Bristow & Sutor.

[Jazzie]

Hi newby here looking for some advice please .Last year we had outstanding council tax which we paid off via Bristow and Sutor,the council refused to accept payments,the payments where if i remember rightly £4S pw, they set repayments did"nt give us any say in the amount.My husband let them in the house ,i was"nt here at the time and i got the impression from my son that he really pressured my husband to let him in ,if you dont we can do this and that.We got behind initially as i had major surgery and was off work now we are back on track as i am back working.

Anyway to get back on track as far as we were concerned it is all paid off and up to date,yet about a month ago we get the red bailiff letter through the door,we came with a view to seizing your goods,all the usual.We contacted Bristows & Sutor asking what it applied to dates etc as we had had no final notification no nothing just this letter.I even rang the council snotty woman on phone said i cant help,cant give you dates etc you have to sort it with the bailiffs it"s in their hands now.We had nothing till another red letter today,It states a payment agreement can be set up but we have to let them in first to do walking agreement ,it also says they can be seized in your absence and further costs may be substantial.Now am i correct in thinking that costs are set by law and breaking in is illegal.

We just want an answer from someone,we are convinced we have paid it as we paid £1000 last year and as far we are concerned that was the only debt we had that we had a liability order for and its all paid off,we are stumped :tinysmile_cry_t: would really appreciate advice on who to contact because it feels like council are passing the buck and Bristow & Sutor are demanding money but dont want to send us proof.If we have missed payments we will pay we are not arguging that but we just cant see when they would have been missed because we always pay on time now.Thanks for reading bit of a long post .

[bluebottle]

Re: Bristow & Sutor.

I'm afraid your local authority and Bristow and Sutor don't have a lot of choice as regards providing evidence that you still owe money. I would be inclined to write to your local authority and insist on written evidence of all payments they have received from you and of any amounts currently outstanding.

As for Bristow and Sutor's threats, they have no right of entry whatsoever without a court order, you do not have to allow them in to do a WPO in order to set up a payment plan, they cannot seize goods in your absence, unless they are outside and easily removable, and costs are regulated by the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 (as amended). In short, what they have told you is a pack of lies.

I would write to Bristow and Sutor and, as with the local authority, insist on proof of liability and the amount, but put them on notice that you have consulted the Distress for Rent Rules 1988 and Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 (as amended) as regards their statements and threats. A suitable letter to Bristow and Sutor is as follows -

Chief Executive Officer
Bristow and Sutor Civil Enforcement Ltd
Barfleet Road
Washford
Redditch
B98 0FL

Dear Sir/Madam,

Ref. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I refer to correspondence from your company containing a number of threats which, according to the Distress for Rent Rules 1988 and Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 (as amended), are unwarranted and not a proper means of enforcing any alleged debt. This includes a statement made by your company that it is a requirement that I allow a Walking Possession Order to be carried out as a condition of a payment plan being set up. I can find no legislation which makes this a requirement.

Your company has been requested, on a previous occasion, to furnish evidence of any alleged debts and has, to date, failed to produce any such evidence. Is it, therefore, to be taken that your company is unable to produce such evidence?

Your company is put on notice that failure to provide evidence of any alleged debt is not only a breach of OFT Debt Collection Guidelines, but your company's OFT Debt Collection Licence also. In addition to this, the threats made by your company not only constitute breaches of the licence, but, potentially, offences under Section 1, Malicious Communications Act 1988 and Section 2, Fraud Act 2006, also. Section 12, Fraud Act 2006 provides that a company as well as its directors, officers, secretary and managers can be held liable for any offences under Section 2 of the Act.

Your company is put on notice that in the event it does not produce evidence of any alleged debt to me within 48 hours of its receipt of this letter, I reserve the right to take whatever legal action against the company as I see fit without further notice.

Yours faithfully,

Jazzie

If that doesn't have them running to the nearest chemist's shop for Imodium Plus capsules, I don't know what will.

I'm attaching copies of the legislation mentioned for your information and retention. I would also make a formal complaint against Bristow and Sutor to OFT Credit Fitness Team by email to enquiries@oft.gsi.gov.uk, inserting CREDIT FITNESS in the subject box. Give a clear and concise resume of your complaint. Include the following details in your complaint -

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

I am also attaching a copy of the OFT Debt Collection Guidelines to this post. Read through them, identify breaches on the part of Bristow and Sutor and list them in your complaint to OFT Credit Fitness Team.

[Jazzie]

Re: Bristow & Sutor.

Thanks Bluebottle ,that is brilliant,really appreciate your help.Thats my job for tomorrow,i will update on what happens :tinysmile_grin_t:.

[ploddertom]

Re: Bristow & Sutor.

Hi newby here looking for some advice please .Last year we had outstanding council tax which we paid off via Bristow and Sutor,the council refused to accept payments,the payments where if i remember rightly £4S pw, they set repayments did"nt give us any say in the amount.My husband let them in the house ,i was"nt here at the time and i got the impression from my son that he really pressured my husband to let him in ,if you dont we can do this and that.We got behind initially as i had major surgery and was off work now we are back on track as i am back working.

Anyway to get back on track as far as we were concerned it is all paid off and up to date,yet about a month ago we get the red bailiff letter through the door,we came with a view to seizing your goods,all the usual.We contacted Bristows & Sutor asking what it applied to dates etc as we had had no final notification no nothing just this letter.I even rang the council snotty woman on phone said i cant help,cant give you dates etc you have to sort it with the bailiffs it"s in their hands now.We had nothing till another red letter today,It states a payment agreement can be set up but we have to let them in first to do walking agreement ,it also says they can be seized in your absence - what they fail to tell you about this is that they are referring to any goods that may be lying round outside - and further costs may be substantial.Now am i correct in thinking that costs are set by law and breaking in is illegal.

We just want an answer from someone,we are convinced we have paid it as we paid £1000 last year and as far we are concerned that was the only debt we had that we had a liability order for and its all paid off,we are stumped :tinysmile_cry_t: would really appreciate advice on who to contact because it feels like council are passing the buck and Bristow & Sutor are demanding money but dont want to send us proof.If we have missed payments we will pay we are not arguging that but we just cant see when they would have been missed because we always pay on time now.Thanks for reading bit of a long post .

Following on from the good advice given by BB are you sure this is for the same debt? Are you up to date with this years payments? Do you have a copy of the Notice of Seizure and if so can you list the items on it exactly as described on the Form? You need to speak to someone at the Council and ask the following questions:
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
8 - the dates & amounts of any payments

I note what you say about the attitude of the Council and if that still persists over the questions above you have grounds to make a Formal Complaint and in the interim you should engage your local Councillor(s) to obtain the information. If the Council have actually refused any physical payments from you they could be in serious bother. Another way of paying them direct is via online banking, Council website or automated phone line. Have you asked for a breakdown of fees the Bailiff has charged - if yes then let us have a look at what you have, if not you need to send off ASAP.