Jacobs Bailiffs and what I can do

[kinickyluver]

Okay so this is my first post and I will try to set it out as clearly as I can.

I owe council tax from 2008-2009 and 2009-2011. I had an attachment to earnings in place and the council was taking the amount that they say they have to by law (I forget the exact amount based on my wages but 4% sticks in my head but that may apply to something else so please don't take this as gospel)

In October 2012 I was broken into at the property in which the debt is for. As I did not feel safe in the property I left and went to stay with a friend. this worked out really well and I ended up staying there until Dec 2012, when I moved to my current property.

So when I moved here I contacted the council to say I had moved in and I would need a council tax bill sending. they sent one and I commenced payment. (Although this could not be kept up due to low wage so I now have a LO for this)

I received a envelope from Jacobs Bailiffs on 20/06/2013 containing 4 letters stating that they had called at the property to seize goods as they were in possession of a LO and I had 24 hours to contact them and make full payment for the 4 outstanding debts.

Obviously I totally ignored the letters.

I dug out my wage slips to prove to myself that the attachment to earnings was in place and that the bailiffs must have made a mistake. I never check my wage slips if I am honest as every month I know I will not have enough to cover my rent so there is no point in looking to see how much i may have left over to enjoy myself with. I just go to the bank draw out what I can and make up the difference using my WTC payments. I looked at a few recent wage slips and noticed there was no payments being made to the council for the debt. So I looked further back. The last payment made to the council from my wage for 2008-2009 was Feb 2012. The last payment for 2010-2011 was April 2012.

I contacted the council the same day and asked why the attachment to earnings was no longer in place. They looked through my record as said they received the last payment from my employer in Oct 2012. I am guessing there is a delay as the wage slips tell me different. And the reason they stopped taking payments was because the payments they were receiving were not adequate. I explained they set the amount not me and they said yes but they were not receiving enough money so they passed it onto bailiffs. I asked why I was not contacted to say the payments would be stopped and they said they did contact me but it was in October 2012 and that I must have already left the property when they did. (I never mentioned to the council worker the date or month in which i left the property.)

I left the property on October 24th 2012. So this gave them a 7 day window in which they tried to contact me but were unable. Highly unlikely but possible. It was a council owned property so I am assuming this is why they knew the month I had left the property. I had to have them replace the doors and locks so this would be on record with them.

Okay so they advised I contact the bailiffs and work out a deal with them. I never contacted them.

Yesterday I received another envelope containing 4 letters this time in bold red letters BAILIFF REMOVAL AMOUNT DUE: £2948.08 across the top of all 4 letters. This is the combined amount of the 4 debts. the letter states that if the amount is not paid within 7 days in full to their office they will have no option but to enforce the liability order by the bailiffs attending my premises with a view to seizing my goods and selling them at a public auction. At that if they do seize and remove my goods it is unlikely that further costs will be less than £110.00

Okay so that is the situation.

What I would like to know is am I still to ignore the bailiffs threats. I know they cannot gain access unless I let them or I have signed a walking possession order. (I think this is correct but please tell me if I am wrong)

I have been told the removal of implied rights to access notice is a waste of paper but on the internet (cyberhell as I call it) i found a notice that apparently they have to take notice of. (not sure how true this is but i can upload or provide the link if you need or want to see it)

I would also like to know if there have been any cases of the bailiffs breaking in and then claiming the had previously entered by peaceable means ( I have zero trust in bailiffs and their ability to tell the truth) or breaking in and taking stuff but never claiming responsibility (the occupants just thinking it was a random break in) I don't wanna come back from work and find my property broken into and have to blame some low life scumbag other than the bailiffs.

The council refused to take back the debt when asked.

I currently earn a basic wage of £430.66 sometimes there is overtime but it is not guaranteed and the hours are never the same (some weeks only 1 or 2 hours, some weeks maybe up to 8 hours)

I receive WTC and CTC at a rate of £136.80 weekly

Child benefit is £81.20 monthly

Am I right in thinking if I make payments via the councils website using the ref. codes this is acceptable and will stop the bailiffs calling. (when the LO was first granted I said I would make payments of £20 a week but they refused that and that is when the ATE was put in place. (makes Zero sense as they were only getting between £8 and £15 on both of the attachments, my offer would have given them more.

I hope this is clear I have typed as I have gone along and tried to keep things in the order they happened and tried to include as much info as possible but please let me know if I have stuffed up and missed anything (there is a high possibility of this. in fact if i had any spare cash I'd put a bet on it)

thank you in advance of any advice you have. and i hope making a new thread is okay. wasn't sure if i did this or just joined a current on. (there are heaps on Jacobs)

[labman]

Re: Jacobs Bailiffs and what I can do

A bit of a pickle then.

Firstly, you have no obligation whatsoever to deal with the bailiffs. They will keep calling, but as long as you do not let them in, they can only charge for a maximum of two visits (£42.50). They like to levy on vehicles outside, so try to put it in a garage, or park a few streets away if you can.

You then need to do a few things:

1. Start paying the council an amount you can afford and sustain in the long term on a regular basis, ideally weekly. You can do this either online, via their automated telephone system or at the council office, though they are likely to say they can't take your payment.
2. Phone the council asap and ask:
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?

You will then know how much you actually owe to the council. The bailiffs figure may well be inflated.

Keep paying the amount regular as clockwork. It is vital you do not miss any payments on this. The bailiffs won't like it, but just refuse them access at all times. Remember they can lawfully walk through an unlocked door, or climb through an open window, so play safe.

Post back up in about 5-6 weeks time (earlier if you hit problems) and we'll start trying to persuade the council to recall the debt.

Hope this helps. :beagle:

[kinickyluver]

Re: Jacobs Bailiffs and what I can do

Thank you Labman. I had read all you have put in various other posts but just wanted to make sure it applied to me, especially as the debt if for a previous address, i wasn't sure if the same rules applied. I had read somewhere (probably on a not so helpful forum) that the bailiffs couldn't call to collect a debt if it wasn't at the address concerned. Anyway that's irrelevant. I know I have 4 LO for the years 2008-2011. I will find out the other details from the council. I have had difficulty paying this years CT so they have taken that to court also. I will make payments but as this totals 6 orders all together I would not be able to make a huge payment as I would have no money to live on. I think realistically I am only talking £5 on each per week and if I can afford more I will pay more or should I just stick to the £5 in case they expect the larger amount every week and I am unable to deliver it on a regular basis.

[wales01man]

Re: Jacobs Bailiffs and what I can do

Just to butt in ,I think the OP with so many CT debts needs to get some help from a free legal advisor if they can only afford £5 per week that's only 60 quid a year for each of 4 LOs the council must be approached to try and cancel the debt I see no sense in making the OP pay bailiff fees which if taken from payments means the council will get little where is the commonsense in that someone at the council needs to look at this realistically

[ploddertom]

Re: Jacobs Bailiffs and what I can do

Thinking along the same lines as wales above do you claim Housing/Council Tax Benefit & if not why not. Have you completed a I&E to prove you only have this amount left per week - what other priority debts/payments do you have to make?

[labman]

Re: Jacobs Bailiffs and what I can do

I still think the OP needs to find out the information in my post above. £5 per week is going to take some persuading to be honest, but find out the information and we can look at things from there.