Bailiff charges

[sairlp]

Hi
Moved house 4 times in 1 year, only in one property for 7 weeks, seems that we didn't pay council tax for this period, our council offices handed debt to Equita baillifs. I arranged a payment plan and thought I made the last payment end of Jan 09.
Returned home the other day to find a hand delivered letter from bailiffs saying they had come to remove possessions and will return in 24hrs. Bailiff phoned the next day, I asked him what the debt was for and how much ( incidentally none of this info was on the letter), he was unable to advice me. I called the Equita office in Northhampton, spoke to a very unhelpful woman, who told me she had no info whatsoever as the case was with the bailiff. I found this very difficult to believe in this day and age. She was unable to tell me the address it was for or the amount, I was told to contact bailiff again.
This I did and he told me we owed £495 and it was for property we were in for 7 weeks.
I asked why it was this amount and he said it was charges, they have only been here on the 1 occassion to deliver said letter. He said he couldn't give me a break down of charges and I couldn't arrange a payment plan but that he would give me to next week when I get paid to pay full amount.
I am almost positive I cleared my balance, so am not willing to pay until I see charges etc.
Don't know what else to do, head office are being unhelpful and bailiff says theirs no alternative but to pay in full or remove goods
Would be grateful for any advice
Thanks

[Guest]

Re: Bailiff charges

They cannot remove goods unless and until they have a valid and signed Walking Possession Order. This they cannot obtain unless they have been inside your house and levied distress on the goods they intend to take.

You are not obliged to let them enter your house, so don't.

Take a look here for more information. Legal Beagles

[Amy]

Re: Bailiff charges

Have you telephoned the council to ask if there are any outstanding arrears?

Ignore the bailiff, there is nothing he can do and he knows it.

[sairlp]

Re: Bailiff charges

Thanks for your help. I have phoned the council re arrears and there seems to have been an error in our billing, we were only in this house for 7 weeks yet have been billed for 3 months, so am in the process of trying to prove this.
Wrote to Equita as they were refusing to discuss my case saying that it was with bailiff. Explained that I was billed wrong, that the payments I had already made to them last year do not equate with amounts council say they received.
This morning received a call from bailiff asking me to pay full amount, I asked him if he had received my letter, which he hadn't, and informed him that I was not going to pay £490 until I had a breakdown, and that I would not be letting him in and I knew my rights. He was persistent in that he would be here in 30 mins to remove goods or take my husbands work lease car. My husband called him and left a message saying he would be taping calls from now on, he returned the call telling my husband that this he couldn't do without his consent,that he was 5 miles away and would be here soon.
I had a baby and a very young child in house at time and felt quite threatened by his manner, we made sure all doors and windows were locked and waited upstairs to speak through window, armed with some very useful tips and advice from this site. My husband delayed going into work by 4 hrs, as he still hasn't turned up 9 hrs after being 5 miles away, and not contacted us again any idea what next?
Am afraid will have to sit in locked house all day tomorrow incase he calls, or do you think he may have got the message.
We have repeatedly stressed that we are not refusing to pay, just want to sort out the error by the council and see a breakdown.
Have not had a reply from Equita re letter I wrote last week

[Amy]

Re: Bailiff charges

You need to complain about this bailiff, his behaviour is completely unacceptable and so is that of the council.

Read this guide Bailiff Guide - Legal Beagles and check whether this bailiff is certificated, which he needs to be in order to collect council tax arrears.

If he is certificated, complete the Form 4 complaint and submit it to the court. Next you need to write a strong letter of complaint to the council, they will protest that this has nothing to do with them, but they are wrong and it has everything to do with them - they are equally as culpable as the bailiff.

I do not think he will call on you tomorrow or indeed at all. This bailiff knows you are right and he knows that you know your rights. If he were going to call on you, it would have been today. Notice how he did not return your call until your husband informed him that he would be recording the telephone calls in future.

Carry on doing exactly what you are doing, but do not let this person make you a prisoner in your own home - he cannot do anything unless you let him in.

If you need any help, please do ask one of us.

xx

[sairlp]

Re: Bailiff charges

Thanks Amy, Thanks for your support and advice, will do the things suggested
Sarah

[Guest]

Re: Bailiff charges

I want to echo post #5 from Amy here and urge you to complete the form 4 and make a complaint against this bailiff.

Without a valid, legal and signed Levy or Order for Walking Possession, which they cannot obtain unless you allow them peaceful entry into your house, the bailiff cannot remove anything from your home.

Irrespective of and not withstanding any Liability Order, which in your case has probably been issued in error, the bailiff's conduct de facto constitutes a criminal offence under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and a further offence has been committed under the Administration of Justice Act 1970 by way of harassment of a debtor.

There can be no justifiable reason as to why a bailiff would be so deliberately menacing, but rather this is a clear use of an unlawful tactic adopted by bailiffs generally, as a form of harassment, calculated to alarm, intimidate and harry and to elicit a response. This is de facto unlawful and actionable.

For you to have felt that you needed to hide upstairs for nine hours is intolerable and you should mention this in your complaint on the form 4, which is here http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/c...form4_0606.pdf

If you need any help at all completing this form, let us know.