Advice - please- Newlyns

[macleve]

Dear all,
I wonder if anyone has any advice? Briefly,
I owe Lewisham Council £250 from outstanding Council Tax from my old flat (moved into new flat in April this year), and COMPLETELY forgot to pay....silly, I know.
However, I have had Newlyns bailiffs calling me to pay the debt, after one letter in May (I think), and when I went onto their website to settle I discovered my total amount payable was £420.....after calling the bailiff to ask why this is now £420, he said he'd 'look into my paperwork', I did call him at 8am.....he sounded asleep....) that was 3 weeks ago, and nothing since......

Then yesterday I got a voicemail (not automated) saying a bailiff was going to come today to collect goods.

I called Lewisham who say I have to deal with the bailiffs now.

I then called Newlyns, and they said I had to pay in full. I can't afford to pay the total amount right now - but I could pay half this month and the balance next month. But I insisted I had not received any letters from them since May, and only the phone call with the bailiff (I checked, he is certificated) which I was still waiting for an answer.
The woman I spoke to said they had sent 4 letters (I haven't received them). She then said if I gave her my employment details (NI no, employer details etc) she WOULD allow me to pay half-and-half.

I was standing outside my work when I was calling her, and didn't have the details to hand-so said I would call her this lunchtime, in the meantime she said the bailiff action would 'continue'.

I am petrified, and would appreciate any advice - should I give them my details? Can I not just pay them via Standing Order? I do not want them contacting my employers.

Thanks for your time........

[mr.ton]

Re: Advice - please- Newlyns

Unless you let them in then they have no legal power to enter your premises.
If they start getting threatening then just close the door and call the police.
Is there actually a court order in place? might be worth trying to find out if there is & make a complaint/query to that court that you've received no correspondence and that the council are just ignoring you.
Oh & unless a court orders otherwise - you tell them what you will pay, not them say what you must pay.
Stay off the phone to them also and refuse to anwer any securiy questions if they ring you.

[labman]

Re: Advice - please- Newlyns

Phone the council and find out the exact amount of the Liability Order against you. I would advise you make a payment to them (they are not allowed to refuse, but may try - you can use their automated system online or by phone as long as you make sure it goes against the right account.

In the meantime I would read this:
Bailiff Guide - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum

and send one of these:
Bailiff - SAR - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum

This will give you a breakdown of their charges.

If they have never gained entry, the maximum I believe should be £42.50 assuming you live in England (slightly less in Wales).

So:
1. Pay the LO to the council
2. Read Bailiffs Guide
3. Send SAR to Newlyns

Once you get the SAR back (they have 40 calendar days to do this) if you need help identifying legitimate fees, just post up again.

Meanwhile do not let them in, do not pay more than the Liability Order till you know what fees are legitimate, do not be threatened, don't talk to them and please try not to worry!

[macleve]

Re: Advice - please- Newlyns

Thank you very much for your reply, Mr Ton, it means a lot.

The woman this morning said that this has 'gone to court', but I got a little upset on the phone at this point and didn't pursue 'how' or 'what' this meant.......I demanded a letter to be sent to show just how this amount has become £420.

The flat I'm in has a communal front door - but absolutely no Newlyn correspondence has come through, unless it's been 'taken' and I find it very hard to believe that my neighbours would only take these, and not any other mail I have received.......

Should I just attempt to set up a Standing Order with them tonight to pay say, £10 a week, until I can see the letter with the charges, and then take it from there? I appreciate I DO owe them (or Lewisham Council) money, so want to make an effort to show willing to pay.......at least to stop a debt collector coming to my home.

Thanks again.
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------

Phone the council and find out the exact amount of the Liability Order against you. I would advise you make a payment to them (they are not allowed to refuse, but may try - you can use their automated system online or by phone as long as you make sure it goes against the right account.

In the meantime I would read this:
Bailiff Guide - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum

and send one of these:
Bailiff - SAR - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum

This will give you a breakdown of their charges.

If they have never gained entry, the maximum I believe should be £42.50 assuming you live in England (slightly less in Wales).

So:
1. Pay the LO to the council
2. Read Bailiffs Guide
3. Send SAR to Newlyns

Once you get the SAR back (they have 40 calendar days to do this) if you need help identifying legitimate fees, just post up again.

Meanwhile do not let them in, do not pay more than the Liability Order till you know what fees are legitimate, do not be threatened, don't talk to them and please try not to worry!

I've just seen this, thanks SO much labman....!

The lady at Lewisham this morning said that the bill is for £240.00 (I think, certainly no more than £250) - and I told her that I had not had any correspondence from Newlyn to explain why the bill is now £420. She insisted I speak to the bailiff company, as I could not pay Lewisham???????

[labman]

Re: Advice - please- Newlyns

She is lying! They can take payment and have to take payment by law. However, it may be easier to use one of the online systems as long as you can assign it to the right debt, as you could argue for ever with the underlings who are just doing what they've been told and don't actually know what they're talking about.

[macleve]

Re: Advice - please- Newlyns

She is lying! They can take payment and have to take payment by law. However, it may be easier to use one of the online systems as long as you can assign it to the right debt, as you could argue for ever with the underlings who are just doing what they've been told and don't actually know what they're talking about.

Thank you!
Do I have to call them again to find out the exact amount of the LO, or should I just try and register to use their online system?

sorry to be a pain, completely unused to this and being panicky and dim......

[labman]

Re: Advice - please- Newlyns

Phone again to find out the exact amount of the LO. I don't think you have to register to use their automated payment system, but you'll find out.

NEVER please apologise for being a pain. Nobody is ever a pain here for asking what they don't know - keep asking until you're happy. :beagle:

[macleve]

Re: Advice - please- Newlyns

You are very kind.......

So I should find out the EXACT amount of the Liability Order and pay this to Lewisham dirtectly using their online payment system (do you know if there is an option to pay in instalments, or if you have to pay the whole amount in one go?)

[labman]

Re: Advice - please- Newlyns

Pay what you can afford and no more. Make sure you do not go short, but bear in mind it is a priority debt and needs paying asap without making you suffer hardship.

Keep all receipts / payment references given as proof.

[WendyB]

Re: Advice - please- Newlyns

But also remember that the bailiffs fees will still be outstanding. Usually when you pay via the bailiffs, they take their fees first, then pass the remainder to the council. Therefore if you pay direct to the council the bailiffs will still hassle you for their fees. If there has been no peaceful entry gained then all they can charge is £42.50. The LO will not be discharged aslong as these remain unpaid.
Insist on a breakdown of fees from Newylyns, you may get this without the need for a SAR, and probably quicker. Then challenge any unlawful/nefarious harges.

If you ring the council you need to make sure that you get put through to the CT recovery dept, not just the clones in customer service who know bugger all about bailiffs and the law and wil just fob you off with the usual "you must deal with the bailiffs" line.

With regards to Mr Ton's post, a court order for Council Tax isn't quite the same as a normal CCJ, council tax must be paid as a priority debt and once a Liability Order has been obtained then it won't go away until it's paid. LO's are issued at the drop of a hat by all councils. They could go for an attachment of earnings order, which will take at least 7% of your nett pay, which could well be more than any instalment plan.

For Newylyns to refuse to accept a payment plan is blatantly wrong, you must write to them, copy in the council, with an offer of what you an afford, once you make this offer you must stick to it, so make sure it's what you an afford, otherwise if you break the agreement you will just get more hassle from the bailiffs. Remember that the offence is refusal to pay, not being able to afford it is NOT an offence.

[macleve]

Re: Advice - please- Newlyns

Thank you Wendy,

I am going to read all these posts again when I get home tonight, digest them and act on them tomorrow as per all your advice.

Thank you so much for your time. xx