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Hi,
I'm new here - I'm not sure if I will be very clear at the moment as I am very shaken up but here goes...
I owe some council tax on two properties, both amounting to a sum of around £750. This was due to my ex-husband leaving me with nothing, being disabled so not being able to work and also being a student. My partner has been made redundant from two jobs in the last year, so we have not been in a great financial position at all - in fact we have had to borrow money just to eat.
After some visits from Excel Civil Enforcement last year, we struck up a deal with Carmarthen Council that we would pay £70 a month to Excel to slowly pay off our council tax debt. We did not ever answer the door to the attending bailiffs after taking advice from Google. They have put a number of red letters through our door with various van charges and levy charges. They have put a levy on two vehicles at our property, one which is facing repossession because my ex-husband took out the finance in my name and I can't pay it - there is about 12,000 left on the finance so the car belongs to the finance company. The other is myself and my partner's vehicle, also on hire purchase with about 3,700 left to pay. Neither car belong to us so apparently the levy and charges are invalid although I don't know how true that is.
We have recently missed two payments because of my partner's latest redundancy. I feel that for family in our position, £70 a month is a HUGE chunk out of our incomings. We do not claim any benefits apart from the usual child benefit and tax credits.
On the 14th March we were sat in our dining room where the front door is clearly visible. We saw someone approach and put a red letter through - no knocking or indication they were there. It states that Excel tried to call and we were out, and have charged us £125. I called them who said they would "speak to the bailiff" and we heard nothing more.
At 6.55 this morning there was a horrendous banging on our front door. As I am disabled, it takes me a while to get out of bed. I had barely sat up when the person at the door started kicking the door and banging extremely forcefully on the glass panel at the top. The door is an old, wooden rotting cottage door which is quite unstable.
My four year old child was absolutely terrified and as it awoke me abruptly, resulted in me having a huge anxiety attack complete with chest pain and seeing stars.
I spoke to the bailiff out of the window and he was aggressive in his manner of speaking. I informed him I was going to call the police which I did. The police came and spoke to us, then them. They then told us they had asked the bailiffs to leave and yet they remained at our property for a further half hour. It was only when I called the head office that they left, after telling head office the police hadn't asked them to leave!
I am left feeling extremely shaken up. I have spoken to the council who said any payment agreements need to be through Excel, though I am EXTREMELY reluctant to pay anything after discovering most of their charges are false!
The council have put the account on hold for 14 days.
What are my next steps? Who can I complain to about their actions, what do I need to say and how do I find out what I actually owe?
Is there something that can be done about a payment plan? £70 a month is WAY too much for us to afford!
Many thanks in advance.
I have also set up a Facebook Page for those experiencing problems with Excel. Hopefully their disgusting behaviour will be stopped in the future.
https://www.facebook.com/ExcelCivilEnforcement
Please pass it round.
Charlotte
I'm new here - I'm not sure if I will be very clear at the moment as I am very shaken up but here goes...
I owe some council tax on two properties, both amounting to a sum of around £750. This was due to my ex-husband leaving me with nothing, being disabled so not being able to work and also being a student. My partner has been made redundant from two jobs in the last year, so we have not been in a great financial position at all - in fact we have had to borrow money just to eat.
After some visits from Excel Civil Enforcement last year, we struck up a deal with Carmarthen Council that we would pay £70 a month to Excel to slowly pay off our council tax debt. We did not ever answer the door to the attending bailiffs after taking advice from Google. They have put a number of red letters through our door with various van charges and levy charges. They have put a levy on two vehicles at our property, one which is facing repossession because my ex-husband took out the finance in my name and I can't pay it - there is about 12,000 left on the finance so the car belongs to the finance company. The other is myself and my partner's vehicle, also on hire purchase with about 3,700 left to pay. Neither car belong to us so apparently the levy and charges are invalid although I don't know how true that is.
We have recently missed two payments because of my partner's latest redundancy. I feel that for family in our position, £70 a month is a HUGE chunk out of our incomings. We do not claim any benefits apart from the usual child benefit and tax credits.
On the 14th March we were sat in our dining room where the front door is clearly visible. We saw someone approach and put a red letter through - no knocking or indication they were there. It states that Excel tried to call and we were out, and have charged us £125. I called them who said they would "speak to the bailiff" and we heard nothing more.
At 6.55 this morning there was a horrendous banging on our front door. As I am disabled, it takes me a while to get out of bed. I had barely sat up when the person at the door started kicking the door and banging extremely forcefully on the glass panel at the top. The door is an old, wooden rotting cottage door which is quite unstable.
My four year old child was absolutely terrified and as it awoke me abruptly, resulted in me having a huge anxiety attack complete with chest pain and seeing stars.
I spoke to the bailiff out of the window and he was aggressive in his manner of speaking. I informed him I was going to call the police which I did. The police came and spoke to us, then them. They then told us they had asked the bailiffs to leave and yet they remained at our property for a further half hour. It was only when I called the head office that they left, after telling head office the police hadn't asked them to leave!
I am left feeling extremely shaken up. I have spoken to the council who said any payment agreements need to be through Excel, though I am EXTREMELY reluctant to pay anything after discovering most of their charges are false!
The council have put the account on hold for 14 days.
What are my next steps? Who can I complain to about their actions, what do I need to say and how do I find out what I actually owe?
Is there something that can be done about a payment plan? £70 a month is WAY too much for us to afford!
Many thanks in advance.
I have also set up a Facebook Page for those experiencing problems with Excel. Hopefully their disgusting behaviour will be stopped in the future.
https://www.facebook.com/ExcelCivilEnforcement
Please pass it round.
Charlotte
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