Please can someone help

[jacqui1987]

4 years ago i lived with my ex partner and our 3 children sadly my partner at the time assulted my 8 week old child and was arrested and sentenced to prison months later.
My daughter was in hospital for a number of months and i stayed with her, forgetting to contact council tax and housing benefit, this resulted in a debt of £1101 which in was not made aware of untill last year as it had been passed to bristow and sutor.
I live with a new partner and our son was 3 months old at the time a baliff arrived at our house, he said we had to pay a initial amount of £180 to stop him taking our possessions which we did and we also paid his £24 fee, this brought the balance down to £900 and he wouldnt accept anything less than 9 monthly repayments of £100 my partner reluctanly agreed to pay this. We made 5 repayments and could no longer afford this amount so i called bristow and sutor to make them aware of this, we had to move out of our private rented house into a council top floor flat because we couldnt afford the rent but bristow and sutor wouldnt rearrange a lower payment.
Today i had a phone call from a bailiff threatening me saying if i did not pay the full amount he was going to come to my home and force his way in to recover the amount owed, and that he knows we moved from our old address and demanded i tell him where we live now. We never let the bailiff in to our old home and i did not tell this man where we live now, i went onto their website to look at my payments that have been made and how much i still owe and i only owe £400 but this bailiff is saying we have to pay £800.
Where did this extra £400 come from? Iam so scared to leave my house or even be alone in my own home, as i am scared that he will break in and its just me and my one year old son at home. please help

[pepsie]

Re: Please can someone help

Firstly....stop worrying....this is straight forward.

This CT is not classed as a priority debt..it is an old debt and you have the right to approach the Council to reach a repayment plan. They will say they cannot act on this as it is with the bailiff, it is the usual rubbish Councils spout. Start making affordable sustainable payments on a regular basis eg: £5 every week on a set day.... direct to the Council using their online payment system.

You say the Bailiff has never entered your property previously, yet allowed you to set up a payment plan without performing a levy, that is most unusual but nevertheless goes in your favour as it means he can only charge you for two visits, I note you say you have already paid the first visit fee of £24.50 directly to him? this is again irregular but it leaves your fees to be £18 for the 'second' visit.

There is a standard approach you need to adopt, first contact the Council and ask: (have a pen ready to write down their reply)

1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you
2 - the dates they were obtained
3 - the addresses they were for
4 - the period of time each covers
5 - how much each one was for
6 - how much is still outstanding
7 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement

Then write to the bailiff company and ask for a breakdown of their charges (initially you can do this by email and then the same by recorded/signed for post) adapt to suit:
"From:
Your Name
Your Address

To:
Acme Bailiff Co
Bailiff House

Ref: Account No: 123456

Dear Sir

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.

This includes:
a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.
b - the reason for the fee.
c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.
d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were Certificated at.
e - the date of the Certification.

This is not a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

I require this information within 14 days.

Yours faithfully

Ripped off customer"

Now let me try to ease your fear....there is no law that says you have to deal or even speak with a bailiff, the sooner you start making payments direct to the Council the better...this shows you to be as a 'can't pay in full but are willing to pay' as opposed to a flat out 'won't pay'
and that makes the difference when it comes to the standard bailiff sh$t they will try to use to extract payment...they can do nothing they will threaten eg. arrest you, break in to remove goods, take the kids into care etc. and if they attend and feign a heart attack on the doorstep then roll them gently to one side with your foot and close the door, they do not need water to take 'medication' and they can take the much needed p£ss they say they are in need of , in the nearest bushes....in short keep doors and windows locked and do not invite them over the threshold for ANY reason. eventually he will move on to more fertile soil and return the Liabilty order to the Council..who of course will then see you are paying anyway and agree to the repayment you offered at the outset!!!!

Pepsie

[bluebottle]

Re: Please can someone help

Bailiff companies collecting CT debt are required to hold a current OFT Category F Debt Collection Licence, which means that they must comply with OFT Debt Collection Guidelines, which state that they must not make you pay more than you can afford. I am going to attach the Guidelines, National Standards for Enforcement Agents and Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulation 1992 to this post.

Bristow & Sutor are not exactly known for compliance with the law. You need to make a complaint to the OFT Credit Fitness Team at enquiries@oft.gsi.gov.uk, inserting CREDIT FITNESS in the subject box. Give a clear and concise resume of your complaint. You will need to quote the following information in your complaint -

Company Name: Bristow & Sutor Civil Enforcement Ltd
Credit Licence No.: 155278

You should also quote any breaches of the Debt Collection Guidelines in your complaint.

You should also report this matter to your local Trading Standards Department as a matter of priority. If you have the name of the bailiff, PM me and I will check them out and obtain a court address to lodge a complaint against them. This could lead to their bailiff's certificate being revoked. B & S's conduct is totally unacceptable and, potentially, illegal.