B

[Fiona1125]

Hi,
we had a letter come in the post on the 24th November from Bristow and Sutor requested payment of a joint debt.
They requested the first payment of £450 to be made on the 23rd November and then 10 payments after £420 after that.
My partner was declared bankrupt a few months ago but found out this debt has fallen to me as there were liabilities and couldn’t be included.
I am the only earner in the house now, my hubby is looking for work and we have 3 children.
I have explained my situation and that I am the only earner and we have 3 kids and sent a full breakdown of our income and expenditure and the most we can spare after canacelling life insurance and another few items is £250 per month. This will increase to £400 per month in 5 months when I have paid back another debt.
Bristow come back this morning and refused by offer and have now requested £554 to by next Monday and another 8 payments of £500 plus.
We have no family to ask for help, nothing to sell, no assets and the £250 is all I can afford and can barely afford that, this could risk us not been able to pay for gas and electric not to mention Christmas is out of the question.
Really don’t know what to do, if I hadn’t cancelled the life insurance to raise some extra cash I could easily just jump in front of a train right now.

[2222]

"Bristow come back this morning and refused by offer and have now requested £554 to by next Monday and another 8 payments of £500 plus."

Well, they would say that, wouldn't they. I suspect that whatever figure you offered them, they'd double it. Did they say what they were planning to do if you did not pay them an amount that you cannot afford?

[Amethyst]

What is the original debt ? Is this council tax or a court judgment on a loan / credit card etc ?
How much was the debt that's being collected on ?
If council tax - have you spoken to the Council ?

Tagging ploddertom for you but you could give NationalDebtline a call https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/...iltaxdebt.aspx - it's likely they'll recommend speaking with the council if that is what this is for.

[Fiona1125]

Hi,

It’s a council tax debt.
I have not spoken to the council - would it be any use as they have passed the debt on?

My finances are a struggle as it is, I really have no way of find the cash they are asking for unless I stop paying my mortgage.

They have said they would proceed to the next step if I don’t pay and take control of my goods to sell at auction. We literally have no goods to take.

I am so worried, I am not running from the debt, I have offered a payment and they have come back with something I have said I cannot afford. I don’t get why they would ask for that.

thanks

[Amethyst]

Call the Council and talk to them about the situation. They must have obtained a liablity order to have involved bailiffs. Sounds like the debt is over £5k too ?

DO NOT STOP PAYING YOUR MORTGAGE TO PAY BAILIFFS !

[2222]

"They have said they would proceed to the next step if I don’t pay and take control of my goods to sell at auction. We literally have no goods to take.

I am so worried,"

DON'T BE WORRIED. It's more or less an empty threat, if you have no goods to take. Do not stop paying the mortgage.

After my MIL died, we couldn't give her quite nice stuff away, and had to hire a van to take it to the dump. If the bailiffs hire a van to remove your furniture then auction it, they won't get their costs back. It's an idle threat.

They can make some money if you have a car or some electronic goods, possibly. There's lots of stuff they can't take, eg washing machine.

[Kati]

Adding to this ... the bailiffs cannot enter your home by force so they can only really 'take control' of items outside your house (unless you allow them in of course, but I wouldn't recommend that).

It is definitely worth contacting the council to see if they will take the debt back. This would enable you to come up with a payment plan that you can afford.

Hopefully ploddertom will get a notification that Ame has tagged him and be along soon xx

[ploddertom]

Do you know how many Liability Orders they have, the dates they were issued and the amounts of each? Have B&S gained entry to your home or otherwise noted any goods outside - a car for instance? Is it possible you can scan & upload the letter B&S have sent - redact all personal info from - if you have trouble doing this then send a copy to Amethyst or Kati by PM.

Fiona1125