Tweet
Hi all, great site and I'm hoping you can help. I'll going to struggle to keep this brief so I am sorry. I have a bit of an ongoing issue which has become a big problem.
In 2005 my wife and I rented a temporary shop on a casual basis in a shopping centre and we were there about 6 months. The contract we signed was the ones the shopping centers usually use for casual pitches i.e. the carts you sometimes see except this was shop space. The contract never referred to us being responsible for business rates and we were never told we were liable.
We got in to financial difficulty and closed the shop and we also sold the house and moved on. Some time later we were contacted on my mobile by a bailiff saying we owe the council for around £2500 in rates and that it had been to court and there was nothing I could do having moved on apparently all the court papers were sent to my old address and never forwarded on so I never had a chance to either defend my self or agree a payment with the court.
Anyway we never heard much from the bailiff so after that I contacted the council who also said it was tough luck it had already gone to court and I had to pay regardless even if I thought I had a case to defend. I agreed to make a payment of £10/month which I have paid by standing order ever since. I agreed at the time by phone I would be happy to review this if my financial situation changed but nothing was ever agreed in writing or process agreed for how such a review would take place or who would initiate it. As my financial situation hasn’t really improved I never got back in touch just kept paying.
Yesterday a bailiff turned up on my doorstep saying he had come to collect the debt - news to me!!! luckily I hadn’t answered the door and spoke to him through the window and asked him to return to his car and went out side and showed him the bank statements showing i had been paying. (news to Him)
I told him I would speak with the council as surely this was a mistake and he agreed and left. I called the council and they said it had indeed been referred back to the bailiff as £10 was not enough and their notes said that I had promised to call back in 3 months from the original call to do a review. This is not my recollection of the call. They also said they wrote to me once last July and as I hadn’t responded then they assumed I was ignoring them. That’s quite some assumption based on one letter (I never received it) in fact I have never received anything, receipts, statements, nothing!!!
Sorry for the ramblings but given the background my questions are:
Originally I had no knowledge of the court proceedings. Is it to late to contact the court asking for help to agree a payment with the bailiff?
I have very little of value anyway we’ve been struggling with 4 kids so all I really have is a 10 year old TV an old computer. The kids have a computer for homework and a pushbike. Not exactly rich pickings!!! with that in mind should I just let him in and see what happens?
If I do let the bailiff in I cant make an offer for much more than I'm already paying so retrieval of goods would be inevitable. Can he take the computer from the children’s room there Gran got them for home work. also the 3 piece suite is on HP paid for by the in-laws with the finance contracts in their names too, can they touch these?
Advice really appreciated here we’ve been in debt for so long and we’ve fought and scrapped to make ends meet all this time and so far have just managed but this has come out the blue and I just don’t know what to do.
Regarding my financial circumstances I do have a reasonable job and my wife works part time but our wages cover expenses its all pretty hand to mouth stuff theres certainly no such thing as disposable income in our house.
Thanks
In 2005 my wife and I rented a temporary shop on a casual basis in a shopping centre and we were there about 6 months. The contract we signed was the ones the shopping centers usually use for casual pitches i.e. the carts you sometimes see except this was shop space. The contract never referred to us being responsible for business rates and we were never told we were liable.
We got in to financial difficulty and closed the shop and we also sold the house and moved on. Some time later we were contacted on my mobile by a bailiff saying we owe the council for around £2500 in rates and that it had been to court and there was nothing I could do having moved on apparently all the court papers were sent to my old address and never forwarded on so I never had a chance to either defend my self or agree a payment with the court.
Anyway we never heard much from the bailiff so after that I contacted the council who also said it was tough luck it had already gone to court and I had to pay regardless even if I thought I had a case to defend. I agreed to make a payment of £10/month which I have paid by standing order ever since. I agreed at the time by phone I would be happy to review this if my financial situation changed but nothing was ever agreed in writing or process agreed for how such a review would take place or who would initiate it. As my financial situation hasn’t really improved I never got back in touch just kept paying.
Yesterday a bailiff turned up on my doorstep saying he had come to collect the debt - news to me!!! luckily I hadn’t answered the door and spoke to him through the window and asked him to return to his car and went out side and showed him the bank statements showing i had been paying. (news to Him)
I told him I would speak with the council as surely this was a mistake and he agreed and left. I called the council and they said it had indeed been referred back to the bailiff as £10 was not enough and their notes said that I had promised to call back in 3 months from the original call to do a review. This is not my recollection of the call. They also said they wrote to me once last July and as I hadn’t responded then they assumed I was ignoring them. That’s quite some assumption based on one letter (I never received it) in fact I have never received anything, receipts, statements, nothing!!!
Sorry for the ramblings but given the background my questions are:
Originally I had no knowledge of the court proceedings. Is it to late to contact the court asking for help to agree a payment with the bailiff?
I have very little of value anyway we’ve been struggling with 4 kids so all I really have is a 10 year old TV an old computer. The kids have a computer for homework and a pushbike. Not exactly rich pickings!!! with that in mind should I just let him in and see what happens?
If I do let the bailiff in I cant make an offer for much more than I'm already paying so retrieval of goods would be inevitable. Can he take the computer from the children’s room there Gran got them for home work. also the 3 piece suite is on HP paid for by the in-laws with the finance contracts in their names too, can they touch these?
Advice really appreciated here we’ve been in debt for so long and we’ve fought and scrapped to make ends meet all this time and so far have just managed but this has come out the blue and I just don’t know what to do.
Regarding my financial circumstances I do have a reasonable job and my wife works part time but our wages cover expenses its all pretty hand to mouth stuff theres certainly no such thing as disposable income in our house.
Thanks
Comment