Bristow and sutor council tax advice please

[Berrycott76]

Hi everyone
I've had council tax arrears sent to Bristow and sutor last year, due to not being able to pay my Bill's as I've ended up on universal credit. I phoned the council in tears around December begging them to take the debt back, she did but made it seem like she was doing me a massive favour, but i was grateful. She put the baliffs on hold and I agreed to pay 15 a week. I fell behind as I'm constantly robbing peter to pay paul, I recieved a text from b and s the end of january saying that I was at risk of losing my right to pay by installments. I didnt call as I had not a penny to offer them, I suffer from depression and anxiety, it's so hard for me even to talk to people. Fast forward to last friday, i recieved a text from a baliff asking to contact them if i dont want any more charges added for more visits. I got my benefit payment today, 350 after my deductions, i panicked and contacted them by web chat, thinking i would just pay the outstanding amount (it was less than 250 to start with). She told me my outstanding amount is 259! I dont know how it can be a higher debt than I started with?! I payed 150 online, its left me really, really, really broke for the rest of the month. I'm suicidal. I've dealt with them before and I know how pushy they can be. Do they have to accept a payment plan? I've left a voice mail with the baliff to call me back. I feel like an idiot now, after my bank charges for being overdrawn I now have 150 to last me the month, I havent paid my electric bill in 4 months and I still have another council tax bill pending at the council. Any advice for me please. Many thanks for reading.

[zeke]

You have a number of options open to you, and one comes to mind is that the enforcement for the council tax is causing you serious harm, and the legislation provides for the council to stop enforcement and write off the arrears.

Before starting the process, I would make enquiries whether you can get council tax benefit. That will stop further arrears accruing.

You can ask your bank to refund you the charges on the grounds their deduction from your prescribed benefits are causing serious hardship. I don't know the official channels for making that application. It might be a direct approach to the bank, or to an ombudsman. I have no training in debt collection practice.

You might want to consider a debt relief order, under Section 346 of the Insolvency Act 1986. You will need to speak to a qualified debt practitioner first, so do shop around to get the best deal. The debt practitioner can stop the enforcement by giving the bailiff a notice under Civil Procedure Rule 83.20(1).

The nuclear option is to apply to the council to write off the council tax arrears under Section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and ask your doctor to complete a MALG Evidence Form and that can support your application.

Your grounds to stop the enforcement and write of the arrears is because the liability forces you to live on an income below the government poverty threshold, the liability in all probability is never going to be paid, or the enforcement is causing you a detriment to your mental health.

[monkeynuts]

Firstly well done for opening up on the issues face, it can be very hard but by getting it out there you are starting to deal with the issue at hand.

Reading you post I think you really need to speak with a specialist debt advisor who can assist you in getting all your affairs in order. You mentioned you had deductions to your benefit, by speaking with a specialist there may be the opportunity to reduce any current deductions to a reasonable level.

As Zeke mentioned a DRO may assist you in dealing with the debt you currently have and someone from a charity should be able to support you in this application. I would suggest speaking with one of the following who all offer free debt advice and can support you with a DRO:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
https://www.stepchange.org/
https://www.nationaldebtline.org/

You need to be telling them everything to get the best advice. The people behind the telephones at these charities are trained to deal with situations such as yours so don't be afraid. Should you take this route let them know you have bailiff issues and they will deal with this as a priority.

It would also be prudent to ask them to do a full benefits check on your current circumstance as there may be other benefits that you may not be claiming but are able to.

We can advise you here of what options you have but I fear it will not address the root cause of the issue and would only be a temporary stop.

However in the mean time I would send this letter to your local authority whilst you get the help you need (you will need to edit it to you details):

Code: Select all

[name]
[address]
[bailiff company name]
[bailiff company address]
[bailiff company address]
[bailiff company address]
[bailiff company postcode]

BY PRE-PAID FIRST CLASS POST AND BY EMAIL

bailiff@company.com

[dd mmmm yyyy]

Re: 


Dear Sir,

Regulation 12 of the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 

My name is [NAME] and I write to give notice that I am a vulnerable person as defined in enforcement regulations and in several Acts of Parliament.

Please put enforcement on hold for 30 days so I can have adequate opportunity to get assistance and advice in relation to the exercise of the enforcement power and confirm in writing that you will comply with this regulation.

Regulations do not require me to give evidence of my vulnerability, I have decided not to disclose it as entitled under the Data Protection Act 2018.

In the event of a breach, the right to bring an application under CPR 84.16 and ask for my costs on the indemnity basis is expressly reserved.

Yours sincerely,

[name]

If you speak with the council they may offer to take a deduction from your benefit. Whilst this does help pay of the arrears I would only take this option once you have sought specialist debt advice. They will work with you to ensure you have the money to live off and ensure that payments going out are reasonable - with the CT arrears being one of these.