more.

I called the council direct and they told them to accept the offer! Is this an option?
However I missed 2 payments of £70

They sent enforcement officers around ( I wasn't in at the time)
I called him (the Bailiff), and explained I had only missed 2 payments due to my husband's business going into liquidation and didn't have the money, I admit buried my head in the sand, I had children and everything was getting too much.
He rearranged the monthly payments for me via the council and wavered his fee for attending my home.
Go direct to whoever your husband owes and speak to them, see if they can help at all, it's bloody hard, I know exactly how you feel and it's awful.

Deep breaths. Your offer sounds very reasonable.

sourcrates

fiona1125 wrote: »

My partner was declared bankrupt a few months ago but found out this debt has fallen to me as there were liabilities and couldn’t be included..

Hi,


One important question.


Has any court action taken place as yet in relation to this debt ?

fiona1125

Yes, it’s for a council debt.
The went to court and got a ‘liability’ order but I wasn’t aware of this.
Would speaking to the council help as they have already passed this over?
I have no family to ask for help and nothing to sell. I am so worried, tearing up at my desk at work making out I’m fine. We are having another rubbish Christmas as it is without bully bailiffs on the door.

Mjen779

They had already passed my debt over to bristow who were demanding £400 odd which just wasn't do able, they wouldn't listen to me, or reduce.
So I called them to beg and help me as I didn't know where else to turn and they did... Worth a shot.

It's very difficult Hun. Try not to worry to much.
It's crap and I understand how you feel. Brave face, deep breaths and give them a call. It might be different council to council whether they step in or not .
They did for me and I wasn't offering what you are.

They may be more understanding as it isn't actually you that rannup the debt but it's fallen on you.

sourcrates

Bailiffs default position in any dealings is to demand payment in full, you've seen the TV programs, real life is not much different.


Get in touch with the council, explain your circumstances to them, ask if they will take the debt back, if they won`t, you just pay what you can afford to the bailiffs, and ignore what they say to you, they cannot break into your home, they can only enter by peaceful means, for example through an unlocked door.


So there demands are totally meaningless, pay only what you can afford, and keep paying until the debt is paid off.


Don`t look for there agreement in any of this.