CCJ and ballifs from our council for a bill we've already paid

Hipponaut

Can anyone offer any advice please? I'm at my wit's end.

My husband and I lost almost all our income a few months ago due to a major downturn in our industry. Two big projects I was relying on for the year were cancelled for reasons outside my control. My husband lost almost his work as he's an industry that didn't recover post-pandemic (but in the last month has thankfully found a new job). As a result we've been at am extremely low ebb financially - but with nowhere to turn for help as I'm self-employed.

We were behind on council tax payments but just about keeping up - a struggle to put it mildly. It got to the point where we were behind by £291 on an arrangement with our council (as I'd got a bit of work in but my new clients hadn't paid me on time). We were threatened with court action. So I found a way to rustle the money up (by selling treasured household posessions). I paid the bill on 21/8, clearing it in full as requested. I understand the court proceedings were on 31 August.

Today I received a letter from a company Equita saying the court had issued a liability order and enforcement notice for non-payment and if I don't pay them an extortionate amount (which includes costs) by 8/8 they'll come to the house with baliffs.

I'm feeling bullied - and unless I've got completely the wrong end of the stick, a CCJ has been issued in error due to duff record keeping by the council. I've double-checked my bank account and the council's own website. The payment is visible on both and the council logged the money as arriving on 21/8.

Any ideas what I can do to sort this out - I don't want to approach Equita as they come across as bullies. I also need the council to reverse the CCJ on our file which I think must have been issued in error. There's nothing on the Equita letter that says what you should do if you think the council or the court has made a mistake.

Thanks

Hipponaut

Hoenir

You make no mention of responding to the County Court claim made. What action did you take? 

Hipponaut

Hello Hoenir

I just read the council letter on 14 August and did what it asked. It just said:

"On 18 March 2024 Croydon Magistrates Court granted a liability order against you for non payment....A balance of 291.00 is currently owing under this order and this amount should be paid in full by 31 August 2024.
If you are unable to pay in full you must supply the information requested..."

...and then at the bottom of the page the words 'Total amount now due £291'.

There was nothing in the letter that said I must turn up to court, or talk to anyone in a court. Obviously if it had even implied that I would have responded. No date, no info about a court time and place, just a menacing letter about payment. I should say this is after I've been in correspondence for many months, on and off, with the council and been very open about our dire financial circumstances.

I don't get it at all. And what's this about 18 March? Again, if I'd known I was a court case I'd have been there. I'd spoken to the council many times about my situation as I was having to adjust our arrangement month by month, as we sunk further and further into the mire (with no work and all our savings used up many months ago to survive - all my work equipment sold too, for the same reason).

Hipponaut

...I'm now also worried about how many other payments I've made simply haven't been logged on their system. This could help to explain why keeping up with the council tax bills has felt like such a Sisyphean task. I now need to comb through everything over the last 18 months as I have a complete breakdown of trust in their record keeping.

fatbelly

It's not a ccj. Nothing to do with county court. No county court claim. Nothing will appear on your credit file.

You are correct to say that you need to discuss this with the council. It appears that the payment was not allocated against the account that had the liability order from the Magistrates Court 6 months ago.

You are also correct not to engage with Equita, who are bullies and have a vested interest in adding the £75 compliance fee and £235 enforcement fee. They have no right to force entry so you need to keep external doors locked and park any car a little away from where you live.

Eventually the debt goes back to the council but it would be helpful if the council could be proactive and recall it.

Hipponaut

Thanks Fatbelly

It's reassuring to know this isn't a CCJ. I see a letter like the one we had and gives that impression to a non-expert. And despite losing all our income, I've been on a daily juggling act, trying to keep creditors informed and paid as best we can and not get a default on our records. So far, I've managed to do so (by selling many essential kit I own for my business - and household posessions).

I called the council this morning. Turns out the money we'd paid was added to this year's installments, not the overdue ones from 2023/24. So the council had messed up royally, then, on the strength of their mistake, sent our case to the Magistrates, then to these bullies, on the basis of their duff systems. We're told the ballifs are arriving on Sunday and the letter arrived yesterday. The bill was paid on 21/8. Words fail me.

To give a bit of context: I've been in regular phone and email contact with the council about our situation which has been dire. When the letter arrived, I took one of the last remaining things of any value that we own, stuck it on ebay and used that to pay the bill. Even that didn't help.

I have such a breakdown of trust with the council now - from where I'm standing, it feels like the worst kind of bullying and lack of care for residents in a vulnerable situation. The mantra from debt advisors is to keep in touch with creditors and that's exactly what I've been doing. But even that doesn't fix things. I'm going to comb through our accounts now as I want to double-check everything we've sent has been acknowledged on the council's system.

...anyway, the good news is that my husband has found a job now. First proper paycheck in many, many months at the end of October. And fingers crossed I have an interview the middle of this month...

Thanks again everyone

Hipponaut

fatbelly

That's what I guessed had happened. Have they agreed to

1. Move the payment to cover the debt they wrote to you about?
2. Call off the bailiffs?
3. Remove the extra fees and charges?

Hipponaut

1. Yes. They did so while I was on the line.
2. Yes. They promised to contact them before the weekend. I need to double-check tomorrow though that they have done so.
3. Don't know - but I assume so. That's the next question to sort out.

They also offered to put back deadline for all of this month's payment for 2024/25 to October (knowing my husband gets his first pay cheque in his new job end of Sept). So I took up that offer. I'll treat that as the closest I'll get to an apology!

Hipponaut

Aargh!
Well, as I mentioned above, the Council admitted they'd acted in error (without a single word of apology). And then, very sluggishly - two days after I told them they needed to deal with their error urgently, the Council wrote to assure us they had told the bullies Equita to stop harrassing us as we'd already paid the bill some weeks ago.

And this morning - a Saturday - we have another hideous letter from Equita. Lots of red writing: 'Further notice of enforcement', blah, blah, blah - threats to come into our home, without permission, and seize our property. And the amount has gone up to £366.00.

This behaviour is beyond disgusting. It's intimidating - disproportionate - has messed up my Saturday (and disrupted my concerntration, on a day I'm trying to get some urgent work finished). I'm not going to call Equita to tell them to go away as I wish to have nothing to do with such a vile and irrationally behaving company.

Any suggestions? Can I take the Council to court for intimidation and harrassment? And Equita too. I'd like to do so right now.

Hipponaut

PS This was very timely: https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/sep/09/martin-lewis-authorities-handle-unpaid-council-tax-like-worst-loan-sharks

fatbelly

Back when I started advice work our local council was small. Six councils later joined together to create a unitary authority and ruined any semblance of customer service.

Anyway I got to know our head of revenues - the guy who dealt with council tax and discovered him to be a reasonable chap similar to me in age and outlook. Any problems I took to him and they were sensibly dealt with.

Then after the merger I had a client who was being hounded by bailiffs and being threatened with all sorts of nonsense. Eventually I and my contact discovered that his d/d had been set up with a wrong reference and his payments had been going to someone else's account.

We got it sorted and I suggested that my client was due an apology. Blow me down, he flat-out refused!

Why is it so difficult for a council to say sorry?

I would suggest writing a letter headed formal complaint. Ask for an apology and compensation. You'll probably get neither. But you can then escalate it to the LGO and someone senior at your council may spit out his tea.

Nasqueron

Hipponaut said:

Aargh!
Well, as I mentioned above, the Council admitted they'd acted in error (without a single word of apology). And then, very sluggishly - two days after I told them they needed to deal with their error urgently, the Council wrote to assure us they had told the bullies Equita to stop harrassing us as we'd already paid the bill some weeks ago.

And this morning - a Saturday - we have another hideous letter from Equita. Lots of red writing: 'Further notice of enforcement', blah, blah, blah - threats to come into our home, without permission, and seize our property. And the amount has gone up to £366.00.

This behaviour is beyond disgusting. It's intimidating - disproportionate - has messed up my Saturday (and disrupted my concerntration, on a day I'm trying to get some urgent work finished). I'm not going to call Equita to tell them to go away as I wish to have nothing to do with such a vile and irrationally behaving company.

Any suggestions? Can I take the Council to court for intimidation and harrassment? And Equita too. I'd like to do so right now.

Hipponaut

PS This was very timely: https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/sep/09/martin-lewis-authorities-handle-unpaid-council-tax-like-worst-loan-sharks

ML has some campaigns which are right and just and some where he swings and misses. Edinburgh council are £36m in debt and are at the point of scraping the barrel to the extend of cutting remote access to council meetings so only people with time and money to attend them physically can see the democratic process. Yet they have an estimated £100m of unpaid council debt. While your situation is hideous and the council should be taken through the rollers, I absolutely support councils going after genuine tax avoiders and they should take them to the cleaners for their unpaid bills, then we might get some roads fixed