help

[markhill555]

i have just received a hand delivered letter from a bailiff's office, rundles. it say's i owe monnies from over a year ago from sgc, why have they taken so long ?? i could have paid it if i knew i owed it. i have just got over a mental breakdown and now im in bits again, what can i do? there isnt even an amount im supposed o owe...

[strong123]

Re: help

i have just received a hand delivered letter from a bailiff's office, rundles. it say's i owe monnies from over a year ago from sgc, why have they taken so long ?? i could have paid it if i knew i owed it. i have just got over a mental breakdown and now im in bits again, what can i do? there isnt even an amount im supposed o owe...

Hello and welcome to legal beagles!

Don't worry, you've come to the right place. There are many who will be able to help. Is this hand delivered letter the first letter you've had?

[markhill555]

Re: help

yes it is the first

[markhill555]

Re: help

yes it's the first letter i have had

[strong123]

Re: help

yes it's the first letter i have had

Ok, as I said earlier try not to worry too much.

In order for people here to be able to advise you better it would be a good idea to get a bit of background info on this debt. Also what does the letter from the bailiff say.

[bluebottle]

Re: help

Hi and welcome to Legal Beagles.

Could you enlighten us as to who SGC are, please?

[markhill555]

Re: help

south glos council.

[bluebottle]

Re: help

Thank you. You need to contact South Gloucestershire Council and ask for the following information -

a. How many Liability Orders they have against you;
b. When they summonsed you to court;
c. If they summonsed you, why did you not receive a summons;
d. When was the court hearing and at which court;
e. When did they send you a reminder and, if they did, on what date;

The Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations 1992 require that a council tax payer must fail to pay at least two instalment payments on their council tax bill before a local authority can apply to the court for a Liability Order. Also, on the first failure to pay an instalment, the local authority must send a reminder requiring a CT payer to bring their account up to date. If this has not been done, the involvement of Rundles may be premature or unlawful, depending on how compliant South Gloucestershire Council has been with the aforementioned legislation.

If South Gloucestershire Council can show they have complied with the law and there is a liability and you can afford to pay it off, do so, but ensure you allow for £24.50 which is a First Visit Fee for Rundles and which is provided for under the CT legislation.

Also, does the matter refer to your current address or a previous address and does South Gloucestershire Council know about any change of address?

[labman]

Re: help

Hi,

I'd add a couple of questions to the list BB has correctly put above. I'd ask them:

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?

Remember with Council Tax debts you are under no obligation at all to deal with the bailiff whatever they or the council may tell you. Your best bet is not to allow the bailiff entry - you would be wise to write to the council informing them of your mental health issues and giving details of your consultant and your permission for them to check, then asking them to recall the debt to the council immediately in line with the National Standards for Enforcement Agents.

Failing any success there, do not allow the bailiffs entry, ensure any vehicles are parked a couple of streets away so they can't levy on those. If they don't gain any lawful levy, and you just pay the council what you can afford, religiously every week, same day, same amount directly to the council using either their automated telephone system, or their online facility, then the most the bailiffs will be able to charge is £42.50.

They will make all sorts of threats, possibly as bad as telling you you'll go to jail - you won't! They and the council will lie.

So don't let them in, move car and pay council direct, same amount every week

AND

Write to Head of Revenues and CEO of council informing them of your MH issues and asking the council to recall the debt.

Alongside that, send the letter tweaked from what Bluebottle advised in the post above, to see what comes back.

I hope this helps.

[bluebottle]

Re: help

Adding to Labman's comprehensive advice above, a copy of a letter from your GP as regards your mental health issues enclosed with the letter recommended by Labman to the council and a copy to Rundles would not go amiss. If both are foolish enough to ignore, that is their lookout.

[labman]

Re: help

Hi MarkHill,

Did you phone the council to get answers to the questions? What did they say?

Also, if you are using your real name as your user name, I would private message Amethyst to change it to something different so you are not easily identified.