Council tax arrears

[Deleted User]

Hello

Could anyone advise me on what I could do in this situation as its getting very confusing

I have 1200 currently owing to the council tax and it has gone to Rossendales collections agency.. i have started making them monthly repayments of 200 a month, for 2 months now, but frankly its crippling me and when i called to ask if i could reduce it, a particularly unpleasant woman told me either I pay up "or we will send the white vans round" ie the bailiffs...

naturally i want to and plan to pay this arrears off but i really cant afford it at this rate.

i have 2 questions

1) can the bailiffs really break in from a collections agency if i never answer the door (i am hardly here as it is so avoiding it wont be a problem) - this is my BIGGEST worry

2) can anyone suggest how i could approach them to reduce this?

Any advice would be much appreciated

thanks very much !

Boobah

chappers

No they can not, the bailiffs may be used if the council have a liability order against you. They can only break in after they have gained peaceable entry(either you let them in or they get access through an open door or window).
DCA collectors have about as much right of ebtry to your house as I do.

CLAPTON

go see the council face to face and work out a repayment schedule you can stick to

hodgester

CLAPTON wrote: »

go see the council face to face and work out a repayment schedule you can stick to

most councils now refuse to return cases from the bailiff as you either failed to complete the reverse of your liability order and return it or did not stick to the offer of payment agreed. it's worth a try but i wouldn't hold out hope on that approach.

chappers

i don't believe Rossendales are certified bailiffs i think they are debt collectors have you been to court or do you have a liability order against you.
If not deal direct with the council.
Don't ever agree to an arrangement you cannot honour, it only looks bad if you find you can't meet it, should you end up in court.

CIS

i don't believe Rossendales are certified bailiffs i think they are debt collectors have you been to court or do you have a liability order against you.

We use Rossendales to collect on Liability Orders and have done for some years

If your in doubt over a particular bailiff -

Call the HMCS public register of certificated bailiffs on 0207 210 0516 and ask for the name and address of his certificating court and dates of his certificate.

pokemon151

I have a ongoing battle with the Idiots. I'm paying then £12.50 of a £597.00 arrears.
Once it is handed over to them the council has nothing to do with it as my correspondence I have shows.

From: counciltax@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
Sent:
14 April 2008 14:18:35

To:
Andrew xxx ([EMAIL="xxxxxxxxx@hotmail.com"]xxxxxxxxx@hotmail.com[/EMAIL])

Thank you for your e-mail,

The initial debt passed to Rossendales was £592.29.

Once we pass the debt to Rossendales we are not involved in regulating
payments.

Regards Mrs Redford

Here is a copy of a email I received from them

Subject: RE: xxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:34:01 +0000
From: [EMAIL="RBrickwood@rossendales.com"]RBrickwood@rossendales.com[/EMAIL]
To: [EMAIL="xxxxxxxx@hotmail.com"]xxxxxxxx@hotmail.com[/EMAIL]
We are set repayment guidelines by the council. ?25 per week is the minimum required.

Yours truly,

Rupert

Make a £25.00 per week payment.

CIS

I have a ongoing battle with the Idiots. I'm paying then £12.50 of a £597.00 arrears.
Once it is handed over to them the council has nothing to do with it as my correspondence I have shows.

What exactly is your battle with the council over ? is it because they issued the account to Rossendales.

pokemon151

CIS, no I dont care who the account is handed over to as long as they accept my payment. The gripe is not with the council as they were doing there jobs.
Rossendales as my email show demand more than the £12.50 p/w im paying. My budget allows me to pay that and they are not happy with it and want £25.00 p/w
I owe +-£317 where they say it is £377 plus balliff costs when no balliff ever attended.

elliotj

I have a similar query. I moved in to a new flat in January and was then overseas for about month during Feb-March.

I have just got a final letter asking me to pay 1600 quid and cancelling my installment plan. I have now made the first installment payment and am willing to bring my account back up to date but in no way can I afford to pay 1600 quid.

I am not sure where the 1600 quid comes from but that must be the full amount until April 2009! Do I have to pay council tax a year in advance?

Can the council take me to court with no questions asked if I have made a payment since the final letter? Or because it is not for the full amount asked then do I have to pay the full amount?

I am planning on going to my council office tomorrow to discuss the situation. Has anyone here had any luck negotiating a new payment plan once the council demand the full amount owing?

Any replies welcome

chappers

Once you miss two payments with most councils you will lose your right to pay in installments and the council may well seek aliability order for the full years council tax, however they should write to you first requesting payment.
They should negotiate with you to arrange a payment plan however they may still take you to court to obtain a liability order.

Pokemon if you genuinely can only afford £12.50 then stick to your guns they will eventually either accept it or send the liability order back to the council, no court will ask you to pay more than you can afford.