Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

[ploddertom]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

You must supply some form of proof of you medical conditions - letter from GP or hospital perhaps. If you are writing to B&S then a copy must also be sent to the Council. Have you engaged your local Councillor(s) about this? What date & time do B&S say you have to contact them by?

[LT2K]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

You must supply some form of proof of you medical conditions - letter from GP or hospital perhaps. If you are writing to B&S then a copy must also be sent to the Council. Have you engaged your local Councillor(s) about this?

Not yet, after my initial bout of confidence I have had 4 really bad days of panic attacks/tight chestedness. I wont be able to get a GP letter in a hurry as it takes 3-4 weeks for a non urgent appointment at my surgery. I will be copying the local council in on the email (the website allows attachments as Word Docs and or PDFs). Is it worth going through the councillor at the same time? or should I wait for a response from B&S/Cheshire East 1st?

[Amethyst]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

Not yet, after my initial bout of confidence I have had 4 really bad days of panic attacks/tight chestedness. I wont be able to get a GP letter in a hurry as it takes 3-4 weeks for a non urgent appointment at my surgery. I will be copying the local council in on the email (the website allows attachments as Word Docs and or PDFs). Is it worth going through the councillor at the same time? or should I wait for a response from B&S/Cheshire East 1st?

You might be able to ask reception for a print out of your medical notes - under data protection - we did that a while ago and they charged us £10 for doing it. Might be worth giving them a call and asking.

[ploddertom]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

Is it worth going through the councillor at the same time? or should I wait for a response from B&S/Cheshire East 1st?

I see Amethyst has made a good suggestion above and would urge you to try it as there is nothing to be lost.

As for the Councillor then in my view get them onboard now as they can make the Council sit up and take note. The more irons in the fire the better.

[LT2K]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

I see Amethyst has made a good suggestion above and would urge you to try it as there is nothing to be lost.

As for the Councillor then in my view get them onboard now as they can make the Council sit up and take note. The more irons in the fire the better.

Thanks to everyone for your help and advice, I made an amendment to the letter stating proof is available (I'll get it either way as it will be useful in my fight against the CSA enforcement team too). I'll also find out who my local Councillor is and get in touch to see if they are willing to help.

[Johnboy007]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

My bad, that didnt translate well to a text file. Try as a basic word file

I know you are going through a really tough time and the first thing to do is contact the Council.
They are ultimately responsible for the actions of their Bailiffs they hire to do a job.
You obviously can show proof to the council, as they are receiving the attachment of earnings from your wife's salary.
Also write to the court that has granted the warrant and apply for a suspension of the warrant.
A judgment debtor can ask for a warrant of execution to be suspended. They must apply on form N245 (Application for suspension of a warrant and/or variation of an order) and pay a fee to the court. The N245 requires the judgment debtor to

• make an offer of monthly payments
• complete a signed statement of their means.

If you are receiving certain benefits, no court fee is payable.
The court will then send the creditor, in your case the council, a copy of your offer to pay.
If the offer is not accepted, the court will order a hearing to decide the issue.
If the offer is accepted, or not responded too, the court will grant a suspension on the terms of your offer.
So go for this option.
Do not make any offer to the Bailiffs.
Good luck mate.
Johnaw:
Here is the form N245 n245-eng.pdf

[wales01man]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

I have every sympathy with LTK but a letter without and proof may well be ignored.
Does their surgery have a triage system where they can call discuss their medical problems with a nurse who should get them an appointment?

[LT2K]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

Thanks Johnboy, I'll hold off sending the emails till tomorrow. My local Council tax dept is closed on a Wednesday so I will try verbal comms 1st. If I get no joy there I will follow the rest of the great advice given on here

[ploddertom]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

Also write to the court that has granted the warrant and apply for a suspension of the warrant.
A judgment debtor can ask for a warrant of execution to be suspended. They must apply on form N245 (Application for suspension of a warrant and/or variation of an order) and pay a fee to the court. The N245 requires the judgment debtor to

• make an offer of monthly payments
• complete a signed statement of their means.

If you are receiving certain benefits, no court fee is payable.
The court will then send the creditor, in your case the council, a copy of your offer to pay.
If the offer is not accepted, the court will order a hearing to decide the issue.
If the offer is accepted, or not responded too, the court will grant a suspension on the terms of your offer.
So go for this option.
Do not make any offer to the Bailiffs.
Good luck mate.
Johnaw:
Here is the form N245 [ATTACH=CONFIG]12595[/ATTACH]

Sorry but you are wrong, this only applies to Warrant from the County Court to suspend action by the County Court bailiff.

[Johnboy007]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

Sorry but you are wrong, this only applies to Warrant from the County Court to suspend action by the County Court bailiff.

Hi,
The bailiffs are employed by the council, the creditor is the council, so the debt is owed to the council, not the bailiffs.

This from Citizens Advice Bureau.......

If your creditor has taken court action against you for a debt, they may have got a county court judgment (CCJ) or other court order against you. The court order means that you have to pay back the money you owe to your creditor, either in installments or in full by a certain date.

Once you've got a court order, it's really important to keep to the terms of the order. However, it's possible that your financial circumstances could change and you can no longer afford to keep to the terms of the court order. This could happen if you lose your job or fall ill, for example.

If your circumstances change, it's always best to try and get the court order changed rather than falling behind with payments. If you do nothing, your creditor can take more serious action, and depending on the kind of debts you've got, you could end up losing your home or having your possessions taken away.
This page tells you what you need to think about if you want to apply to get a court order changed, and how the process works when you've made your application.
Back to contents
When can you ask to change the court order

If you can't afford to keep up the payments ordered by the court, you can ask to change the terms of the order to fit in with what you can afford to pay. This is called an application to vary the order.
Depending on your financial situation, you could apply to the court to pay off the debt in smaller installments. Or you could say you can no longer afford to pay anything at all. For example, if you have lost your job and money is being taken from your wages to repay the debt, you could ask the court to change the type of order you've got.

You’ll have to give details of your financial situation when you make the application.
Back to contents

Hope this clarifies the situation.

[Wombats]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

Council Tax is enforced through the Magistrates' Courts so a N245 is useless. Sorry!

[ploddertom]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

Hope this clarifies the situation.

You need to look at this properly. N245 are used for civil debts - usually against a CCJ - it is a twofold form to both Suspend a Warrant and/or apply for a Variation Order. What the OP has here is a Liability Order for unpaid Council Tax and the only way this can be overturned or appealed is by Judicial Review through the High Court which is a very expensive business. The bit you have copied from CAB is purely for civil debt and nothing to do with Council Tax Liability Orders.

[Johnboy007]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

You need to look at this properly. N245 are used for civil debts - usually against a CCJ - it is a twofold form to both Suspend a Warrant and/or apply for a Variation Order. What the OP has here is a Liability Order for unpaid Council Tax and the only way this can be overturned or appealed is by Judicial Review through the High Court which is a very expensive business. The bit you have copied from CAB is purely for civil debt and nothing to do with Council Tax Liability Orders.

me thinks I should have read all this thread properly....:embarassed:

[Wombats]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

Easy mistake any of us can make! :tinysmile_twink_t2:

[Guest]

Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

Thanks Johnboy, I'll hold off sending the emails till tomorrow. My local Council tax dept is closed on a Wednesday so I will try verbal comms 1st. If I get no joy there I will follow the rest of the great advice given on here

I would just add to your letter that guidelines from the MOJ and DCLG both state that debtors should not be pushed into punitive repayment plans.

I would also act that B&S do not visit (thus triggering more fees under the enforcement stage) until the issue regarding repayments has been resolved.

Finally, don't forget to copy the councilin on your letter.