Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

[phil6605]

We have fallen behind by over £3k with our council tax.It is now at the bailiff stage, I have taken all of the advice on here about ignoring the door, locking doors etc, begged the council to take the debt back,offered instalments etc but getting nowhere.
I was all ready to start just setting up a payment scheme with the council anyway so that they could see we were prepared to pay the debt and hopefully they would take the debt back but today the bailiffs have ben back out,caught us getting our kids out of the car,wrote down the Reg no and said that we have 5 days to come to an agreement with them or they will seize our car.
Tried to agree a payment plan with them however they are demanding it be paid within 3-6mths therefore £500-£1000 per month,which we simply cant afford. What can I do? What is my next step when they are refusing to let me pay what i can afford and so are the council?

[ploddertom]

Re: Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

Did they give you a Notice of Seizure (Form 7)? Is the car on finance at all? Is anyone within the family disabled or suffer from long term illness? What ages are the children?

[bluebottle]

Re: Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

Firstly, which bailiff company is involved? Secondly, if they are OFT-registered, which most bailiff companies enforcing public debt are, they have to abide by OFT Debt Collection Guidelines, as well as relevant legislation pertaining to Council Tax. Thirdly, they commit a breach of the conditions of their OFT Licence by forcing you or attempting to force you to pay more than you can reasonably or realistically afford to pay. It also sounds to me that they are attempting to engineer a non-payment which is an absolute no-no where OFT are concerned.

[phil6605]

Re: Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

Thanks for replies.

bailif company are Bristow&Sutor,no car finance,no long term illness/disability. Children are 2,9 and 13. It is not clear if it is form 7? it does say "Notice of Seizure of goods" at the top and in tiny writing at the bottom "BSF 11/18 revision 7"

[bluebottle]

Re: Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

Bristols and Hooters are OFT-registered and this needs reporting to OFT Credit Fitness Team and your local Trading Standards Department asap. I am attaching a copy of a document which takes you through the process of reporting a bailiff company to the OFT and an up-to-date copy of OFT Debt Collection Guidelines, which you should quote from in your complaint. You will also need to include the following in your complaint -

Company Name: Bristow & Sutor Civil Enforcement Ltd
OFT Licence No.: 155278

If OFT were to revoke Bristols and Hooters licence, it could be catastrophic as they would not be able to collect any consumer debt they may collect and their public debt contracts would be a risk of being rescinded. It could also result in the company facing closure.

[ploddertom]

Re: Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

Thanks for replies.

bailif company are Bristow&Sutor,no car finance,no long term illness/disability. Children are 2,9 and 13. It is not clear if it is form 7? it does say "Notice of Seizure of goods" at the top and in tiny writing at the bottom "BSF 11/18 revision 7"

Have they actually written you vehicle details on it?

[phil6605]

Re: Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

Ok i will get those letters sent,but in the meantime what happens? They will still take the car won't they?

[phil6605]

Re: Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

yes they have the Reg, make and model of car

[phil6605]

Re: Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

sorry,to clarify-they posted 3 forms
form 1 is an "invetory of seized goods,this had the car details on but has NOT been signed by the bailiff or us.
form 2 is the breakdown of amounts owed and charges(there are 3 different accounts,from 3 years and they are charging first&second visit fees on each of the accounts,as well as charging £92 levy fee on one account)
form 3 is the notice of seizure of goods which shows the amount owed,this is signed but has no car details on,just a note saying "see memo"

[ploddertom]

Re: Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

sorry,to clarify-they posted 3 forms
form 1 is an "invetory of seized goods,this had the car details on but has NOT been signed by the bailiff or us. - should be signed by the Bailiff
form 2 is the breakdown of amounts owed and charges(there are 3 different accounts,from 3 years and they are charging first&second visit fees on each of the accounts - not allowed they should treat them as a single Liability Order - ,as well as charging £92 levy fee on one account)
form 3 is the notice of seizure of goods which shows the amount owed,this is signed but has no car details on,just a note saying "see memo" - if the NoS does not have any details on it then in my view they are stuffed.

I would move your car - NOW - at least a good 10 minute walk away and park in a different place each time, better still would be to park it in a friends or neighbours garage - not next door obviously - and make sure the door is locked.

[ploddertom]

Re: Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

How old is your car & what do you reckon it might be worth if you sold it?

[phil6605]

Re: Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

It is a 9yr old Bmw probably worth £2k we own it outright

[bluebottle]

Re: Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

As regards complaining to OFT and TS, you send them by email, not by letter.

[phil6605]

Re: Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

ah i'm terrible at letter writing my mind has gone blank,any idea on a starting point and i will email them asap?

[samir khan]

Re: Urgent advice needed please-bailiff about to sieze car

Tell them that you need your car for your job, then they cannot remove this as it is a part of your earning any money, just my thoughts look it up!