Help with issue pertaining to council tax - passed from pillar to post

[sunlightonthegrass]

I have always paid my council tax.

In late 2011 I moved house and became the owner on the first of November. By December I had become so seriously unwell I was admitted to hospital; I was allowed out in mid January 2012.

i had not set up a direct debit to the council due to being so ill and I had a bailiff visit - fair enough, I paid the £674 I owed to the bailiff and to shropshire county council. I then moved house again (long story!) and moved into the new property in a different county (Staffs.) I was in Shropshire a total of 11 months.

this summer I had yet another bailiff visit saying I still owed Shropshire money - I paid this (£783) and asked if that was the end of it - the bailiff said yes.

Now I have had two hand posted demands for another £700. I do not owe this. I owed two lots of money to the council for the eleven months I was there and have paid these. I don't understand why the bailiffs are still after me. The council say I must speak to the bailiffs while the bailiffs insist the council need to be contacted.

it is horrific jumping out of my skin every time there is a knock on the door. Can anybody help?

[ploddertom]

Re: Help with issue pertaining to council tax - passed from pillar to post

Firstly you need to speak to the Council and ask:
1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you
2 - how much each one is for
3 - the period of time each one covers
4 - the address(es) they allude to
5 - the date each one was obtained
6 - when they were passed over for enforcement
7 - the date and amount of any payments
8 - how much is stilloutstanding

It is not unknown for Councils to continue to charge after someone moves house.

[ploddertom]

Re: Help with issue pertaining to council tax - passed from pillar to post

Next you need to establish what the Bailiffs have charged you in fees - not that I think they would ever overcharge of course. Send Letter 1 from http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...Useful-Letters this can be sent initially by email followed by a copy in the post. When you get an answer come back and we'll sort fact from fiction.

[bluebottle]

Re: Help with issue pertaining to council tax - passed from pillar to post

Which bailiff company is involved, please?

[sunlightonthegrass]

Re: Help with issue pertaining to council tax - passed from pillar to post

Plodderton, thank you, I will try that but the council do insist I speak to the bailiffs whenever I try to contact them.

bluebottle, it is bristow & sutor

[bluebottle]

Re: Help with issue pertaining to council tax - passed from pillar to post

Plodderton, thank you, I will try that but the council do insist I speak to the bailiffs whenever I try to contact them.

bluebottle, it is bristow & sutor

Sounds about right for Bristols and Hooters. When you ring the council, it sounds very much that you are speaking to the telephone-answering muppet. Next time, go through the switchboard, speak to an operator and ask to be put through to the Head of Finance. If you are put through to the same telephone-answering muppet, ask to be transferred to the Head of Finance.

I find that saying "Am I to understand you are refusing to transfer this call to ......." has a desirable effect. Another thing that can catch a telephone-answering muppet out is "There is nothing in the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 that requires me to deal with your contracted enforcement agent and I can find nothing under any other legislation that requires me to deal with a bailiff. So what legislation are you drawing your authority from to say that I do?"

[ploddertom]

Re: Help with issue pertaining to council tax - passed from pillar to post

Plodderton, thank you, I will try that but the council do insist I speak to the bailiffs whenever I try to contact them.

bluebottle, it is bristow & sutor

The questions I posed that you ask the Council have nothing to do with the Bailiffs and you have every right to the answers. It could be they have not carried out the correct procedures and there is of course a possibility that I said earlier you have been charged for a period of time that you did not live there. Do not be put off by them and if they repeat the line "talk to the Bailiffs" then ask to speak to someone more senior. If they still fail to give you your answers you are then left with no alternative but to submit a Formal Complaint direct to the Council CEO.

As it is B&S you are dealing with then there scale of fees usually starts with "once upon a time" - as they use fairy stories for all their other imaginary ideas of the work they believe they may have done. If you need an email address to send a copy of the fee breakdown then use enquiries@bristowsutor.co.uk .

[enquirer]

Re: Help with issue pertaining to council tax - passed from pillar to post

Conduct all correspondence in writing, lest any awkward paperwork become 'accidentally' lost.

[bizzybob]

Re: Help with issue pertaining to council tax - passed from pillar to post

If you phone Busted & Stupid record any calls, they have selective memory loss.