BEREAVEMENT

[LUCYLOCKET]

hello

still got the same git from the council out for me

I have been paying her for 3 years straight - including a payment off the old arrears
she always uses B&S

today Rossendales turn up left a calling letter

then this evening she rang harrasing me telling me she was coming in the morning!

i thought there was a protocol about these things and time limits

my mum died on sunday

i cannot cope with all this

i understand i do not have to deal with them

i also thought it was not allowed to use the two different bailiffs for the same debt?

help please...i am normally tough but this week is obviously hard

xx

[Syd Snitkin]

Send an email to the revenues manager explaining the bereavement asking for some space.

They can use multiple bailiffs if they want but mustn't be charging multiple fees if you've been paying to one company. For one company to withdraw after being paid fees then it's highly dubious and unfair for a second company to then come in and charge the same fees again and would be ripe for a complaint copying in your local councillor.

If you have nothing of value outside and the bailiff has no CGA then you don't have to speak to them.

[desperate-luke]

Hi Lucy. I know the feeling. Just ignore the bailiff when he comes over. Go make a cuppa. Wave and smile at him from inside. He can't do anything. He banged on my window. I showed him middle finger and laughed.

Email/call the council and tell them that you will deal with them directly, after they remove bailiff from equation, together with all fees. They might give excuses. But in the end, they prefer to get paid council tax and will deal with you directly.

[LUCYLOCKET]

thank you both!

there are things outside that are not mine so do I need to be able to prove that - belt and braces and all that.

How can I prove my Sons Mower is his for example? He has a Landscaping job and this is his....

Am I classed as a Vulnerable Person for a period of time and able to ask the Council under some Rule or other for some time etc. I am always paying the tax but she is still persisting after me. I told her i will commit suicide if she carries on.

I feel so awful and normally i wouldnt worry so much but i just dont need all this crap from her especially when i am bloody paying the Council.

I hope she rots in hell one day

Thank you for your help

[Syd Snitkin]

If the mower is in the back garden and the garden gate is locked or if there is no access to the garden other than through the house, then it will be safe. 'Things outside' would usually mean vehicles and such.

With the bereavement you have had, you would certainly be classed as vulnerable for the immediate future and I would make sure you email the revenues manager and let them know. If they prove difficult do not hesitate to contact your local councillor to ask them to intervene.

[LUCYLOCKET]

Hi Syd Snitkin

Thank you very much. I have emailed the Council and told them and am waiting for confirmation she has received my email etc.

There are no gates on the garden so not sure what to do - the things outside are not ours though as a few people live here and own different things. Just don't want their things clamped or taken?

Thank you for your help.

[LUCYLOCKET]

op

Schedule 12
Posts: 13524
Joined: 30 Jul 2012 21:23
Contact:
Contact Schedule 12

#2 Re: Council refuse payment
Quote

Post
by Schedule 12 » 16 Apr 2018 10:32
Different legislation applies when you pay or tender council tax to the billing authority.


Section 17(1) of Schedule 4 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 which states:
17(1)Regulations under paragraph 1(1) above may provide that in a case where—

(a)proceedings under the regulations have been taken as regards the recovery of any sum mentioned in paragraph 1(1) above; and
(b)the outstanding amount is paid or tendered to the authority to which it is payable;

the authority shall accept the amount, no further steps shall be taken as regards its recovery, and any person committed to prison in pursuance of the proceedings shall be released.
I am a paralegal working for solicitors bringing action against bailiffs for non-compliant enforcement.

Author: Dealing with Bailiffs
Founder: National Bailiff Advice


PS

Can I use the above Legislation to force the council to accept another small extra payment from me against the oldest arrears they are chasing? I am up to date with current years council tax but she is using bailiffs for the old stuff - if I pay a small affordable amount as well can I make her stop using the bailiff?

thank you

[zeke]

Yes, probvided the small extra payment clears the amount outstanding.

The enforcement power is live until the amount outstanding is paid.

[LUCYLOCKET]

That's great thank you!

[LUCYLOCKET]

Yes, probvided the small extra payment clears the amount outstanding.

The enforcement power is live until the amount outstanding is paid.

Just had a thought....enforcement is live until its paid in full do you mean?

What if I am paying an affordable amount of it and the Council is accepting that amount - there is no need for enforcement as I am paying.

I am paying the current years and some of these old arrears - so have any grounds for asking them to stop enforcement?

I could ask them if they are refusing my payment too?

Cheers

[zeke]

You can ask them to stop the bovver boys if you are making regular payments.

If they refuse a payment, then the council is foolish because that could unwittingly kill off the enforcement power.

[LUCYLOCKET]

OK - I will write and ask them that. Also how long am I allowed to be bereaved?

The second bailiff has come after me again - one debt/account - two bailiffs from same council git. Who decides how long I am bereaved? And all this while I have kept up all the payments - the current years plus a payment I can afford off the old arrears.....

How could they unwittingly kill off the enforcement power please?

Many thanks to you.

[zeke]

The guidelines only says recently bereaved. There is no fixed time limit.

To kill off the enforcement power, then pay or tender to the council the amount outstanding on the liability order less any amounts already paid.

[LUCYLOCKET]

Are you also saying for the Council to refuse payment - this kills off the enforcement power?

I can't pay all the arrears amount off, just smaller affordable payments, so I understand the enforcement power stays...…

BUT if the Council refuses my payment off the arrears I thought this was not allowed/illegal/and stops their enforcement power then maybe?

Thanks

[zeke]

The law only says if the payment is "tendered' to the authority then it must accept that payment and no further enforcement may be taken.

[LUCYLOCKET]

ah right....

sorry if I am being thick BUT

are you saying that if I tender/pay the affordable payment I have offered to the council, (along with normal payment), - then they cannot continue with the bailiff?

Thank you

[LUCYLOCKET]

ah right....

sorry if I am being thick BUT

are you saying that if I tender/pay the affordable payment I have offered to the council, (along with normal payment), - then they cannot continue with the bailiff?

Thank you

Please can someone correct me or tell me if I am on the right path?

many thanks

[zeke]

The legal position has already been explained.

When the amount outstanding has been paid, the enforcement power ceases, paragraph 6 of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.

The legal definition of amount outstanding is the sum of the debt ordered by the liability order, plus the costs paid by the bailiff for enforcement. Paragraph 50(3) of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.

The legal definition of enforcement is taking control of goods and selling them to recover a sum of money, section 62(1) of the Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.

In your case, where the bailiff has not taken control of any goods, he has not paid any costs relating to enforcement, leaving the money owing on the liability order.

if you paid the sum on the liability order, no enforcement power exists.

Bailiffs must not seek to enforce the recovery of fees where an enforcement power has ceased to be exercisable. Paragraph 31 of the Taking Control of Goods National Standards 2014.