Bailiffe at my address, for my son

[valeriej43]

A bailiffe called at my address to see one of my sons who is staying temporarily with me while waiting to move into a flat, it was for a council tax debt that should have been paid by his wife, [now ex wife] but it was in my sons name so of course he is now liable,
I answered the door and called to my son ,the bailiffe then walked in behind me and threatened to remove furniture from my house [all mine]
I told him all the furniture was mine he said prove it, as if i would have receipts from years ago
To cut a long story short, my son is on ESA but being changed to UC now and on £73 a week, he has now got a letter saying he has to pay £72 a week, who does he contact about this, as obviously he would only have £1 left
He was advised to go to the council themselves and explain the situation, he had obviously had letters regarding this debt at some time, but had moved around a lot after his split with wife and didnt get the letters,he had believed she had been paying it, as that was the agreement with him paying other bills
He has just got a flat and worried that the bailiffes would take his furniture now, even though it is all secindhand and some from a charity ,
What can he do ? any advice welcome
PS; this is a different son than the one my previous posts were regarding
Thanks in advance

[ploddertom]

Who sent or gave him the letter about having to pay £72 pw? Will he be living in the same Council area as the one he has to pay? Did he notify the Council when they split up & he moved out?

If a Bailiff visits then he does not have to let them in regardless of anything the Bailiff may say. As to what can be removed then fortunately most household items are exempt. I assume when the Bailiff visited you they made no list of goods to Take Control of.

[valeriej43]

Thank you for your reply, not sure if he notified them when they split, this is about 7 years ago now, but it was only after they split he found out she hadnt been paying, ,
The letter came from the court itself, the Bailiffe said it would make a difference in payments when he told them what benefits he was on, and that he would hear directly from the court, which he has, but have the debt company told the court that he is on benefits
The bailiffe was from Rossendales
The bailiffe asked to look round all rooms, i let him, as i knew he couldnt take my stuff, and i showed him my sons belongings he had here which was only a few clothes, he told us he had a warrant but didnt show us,
I didnt invite him in,he followed me in,
Told my son if he didnt pay the amount asked he could go to prison for a year

[ostell]

So was this council tax debt for a period when he was not living there but elsewhere (but forgot to tell the council)?

[valeriej43]

He was living at the address when the council tax was supposed to have been paid , but didnt find out until they [he and ex wiife had split up,
He was advised by someone to go back to the council and try to arrange payment with them,
The thing he is worried about now is if the Bailffe comes to his new flat and tries to take his furniture from there, he has only just moved in, and some of the furniture is from me and some second hand and other stiff from the Rainbow centre, a charity for the homeless
At the moment he is being changed from ESA to UC and just getting £73 a week, until housing benefit etc is sorted out,so cant possibly pay £72,a week
The debt by the way,is only £700, not thousands,it will be in the same area

[ploddertom]

He will need to know when the Liability Order was granted, how much it was for and the name(s) of the people it is against - the Council can provide this info.

You say the letter about payments came from the Court - is it possible you can scan & load this document remembering to redact personal info.

You need to read the National Standards for Enforcement Agents https://www.gov.uk/government/public...onal-standards as he could be potentially vulnerable.

You should also read https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info...iffs-take.aspx as this lists goods that can be held to be exempt from seizure & sale. If he owes £700 then realistically a bailiff would have to find goods worth at least £5k to sell as they only make a fraction of their value at auction. The Bailiff is not interested in a couple of dining chairs although they may say they are to try and ramp up the pressure.

If in the same Council area then contact his local Councillor(s) for help - best initial contact is by phone https://www.writetothem.com/

[valeriej43]

Thanks again for your reply,our council are helping him to sort it out, he has just moved into his new flat, and has spoken to them since [yesterday i think] they are being very helpful,