Bailiff help - urgent! from a debtfree wannabee!

pob128

Hi all,
Im new to this forum and really hoping someone out there will be able to help me with my problem.
I am a debt free wannabee who is selling house and home to get back 'on track' I just hope this is the right place to ask the following....

A couple of months ago I received a visit from the bailiffs about unpaid council tax.
I let them into my house and signed a walk in agreement with them. I know this was probably a stupid thing to do but I am trying to face up to my debts, pay them all off and start again.
Anyway, the agreement was that I pay them £100 a month until I sell my home (it was up for sale at the time, I now have an offer and am just waiting for the process till completion to finish) and then pay the balance at the point I sell my house (using the equity)
Anyway, I paid the first months no problem, but then just plain simple forgot to send the cheque off in the second month. My house is currently subject to a repossession order and I was so caught up with all that that I just forgot about the bailiffs (Bristow and Sutor)
Anyway, I received a letter telling me I had missed a payment and that I was now liable for the whole debt.
I phoned the company immediately, apologised and was totally frank and truthfull with them. They told me there was nothing they could do and that I had to pay the full outstanding amount otherwise my goods would be taken.
Eventually I talked them round to accepting a payment by cheque of the missed months £100 plus the following months £100 as a gesture of good faith that I intended to pay.
They did tell me that this would help but wouldnt guarentee that they wouldnt take my goods.
Today I receive a phone call from the bailiff saying that they are outside my house and that i needed to go home to let them in. I explained that i had paid £200 in effect paying of the arrears so that the agreement was back on track but they were not having it.
So I phoned the company direct... again, no help at all. They claim that I had broken the agreement and that was that, and that they were not in any position to call the bailiff off.
Now im worried sick! Apart from the fact that the contents of my house are worth diddly squat I really do not want someone to take my television, sofas, wardrobes, computer, washing machine and other stuff so that i will be basically living in a shell!
I feel so badly done by and just dont know where to turn for help!
Please help if you can
Thanks

fatbelly

p!!!28 wrote: »

Now im worried sick! Apart from the fact that the contents of my house are worth diddly squat I really do not want someone to take my television, sofas, wardrobes, computer, washing machine and other stuff so that i will be basically living in a shell!Thanks

If the bailiff removed all the contents he listed and sold them at auction, would they realise a sum that would cover the amount of the debt?

If the answer is no then look at the tems and conditions statement the bailiff should have given you. This comes under 'insufficient goods' and it should say that in that case the debt would be returned to the council. Letter to bailiff, copy to the council.

pob128

Hi Fatbelly, and thanks for the response.

No, the goods listed wouldnt even cover a fraction of the amount owing. The most expensive iten I have is probably the TV, which is an old fashioned backlit type. I see them on Ebay go for around £50 max.
The rest of the goods are pretty ancient and worth very little if anything at all. The sofa for example is a hand me down that is about 30 years old!

As for the terms and conditions, I only have the walk in possession agreement and reading the tiny writing on the back doesnt mention anything about terms and conditions, and if it does it is all gobble-de-gook to me im afraid.

Thing is I am trying to tackle this debt head on and deal with it. Im half thinking that the bailiff is trying the heavy handed approach to scare me into paying the money, but I just dont have the physical capability of doing that apart from the original agreement of £100 a month. And apart from one missed payment that has been rectified is all up to date. Plus I dont want to come home from work tomorrow and find everything gone!

a11waysindebt

Have you contacted the council and made arrangements to pay them.

pob128

No I havent, my belief was that once it was passed to a bailiff then it was out of there hands. Is this incorrect then?

a11waysindebt

You can contact your council in the morning explain your situation and try to come to some sort of agreement with them.

I will find you a link with some advice on in a minute.

a11waysindebt

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=02_bailiffs_and_council_tax#5

use this to work out how much you can REALLY afford to pay.

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/budget_sheet.php?country=england_wales

GeorgeUK

I would also suggest PM'ing Herbie21. She knows just about everything to do with bailiff's. I'd copy the link to this thread into your PM. I'm just concerned that they've already done the walking order and you've defaulted on the agreement after this.

pob128

Thanks for the advice everyone.
Still a bit lost to be honest with you. Dreading coming back from work tomorrow to an empty house... guess thats my worst fear.

SingleSue

I had a nasty time with a bailiff over council tax....despite offering what I could pay (bearing in mind I am a single parent on benefits) each week, the company and finally the bailiff just didn't want to know.

After lots of hassle, including a visit to my home where I refused to even let him onto the grounds of my property, I rang the council in desperation.

Well, what a mess the bailiff company got themselves into......turned out they had added charges that should not have been added (they had added a walk in charge, 2 visit fees and a van charge when it was actually the first visit to my home!) and they should have accepted my offer (which was way above what 'should' be taken from a person on benefits) so were ordered by the council to accept my proposal, explain themselves regarding their charges and basically told to go away with their tails between their legs after giving me an apology.

That would have felt good to have got it all sorted out and to show them a thing or two but the fact was it upset my two disabled children so much (the bloke shouting at me etc and generally being obnoxious) that it was absolute hell at home with them for the next fortnight and put their progress back months.

pob128

I am going to ring the council first thing this morning with the hope that I can get some similar success.
My problem is worse however as I have signed the walk in possession agreement. In affect allowing them to use force to enter my home.
Im not fussed if they turn up while I am in as I have had some great advice and have been reading other posts that help me in that area.
Apparently, most bailiffs are not certified so the first thing I will be doing is asking to see there ID. Secondly, they must have the warrant from the court on them... apparently they rarely, if ever, do. If that is the case I am sure I can send them packing. But unfortunately, it is while I am out to work that I have my concerns. They can just break in and take everything!