Bristow and Sutor -Council Tax Debt

smalandcute

Wondering if anyone can offer any suggestions on what to do if possible please.

My council sent my 2021/2022 debt to Brisow and Sutor for my outstanding CT. No issue with this as I appreciate the council is following procedure to collect outstanding monies.

As I have mentioned in some of my previous posts I have for a very long time suffered severe mental health issues and was only diagnosed in early 2021. If my mental health is low it can affect how I manage my money. I am in weekly treatment and recieve PIP to cover the cost of my treatmemt as I can't get it on the NHS. I am all paid and up to date with my council tax otherwise where I currently reside.

In Aug 2022 I worked with Stepchange to create a budget and set up a payment plan to outstanding accounts. This is not a DMP but one I manage myself. My other two accounts have been really helpful, understanding a supportive.

BS on the other hand have been nothing more then a big pain. They have repeatedly been made aware I am vulnerabledue to mental health issues and disclosed my conditions, they are clearly not taking this seriously though. They have repeatedly refused my offer of payment demanding more each time even though I have told them on various calls I cannot afford this amount.

Mid May I called them in regards to an email I had received, the lady who took my call said she could see from my notes I had mental health issues and my budget from step change. By the end of the call it was agreed to keep paying what I currently was until its all paid off and no further action would be taken, ie no letters etc. Two days later I get another email from them chasing the debt so called again. On this call I said what was discussed previously and requested a SAR. This lady said no my colleague didn't say anything about how much to pay and communication would stop and effectively called me a lier.

End of May I received an email to say that a bailiff had attended my property however I was in that day and in my front room, which is where the front door is and no one knocked. My dog was also in the living room and she is my own built in door bell. BS have now added a £235 enforcement fee to my bill.

Last week I logged a formal complaint regarding matters with how I have been treated and that they are not supporting me in anyway. I received an email today stating that my SAR will be processed within one month but yet still to receive a complaint acknowledgement email even though their website says I should receive it within one working day. I am waiting to see if they do bother to do anything with it.

When I pay my council tax online it shows a greater outstanding balance then this year's council tax. I have done the math and this is the amount with BS but doesn't include the new enforcement fee. Should I just pay the outstanding balance on my council website and leave BS to it or do I still need to go through them?

I have a feeling depending on their outcome of my formal complaint the issue may need to go via the local authority as well as possibly my local MP.

Thanks for reading and any help given.