jacobs

[Bev1411]

hi, can any 1 help me. iv got council tax arrears which i had a visit from jacobs bailiffs, i agreed to pay £50 a month and was paying for a year and half then they contacted me saying i need to pay more money, i stated the most i could pay was £60 a month, which ive been paying.now i get yet another phone call saying they want £125 a month. are they allowed to keep doing this? i have refused this because im struggling already and cannot pay anymore, now jacobs have said because i have refused this amount they are closing my account and will instruct a bailiff to call and removed my items.
i have been paying them every month for nearly 2 yrs and never missed a payment, they informed me not to make any more payments and if i do they will refuse to accept it. what will happen now is because they wont accept my payments they will go to court and say i have defaulted on my payments, they said its in there small print that they can increase payments when they want to but i cant find it in the paper work i have, all i have seen is the part that i signed saying if i defaulted on payments then they could take the items listed. how can i put a stop to this? what am i to do? i cannot believe these people are allowed to get away with this.

[ploddertom]

Re: jacobs

Do you know how much you owed originally? You should ring the Council on Monday and ask the following:
1 - how many Liability Orders do they have against you
2 - when they were obtained
3 - what period of time each one covers
4 - how much each one is for
5 - how much is still outstanding on each
6 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement.
Do not believe the Bailiff's figures for these as invariably his Abacus is faulty.

Can you also list exactly as described on the Notice of Seizure what goods they have levied on? Have you also had a breakdown of the fees they have charged?

[labman]

Re: jacobs

I suspect PT is thinking you may already have paid the LO off in full.

If you phone the council first thing Monday morning and find out, if you do still owe money, ask to speak to someone from the Council Tax recoveries department and insist that they take a payment, ensuring it is allocated to the correct year.

The bailiffs have made a payment arrangement with you and they should stick to it. Do not commit yourself to paying more than you can comfortably afford.

[WendyB]

Re: jacobs

And also read Amy's "Bailiff Guide" it's in the stickies at the top of this forum, sorry I can't do a link at the moment. Bear in mind that the bailffs will have deducted their fees before handing over any payments to the council, so you need to confirm the amount of the original LO(s) and what balance is outstanding, if any. Then you can work out how much you have paid off the debt and what fees the bailiffs have added on. Also ask Jacobs for a breakdown of the account which will show what fees they have applied, no doubt some of them will be wrong/overcharged so you should be able to claim some back and get the balance reduced.

Finally, they cannot make you pay more than you can afford and they cannot just up your payments at will. You should point this out to the council in the strongest terms. They are vicariously liable for the actions of the bailffs employed by them.

Have a good read of the Bailiff Guide then come back and ask any further questions you may have.

[Amy]

Re: jacobs

Here you go Bailiff Guide - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum