Advice about council tax bailiffs

[legalnooby]

Hi all,

I have a quick council tax baliff question,

My local council without my knowing obtained a court order against me for a small council tax charge.
They then got their baliffs involved who I later discovered added a £75 charge.
Before the baliff charge discovery I paid the council directly tand satisfied the debt.

After a letter which I ignored from the baliffs demanding £75 for their fees I came home and discovered a hand delivered notice
telling me they would be back to remove goods! The letter claims I owe money for council tax however I don't owe a bean to the council.

I have a copy of the court order from the council and their fees are not mentioned on it,

I don't see how they can enforce just their fees, as I owe the council nothing as the debt has been satisfied. Only baliff fees.
I think they are going to bang another £235 for the visit today.

Where do I stand? Can these guys really seize goods for their fees and add these charges?

[echat11]

You've paid the Council directly which is the right thing to do. Contact the council directly, explain what's happened, explain if there are any mitigating circumstances as to why the Council tax monies wasn't paid, health, personal circumstances etc. Ask them to recall the debt, If they do, the bailiffs will stop their 'nonsense'. Make sure you get written confirmation from the Council that's been done.

[legalnooby]

I spoke to the council who declined to get involved!

It's also worth noting I paid the debt to the council 7 weeks ago so the baliffs were aware the debt had been paid.

So thanks to this guy I found on line; https://www.nationalbailiffadvice.uk I was able to bin them off.

Turns out once the original debt has been paid ALL enforcement power ends so I sent these sharks a notice stating I had paid and
if they disputed the notice I would apply to court for a detailed assesment of their fees under the civil procedure rule 84.16 and given the enforcement period had ended I considered their charges null and void. I suppose they could chase me for the original £75 charge however if they do I would be of a mind to apply for a detailed assesment hearing.

They had also not signed or dated the hand delivered demand!

I sent this notice to the baliff and the baliff company via post and email and they haven't responded. My guess is they probably won't now.
If they do I will do as I said in the letter which should cost them a bit of cash.

If you are struggling with Baliffs I would jump on his site- the gent only charges £35 for a consultation and in my case was worth every penny as he's very clued up.

These sharks masquerading as baliffs should be dealt with robustly as they are totaly ruthless.

[echat11]

Payment was made 7 weeks ago. So the Council should have 'stopped' all enforcement action at that point, even if they had instructed bailiffs.

[legalnooby]

You are quite right, however as I discovered they aren't interested and the Baliffs will chance their arm. Unless you know your stuff or have good representation you really are on your own. For example I posted on here 4 days ago and not one person seemed to have any idea how to deal with it properly (unless they actually did but for some reason didn't bother too). I also rang a debt info helpline and they said best to pay the £310 to get rid of them!

Hopefully should someone else have the same issue they might find this thread and know what to do.