Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

[CleverClogs]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

Ok so you are saying I should pay the £25 to the council tomorrow... What do you think I should do after then?

Pay the same next week, the same in a fortnight's time and so on until it's cleared.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

I received another letter from this company it now states I have 5 days in which to pay the whole sum or they will be visiting to remove goods & that if I have insufficent goods available a report will be sent to the council who may make an application for my committal to prison.

This is, of course, utter nonsense.

No council would ever gaol someone for being poor!

It does, however, prove the veracity of the old maxim:

Bailiffs tell lies!

[beldarren]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

Dont hate me for being a pain please...

While I have agreed this one off payment of £25 I cant afford this to be a regular weekly payment yet.. At the moment I can & have offered to pay £15 per week rising to £25 per week in 5 months time when payments my partner currently makes to Rosendales finishes.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

While I have agreed this one off payment of £25 I cant afford this to be a regular weekly payment yet.. At the moment I can & have offered to pay £15 per week rising to £25 per week in 5 months time when payments my partner currently makes to Rosendales finishes.

With whom had you agreed to pay £25?

If it is paid to the bailiff, the council will get nothing. They'll get nothing for weeks to come and the bailiff will probably misinform them that you have refused to pay.

Pay what you can afford directly to the council every week, so they know you have not refused to pay.

Why is your partner paying money to Rossendales?

[beldarren]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

Well the debt advice service arranged this with the council to be paid to Bristow & Sutor

I get from Plodder that I should make this payment direct to the council which is what I shall do. So from then I shall pay £15per week until I can afford more in 5 months. Will or can they (the council) take other legal steps if I am paying them every week without fail?

Partner owes Council Tax to different council dating some years back.. He agreed to make the payment they wanted which is £190 per month we have paid 3 months so far with another 5 to go.

[ploddertom]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

Whatever payment you make make sure it is affordable to you and will not leave you short. Whilst the Debt Advice people may give you advice I doubt they are well versed in Council Tax enforcement matters. The worry for me was them saying to pay the Bailiffs, I got the impression that they were going to go along the lines of let them in and we'll agree £25 per week. If you do let them in then the game changes, you will have a levy fee to pay, then they will engineer an Attending to Remove fee - approx £150 and in effect you are in a never decreasing spiral.

If you take the bull by the horns and pay the Council direct it will upset the Bailiff but once he realises he is getting nowhere with you he will move on and the only fees you become liable for would be capped at £42-50.

[ploddertom]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

Partner owes Council Tax to different council dating some years back.. He agreed to make the payment they wanted which is £190 per month we have paid 3 months so far with another 5 to go.

Your partner will be best off following a similar plan by establishing what he owes as confirmed by the Council. He should also ask for a breakdown of their fees, from what you say it appears he must have owed some £1700. Use Letter 1 from http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...Useful-Letters . I would suggest until he gets some answers he carries on paying as he is.

[ploddertom]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

Will or can they (the council) take other legal steps if I am paying them every week without fail?

There are several steps the Council can take in order to enforce payment, not all are applicable and vary in their severity. Some of the options are:
Bailiffs - which is where you are now
Attachment of Earnings - but only if working
Attachment to Benefits - only applicable to certain ones
Charging Order - if you own your own property
Bankruptcy - if the debt is for more than £750
Committal Hearing - where you are summonsed to appear before the Magistrates to explain why payment has not been made. The ultimate punishment here is imprisonment.

If you pay as suggested then it makes it very difficult to take further action. You should also write to them and explain what you are doing so there is a paper trail should anything go wrong and you can then prove what you have been doing.

[beldarren]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

Thanks Ploddertom I really appreciate your all your advice.

The £15 is what I worked out as being possible for us at the moment & then it can be increased. The debt advice guy said if I do get a visit dont let the Bailiff in etc to tell him to check back with head office as the council are putting the account on hold & to park around the corner. He also said the debt collection agency generally go a maximum of 1 year to clear the debt but the council will go to 3 years which is why they came to the agreement of £25.

Ok so my plan of action tomorrow is to pay the £25 to the council directly not the debt collection agency & then write to the council stating I shall pay £15 per week every Friday.

Should I also state that I will only deal with the council directly & if so are there any key words I should use & do I also send a copy to Bristow & Sutor?

Again thank you for all your time & patience

Re my partner he could indeed owe that figure I'm not sure but he did live in the property for 18-20months.. it was a cottage on the pub grounds that was included in the wage package together with all bills excluding gas & electric which were on metres however partner never had a written contract & the landlord went bust so we have to pay it, while it is a real struggle to meet £190 a month I guess at least it will be over soon.

Based on the further actions you mentioned they could apply an attachment of earnings to my partner (this is also in his name), Bankruptcy or Commital Hearing so I'm guessing Attachement of Earnings would most be most likely at the top of their list (as the others would cost them money I think) however hopefully that wont happen as I will be paying

[ploddertom]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

As I say have a good read of a lot of the threads particularly in the Bailiff Forum both here and other advice sites. You will soon get a flavour for how it all goes. Unfortunately I am not much of a letter writer but will ask another to pop in and have a look. Your partner may benefit from starting a thread of his own and we can certainly help & advise a path he should walk but as said previously it will pay him to get the info together first. Obviously just shout if you need any more help.

[beldarren]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

Thank you for everything... I did spend a lot of time yesterday & again today guess I needed someone to hold my hand after I struggled so much with pleading to the council that they take the debt back but getting nowhere... I shall update as I go along if you are happy with that.

I shall certainly speak to the bloke with reference to at least gathering the all the relevent information.. the problem is he is currently working 60-70 hours a week so when he is home everywhere is closed & he is too tired

[labman]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

Here you go - I too would get your partner to start a thread here.

Your Address
Date

Dear Sir,

Your Ref: Account Number abcd1234

I write with regards to the above account. I acknowledge I owe you the sum of £xxx.xx plus £42.50 for the cost of your appointed Enforcement Agents, Bristow and Suitor. This makes a total sum of £xxx.xx owing to yourselves.

I have tried to make an agreed payment plan with Bristow and Sutor, but they have refused anything I can reasonably afford, and resorted to threats against me should I not agree to their terms. For example they stated they would attend to remove my goods and that you may apply for my committal to prison. While I understand your enforcement agents may attempt to gain peaceful entry in order to gain a Walking Possession Order, I think suggesting you may apply for my committal to prison can be perceived as nothing but a threat. I then tried to reach a repayment agreement direct with the Council, only to be told I had to deal directly with your appointed enforcement agents. As you know this is not the case in law.

I am happy to settle the debt, but clearly can only pay what I can afford. I will therefore pay the Council directly using [online banking / automated telephone system / Council website - delete as appropriate]. I will pay the sum of £15.00 every Thursday [amend if necessary] until such time as the debt is cleared.

Please may I remind you of the council's vicarious liability for the conduct and behaviour of Bristow and Sutor. Clearly they have breached the National Standards for Enforcement Agents by refusing a reasonable repayment offer and by making threats regarding my being committed to prison. I would therefore ask that you recall the debt to Council control, and I will pay the legitimate fees of £42.50 already incurred.

I look forward to receiving written confirmation of your acceptance of this repayment plan which will commence on dd/mm/2013.

Yours sincerely,

[CleverClogs]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

Mightn't it be a sensible idea to set up a standing order (not a direct debit and from an account not part of RBS) to pay the council £15 per week?

[beldarren]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

Wow labman thats great thank you for taking the time to write that for me I really appreciate it.

Thanks for the suggestion Clevercloggs I shall see if the bank can set up a weekly SO for me if not I will use the telephone payment service direct to the council

[labman]

Re: Council Tax problems Bristow & Suitor

First line should say Sutor not Suitor on a second reading. No problem at all - thank Ploddertom - he pointed me to it!