hi everyone - 24 hr notice Jacobs

[eryca03]

hi everyone,
I am new to this page but I need urgent help with jacobs bailiffs. can anybody help?got a letter arond 6pm today that i have 24 hrs to pay full ct amount and the added £259.

basically last year i was a student postponed her studies waiting to go back to university in september. I have moved to my current address in july last year and basically started at university my last semester in september.i have proved i was a student untill february this year.

my boyfriend was unemployed however the council did never accept his financial difficulties, their major issue was how did his income droped so drastically since 2009. basically I could not ask for any help from the council and he was declined. we could not pay the council tax and now Jacobs is threatening us.

I know they cannot come in if I dont let them in. I have sent them a notice twice stating I am not refusing to pay but as I have just finished university and I am unemployed, my boyfriend is the only one who works and we have debts with everybody cas we falling sort, we are unable to pay the whole amount.I have offered them a token payment of £5/month as this is the only amount i can afford. I have also mentioned I am only willing to communicate in writing and that I know my rights but they have ignored me for a while.

today they have posted a letter through my door, without even making themselves being aware (didnt knock),stating I have 24hrs to come up with £900 or they will seize my goods.... I have also noticed they have changed the bailiff I have been dealing with.

my question is what should be my next step? I know Jacobs will be adding extra amount if they will come with a wan, but I have already told them I am unable to pay this amount. they have laid low for about 2 months and just posted a 24hr note. should I go to council or should I still talk to them?

[ploddertom]

Re: hi everyone - 24 hr notice Jacobs

Have a read of this http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...67-Council-Tax , click the little black triangle and ask you be moved to the Bailiff Forum. Have a read of some of the other threads there.

[eryca03]

Re: hi everyone - 24 hr notice Jacobs

thanks ploddertom I have already checked this page out and I have found useful information there. but I think what I need is a powerful letter to make them stop bullying me and accept token payments. I would research for days if up to me, but would like to stick a note on my door for tomorrow, so mr bailiff will back off until I figure something out. my family is coming for the weekend for my graduation I dnt want them to know about my situation.

[ploddertom]

Re: hi everyone - 24 hr notice Jacobs

thanks ploddertom I have already checked this page out and I have found useful information there. but I think what I need is a powerful letter to make them stop bullying me and accept token payments. I would research for days if up to me, but would like to stick a note on my door for tomorrow, so mr bailiff will back off until I figure something out. my family is coming for the weekend for my graduation I dnt want them to know about my situation.

There is no one letter that can do this, and to date there appears to be nothing the Bailiff has done wrong. There is no law that says you have to speak to or deal with a Bailiff and where possible it is easier to ignore them as eventually they will go away but this can take take some 3 months or so.

On the other hand you may take the bull by the horns and dictate yourself what you are going to pay. This may be done using online banking, Council website or automated phone line. You may even pay in cash at the Council offices & if they refuse this method you must ask for the name & position of the person refusing as this will form the basis of any complaint.

Whichever method you use pay at regular intervals - weekly is best say £5 every Thursday - this quickly builds a history of your willingness to pay should the Council decide to seek further enforcement action. You will have to budget extra for lawful Bailiff fees but providing they have not gained access to your home or otherwise made a levy on goods outside then the maximum they can charge is £42-50.

[eryca03]

Re: hi everyone - 24 hr notice Jacobs

they have never came inside my house, not even knocked on my door or talk to either of us, just left the demands but they have already charged me £230.50 and according to the last reminder there will be extra costs added.

they have completely ignored my request of not being able to pay only £5 saying i have never contacted them. funny enough I have sent the letter with recorded delivery so i can check whether they have received the letter or not and prove the attempt to solve the issue.

where can i find exactly how much bailiffs can charge - i mean what legislation states this clearly, cas i cannot find it.

[ploddertom]

Re: hi everyone - 24 hr notice Jacobs

http://www.bexley.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=3028&p=0

Lists the charges that may be applied. If they are alleging they are charging £230+ then this sounds as if they are claiming they already have a levy - please note I don't doubt what you have said so far but they do levy on any vehicle they can find close to your address, you then say it isn't yours and they then ask you to prove you don't own it! Easy enough to overcome but none of this happens overnight and you have to be prepared for the long haul. You are wasting your time making them offers as they will totally ignore them . You do need to send off to them for a breakdown of the charges they have applied - http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/showthread.php?34062-Useful-Letters and use Letter 1, best sent initially by email followed by a letter in the post.

[eryca03]

Re: hi everyone - 24 hr notice Jacobs

thats ok we do not owe anything. the house we rent was fully furnished as well. to be honest I dont really know why they have charged us either because last december I have proved them i was a student and my boyfriend was also on JSA, but later on they have never accepted ct and hb because he is self employed. soon as I finished my studies they have sent us the ct bill again for the same period of time when they have accepted us as student and unemployed.I just dont understand why.

and again I have never talk to them let alone let them in my house. only thing they did left letters through my door without even knocking on my door.

[bluebottle]

Re: hi everyone - 24 hr notice Jacobs

Sounds like a standard "Hit and Run" to me. "Hit", because it's what will happen to the bailiff if they get caught and "Run", because that's what they do to avoid being "Hit".

[eryca03]

Re: hi everyone - 24 hr notice Jacobs

hi bluebottle, nice to meet u. can i ask what do u mean by that?

[bluebottle]

Re: hi everyone - 24 hr notice Jacobs

When a bailiff does a "hit and run", they send someone who is not a certificated bailiff to push a letter through the door who then runs like hell before you open the door and catch them. If they are caught and found not to be a certificated bailiff, the visit fees are invalid as any notice has to be posted by a certificated bailiff to be valid. They all do it and they know it's not allowed. When I was a serving policeman - I'm retired now - some council and housing association estates had some rough families living on them. Any bailiff company employee who tried to do a "hit and run" and had the misfortune to get caught by one of the rougher tenants soon found out that the term "hit" had a very literal meaning, usually, a smack in the mouth. Strangely, they never made any complaints of assault. I wonder why?