Really need help Rossendales/CT debt

[needhelp77]

Hi

Sorry for the long winded post.

I am in desperate need of some help, myself and my "partner" have a debt relating to last years council tax, we were on a low income ("partner" was part time employed) and we actually thought that it was covered by CT benefit as our rent was fully covered by HB.

We were contacted regarding the debt by the council and I told them we didn't realize it wasn't covered by the CT benefit (yes I know that is our fault, but I was going through alot at the time as my Grandmother was terminally ill and sadly passed away) they took us to court and we weren't able attend as the court was to far away for us to get to (we don't drive and weren't able to get transport there).
Aparently if we had attended we could have made an offer of payment via a form that came with the court letter (there was no form) .

So the debt was then passed over to Rossendales baliffs and we were sent a letter saying that an attachment of earnings would be made against salary or benefits,before they were able to take any payment my "partner" then lost his job (through no fault of his own, his employer sold the business due to illness and the new owners had their own staff)

So we then started claiming JSA (I am on the claim although I am a full time parent to our 3 year old) and expected that payments would be taken from that, nothing was/has been taken so I contacted the council and rossendales and they said it was only set up on my partners wages and we now need to pay the full amount.

I received a letter today from Rossendales saying they were going to reccomend to the council that I/We be taken back to magistrates court and committed to prison! I had no idea they could do that! I am now panicking that this is going to happen and we are going to lose our daughter!!

We have no money to pay the debt off and no one to borrow from and we can't go via the bank/loan companies as we cannot get credit.

My partner and I are in the middle of splitting up so I am going to be the only occupant of our house and I am scared about what is going to happen because of this debt.

Really really appreciate any advice or help.

Thanks

[ploddertom]

Re: Really need help Rossendales/CT debt

The threat of the letter is just that and it has had its desired effect which is of course why you are here asking for help. Imprisonment is the last thing that may happen and only if the Council take you to Court and you stand up and say you are refusing to pay. It isn't going to happen fortunately.

The awkward part is if you are splitting up then who is going to pay and how much? Unfortunately either one of you can be made to pay in whole or in part - usually depends on who they can squeeze it out of and/or if they cannot trace the other partner.

You need to start talking to the Council about this ASAP - I would normally include Rossendales in this but I can imagine the only thing they want is payment in full. As far as I am aware they can make an attachment to your Benefits of around £5 per week. You do need to supply them evidence of your prent circumstances and include a simple I&E for them to go off - mind you have to bear in mind that if you are claiming the full Sky package they will treat this as excessive and want more. A decent budget planner can be had from http://moneysmart.nedcab.org.uk/budgetsheet.asp

[needhelp77]

Re: Really need help Rossendales/CT debt

The threat of the letter is just that and it has had its desired effect which is of course why you are here asking for help. Imprisonment is the last thing that may happen and only if the Council take you to Court and you stand up and say you are refusing to pay. It isn't going to happen fortunately.

The awkward part is if you are splitting up then who is going to pay and how much? Unfortunately either one of you can be made to pay in whole or in part - usually depends on who they can squeeze it out of and/or if they cannot trace the other partner.

You need to start talking to the Council about this ASAP - I would normally include Rossendales in this but I can imagine the only thing they want is payment in full. As far as I am aware they can make an attachment to your Benefits of around £5 per week. You do need to supply them evidence of your prent circumstances and include a simple I&E for them to go off - mind you have to bear in mind that if you are claiming the full Sky package they will treat this as excessive and want more. A decent budget planner can be had from http://moneysmart.nedcab.org.uk/budgetsheet.asp

Thank you I have listed income and outgoings and written to the council.

Today we had a visit from Rossendales regarding another CT debt the guy said we were supposed to be paying £3 a week and we hadn't paid it and they had sent letters, I had no idea of the payment plan and we hadn't had any letters, he said I couldn't sort anything with him I had to ring the number on the final notice letter that he gave me. He also said they would be back on Tuesday afternoon to remove things from our house.



All I want is to get all this sorted and start paying it off but how do I do that? How do I stop them taking things? We don't have alot most was given to us as we were homeless for a while (through no fault of our own) before getting our social housing house. It seems all they want is full payment and we have absolutely no way of doing that and the value of our possesions is nowhere near enough to make a dent on the debt.


Should I contact the debt officer on the number?


Really appreciate you help.

[Guest]

Re: Really need help Rossendales/CT debt

When the bailiff visited today, did he take control of any goods?

Did you sign any paperwork?

[needhelp77]

Re: Really need help Rossendales/CT debt

When the bailiff visited today, did he take control of any goods?

Did you sign any paperwork?

Hi, thanks for the reply, I didn't let him in although I did open the door as I was expecting a friend. There is nothing outside the house he can take and I don't have a car. I didn't sign anything either.

[Guest]

Re: Really need help Rossendales/CT debt

The good news is that they cannot take any of your goods. Under no circumstances should you ever let him inside your house, no matter how much pressure he puts on you.

The bad news is, if he has visited before at any point over this account, the visit today will have cost you £235.

There must have been some form of agreement in place for you to have been paying £3.00 a week for so long without him visiting?

What happened? Did you just stop paying the £3.00?

[needhelp77]

Re: Really need help Rossendales/CT debt

The good news is that they cannot take any of your goods. Under no circumstances should you ever let him inside your house, no matter how much pressure he puts on you.

The bad news is, if he has visited before at any point over this account, the visit today will have cost you £235.

There must have been some form of agreement in place for you to have been paying £3.00 a week for so long without him visiting?

What happened? Did you just stop paying the £3.00?

okay great thank you. I have no idea about the £3 a week thing as I would have kept to a payment plan if there hadve been one so I am guessing he had his wires crossed or they were sending letters to a wrong address.He didn't seem very inclined to actually be helpful just tell me I hadn't paid and they were coming back on Tuesday unless I sorted it.


S
So should I write to the council and/or Rossendales to try to sort out a payment plan and send details of my income and outgoings like Ploddertom suggested for the other debt. and if they turn up on Tuesday just ignore them?

[ploddertom]

Re: Really need help Rossendales/CT debt

It seems to me that you have more than 1 Liability Order granted against you - possibly 1 under the old Regs & 1 under the new ones.

[needhelp77]

Re: Really need help Rossendales/CT debt

It seems to me that you have more than 1 Liability Order granted against you - possibly 1 under the old Regs & 1 under the new ones.

oh does that make difference

[Guest]

Re: Really need help Rossendales/CT debt

You should write to the council, copying Rossendales in. The letter should be entitled Formal Complaint-Stage 1. It should be addressed to the CEO if your council.

Start by outlining your financial circumstances ie that you are both jointly in receipt of JSA. Advise that you are in communication regarding last years account but today, you have received a visit regarding an account that you know nothing about, nor have you received any previous communication about. (you need to be careful here that all the correspondence you've previously received fromm Rossendales is in connection with last years account) Tell the council how Rossendales have threatened to return on Tuesday to remove goods. As this is the first you've heard about it, you have not received a notice of enforcement. This means that Rossendales are not complying with legislation.

Advise the council that you do not own a vehicle, you shall not be allowing access inside your house and you will not be entering into any agreements with Rossendales. You do however wish to address these debts. Before doing so, could the council please provide you with the the total amount of liability orders held against you, the dates these orders were issued, the council tax year and address they are in relation to and the amount outstanding on each account.

Once you have received this information, you will be in a position to negotiate a repayment plan. In the meantime, as you are in agreement that you owe last years tax, you are prepared to make payments to Rossendales of £3.50 per week. You have copied Rossendales in on this letter and you request they now furnish you with an account number and payment options.

You ask that recovery action is suspended whilst this complaint is being investigated.

Finally, you require the following. The dates that any enforcement action has incurred a fee, the reason for this fee and the amount of the fee.

[needhelp77]

Re: Really need help Rossendales/CT debt

You should write to the council, copying Rossendales in. The letter should be entitled Formal Complaint-Stage 1. It should be addressed to the CEO if your council.

Start by outlining your financial circumstances ie that you are both jointly in receipt of JSA. Advise that you are in communication regarding last years account but today, you have received a visit regarding an account that you know nothing about, nor have you received any previous communication about. (you need to be careful here that all the correspondence you've previously received fromm Rossendales is in connection with last years account) Tell the council how Rossendales have threatened to return on Tuesday to remove goods. As this is the first you've heard about it, you have not received a notice of enforcement. This means that Rossendales are not complying with legislation.

Advise the council that you do not own a vehicle, you shall not be allowing access inside your house and you will not be entering into any agreements with Rossendales. You do however wish to address these debts. Before doing so, could the council please provide you with the the total amount of liability orders held against you, the dates these orders were issued, the council tax year and address they are in relation to and the amount outstanding on each account.

Once you have received this information, you will be in a position to negotiate a repayment plan. In the meantime, as you are in agreement that you owe last years tax, you are prepared to make payments to Rossendales of £3.50 per week. You have copied Rossendales in on this letter and you request they now furnish you with an account number and payment options.

You ask that recovery action is suspended whilst this complaint is being investigated.

Finally, you require the following. The dates that any enforcement action has incurred a fee, the reason for this fee and the amount of the fee.

Thank you very much TST!!!

Ploddertom said something about new and old regs, this second debt is 3-4 years old I believe, how much difference does that make?

Thanks again!

[Guest]

Re: Really need help Rossendales/CT debt

The main difference is that there are different fee scales. When you get the reply from the council, we'll be in a better position to see what you owe, what you should have to pay and what (of any) fees should be removed from your account. Untill then, we don't even know if they're attempting to charge under the old fee scale as you are under the impression that you knew nothing about this second (& older) account until recently.