what actions can the council take? they have told my wife they can inform our employer and take money direct from pay. I believe they can only do this with a court order and as a last resort.

my own car has been dealt with. the other is on finance so they should be ok. we live in a rented house, so in essence, other than my telly, there doesn't seem to be much going for the bailiffs trying to sell my stuff! the 70 letters goes back to since before the claim started and are details of what we are entitled to and then latterly (the last year) saying we weren't entitled after all. This despite the fact hat at the end of every tax year I sent them copies of my personal accounts and each year they sent me extra money because I had deliberately underestimated my income, on the basis that I would rather they owed me money than the other way round. In Oct I sent them all that information again, and a covering letter. In total there was over 100 pages of information I sent to them, so they can hardly say I haven't entered into a dialogue with them!

Possibly, I'm going to ring RBL on Tuesday before I ring the bailliffs

I'm thinking about my MP as well, he was surprisingly useful when we had problems with my wife's visa (she's from outside the EU) and saved us an awful lot of trouble and expense. Never thought I would say a good thing about an MP, but he was bloody good!!

I actually think the officer concerned has started to take it personally. They sent me a letter asking me for a full sent of accounts and proof that I was a director, of my Army regiment!! I then rang up and spoke to an extraordinarily obstructive and useless individual. This was on top of the over 70 letters they had sent over a three year period, most of which contradicted each other and most of which were largely unitelligeable, so the next time I wrote in to the chief, I told him his department was a shambles and a disgrace. That was when the trouble started!

can they take the kids toys? random question I know, but it's one of the things that really bothers me. I can stand losing my stuff, but seeing the kids as their toys are taken away will be pretty upsetting

Thanks for the quick responses as above, my wife happened to ring the council to find out why we had heard nothing. She was given another number to ring, which she did, and it turned out that was the Bailiffs. That's the first we had heard of it going to them. We have received nothing from them in writing. I have a day off tuesday so will ring them and one of the things I will be asking for is a written breakdown of the costs because at the moment the amount doesn't even add up to being the same as anything we are aware of. Are there any other pertinent questions I should be asking when I ring them? TBH filing for banktrupcy is starting to look an attractive option!!

I put it in the other forum because the original problem was with council tax. I am just astonished and appalled that a council can behave like this and not even tell you. The last I heard they told me the matter was on hold until they had looked into our benefits case. To use a well worn phrase, it's like living in a police state, I just can't believe a Government body can be allowed to do this to people and not even tell them. I at least expected it to go to court and have my chance to put my argument forward. As it is their seems to be no recourse, no complaint, just take it. I've served my country for 25 years and this is how they repay me. What was it all for?

I've got a car that is on HP, so I don't think they can have that, and then a bit of an old classic that I will be 'selling' to my dad and will go to their house. The Bailiffs haven't actually called at all, my wife called them after ringing the council to see what was happening with our case. We have had no notification from the council this was going to happen and nothing from the bailiffs. I would doubt we're classed as vulnerable

So, got home this evening to be told by my wife the council have instructed Bailiffs for unpaid council tax. The background to this is we were claiming housing and council tax benefit from 2010-2013. The council decided we weren't entitled to what they had paid us for the period 2011-13 last year, even though we supplied them with evidence of income each year we claimed and they approved our claim. So, they demanded £25k from us in unpaid council tax and benefits paid. This is in dispute, we were on our arses and entitled IMHO and I sent them over 100 pages of evidence to this effect around August last year. We have, as yet, heard nothing about this. We were contacted about the outstanding council tax last Oct and I rang the council and explained it was in dispute. They explained that the benefits is a separate issue but they would put the matter on hold until such time as it was resolved, we have heard nothing since. Today, my wife thought maybe she should ring the council to find out what was happening. She was directed to ring another number which turned out to be the Bailiffs. They have reviewed our income and expenditure form, which I sent to the council, which showed we could afford £100 a month, but they insist on £300 a month, no less. We have been charged over £1000 for the privilege of having this referred to the Bailiffs. Any help/advice massively appreciated!! The council is Dorset County Council

that argument is utter rubbish. In the middle lane you have, on a three lane road, just one lane spare before you hit the central reservation and 2 before you go up the left hand verge (namely, the hard shoulder, which rarely has a barrier) IN the inside lane, you have 2 lanes before hit the central reservation, and still one (the hard shoulder) before you go up the verge, which also often has a decent run off area and no barrier, and vehicles travelling at speed on the other side of it! You could, of course try maintaining your vehicle properly and don't bang the cerbs, then you reduce your risk of a blow out! The principal cause of accidents on motorways is congestion, and behind every overtaking lane hogging nerk bimbling along is a pile of congestion. Over 70mph my vehicle develops something of a drink problem so I only drive at 65-70mph and I am constantly faced with having to cross 2-3 lanes of motorway to move into the outside line to overtake lane blocking idiots, which then causes congestion behind of faster moving vehicles.

I'm very sorry to hear about your loss and the circumstances behind it. Obviously I don't know the details behind what happened so can't comment on the specifics, but I am sorry. I'm not saying the NHS is a perfect organisation that gets it right everytime. There are a number of challenges the NHS faces today if it is to continue to provide the (generally) excellent service it currently provides. At a grass roots level the ones that immediately spring to mind are nurse training and staffing levels. I have been in healthcare for 24 years now and have seen enormous improvements in that time. When I started the normal wait time in A&E was 10-11 hours, patients died waiting years to be seen for treatable cancers, doctors did what they wanted without recourse or criticism regardless of whether it was right or not. Now, people are expected to use evidence based practice and everyone has the right to challenge the practices of someone else. Never has there been more scrutiny of peoples practice. One thing that has to change though is the current culture of blame. At the moment the Government and the press are pursuing the culture of the witch hunt. We have to accept that sometimes, even good doctors and nurses get it wrong or make a mistake. They're only human after all. The important thing is that we then learn from those mistakes in order to avoid them happening again. At the moment people are too fearful of blame to admit mistakes and learn from them. I absolutely believe though, that as a healthcare system that is free at the point of delivery and available to all regardless of ability to pay the NHS is unrivalled anywhere in the world, and I have seen healthcare systems in many countries. I have seen a number of patients who have come to hospital after treatment on holiday in spain and the standard of treatment and care they have received there I would regard as criminally negligent. We do though, have challenges to face and I hope the service will continue to improve as I have seen it improve over the last 24 years.

agree with both the sentiments above. Even seen people come down the slip road at 50mph to join a 4 lane motorway with light traffic and sail straight out to lane 3! driving safely and driving slowly are not the same thing!!

open visiting was stopped in the UK because it is detrimental to patient care, privacy and dignity. Patients on wards are better observed by the staff so it is safer. personally I would hate to be stuck in a room with one other who I don't know. relatives are encouraged to stay in some countries so they can take care of routine tasks that in the UK would be undertaken by professional staff. I have repatriated holidaymakers from spain and the medical standards are significantly below those in the UK

its due in o the 28th, I sent it today by special delivery. all a bit last minute dot com!! I delivered the court copies by hand today

NIce one, thanks for that, it's dead handy Andy

I have now received a court date from |Lloyds (Gulp!) and a letter asking me to send in all copies of documents on which I intend to rely at the hearing, Can anyone advise me as to what I should be putting in with my letter to the court, cheers in advance

yes, you can state that by all means. can I state that as 40% of the general population carry MRSA as part of their natural skin flora that figure for the NHS doesn't seem very suprising. so why the lower figure for the private sector? well it could have something to do with the fact that they don't routinely screen patients for it, and also a private hospital wouldn't go anywhere near the sort of patients that are particularly vulnerable to an MRSA infection. their pathology is far to complex to make money out of!! like I say, when you know what is the real truth behind those figures the press likes to throw around, you become slightly more sceptical about things!

err, yes actually, well, at least in part. people expect to be go to their GP and get a pill for everything. the public demands they be given antibiotics. that is also of course the fault of the medical profession for not saying to people 'actually, there isn't anything we can give you, you'll just have to wait to get better'. there is a broader education issue here, which applies through the system. A&E departments and GP surgeries are stuffed with peole who don't need to be there and shouldn't be there. C diff is properly nasty, I know I've had it, despite scrupulous barrier nursing. thats because it is both a contact and airborne pathogen. the only way to control it's spread effectively is isolation, but the hospitals won't do that because that means closing beds, but thats not the fault of the doctors and the nurses. Hand washing helps, but it is far from the total answer. those at the front line (with, certainly some notable exceptions) do their best to try and help people under extremely difficult and demanding circumstances. they are not the enemy. They are in this job because they want to try and help people, improve peoples quality of life, or indeed death. and if you don't believe how hard it is, consider this. the average burn out time for an A&E nurse is now just 5 years. If you want an NHS that is well staffed by motivated well trained and consientious individuals (which by default means exactly the sort of care you are all clamouring for, quite rightly)then they need the public support. take the criticisms inherant or invoked by the system to those that run the system.

The thing I don't really understand is that this seems to be a standard tactic by them, looking through this site. they push it as far as then can without ever intending to go to court. surely that makes them guilty of contempt and wasting court time? why does the court continue to allow them to do this? answers on a postcard please!!

Lloyds seem to be playing the tough guy, I have had acknowledgement from their solicitor but nothing else as yet. their 28 days since registering on moneyclaim are now up, does this mean, as I suspect, that I can now issue a default on them through moneyclaim. Does anyone have any experience of how far they will push this? this is, I think, the final hurdle before it goes to court. has anyone else been down this road yet? I'm geting a bit anxious now so any help is appreciated

lloyds are one of the tougher nuts to crack, but you will crack them, and the harder they make it, the more likely you are to have to issue proceeedings against them, which means you can then add interest and get even more money out of them!! Remember that each time they send you a letter trying to put you off, do not be distracted, it's a win win situation, you just have to be patient and stick the course. follow the step by step guide on the forum, use the template letters, and you can't go wrong! good luck, although luck has nothing to do with, just tenacity and perseverence Andy

I am heavilly cheered by the 2 claims I have already won, lloyds will fall as well. how far through are you?

Had a reply telling me no, get lost, thats the end of it, call round again and we'll set the dogs on you. so now we go to moneyclaim, which pleases me a lot because now I can add all that lovely interest - £204.01 of it!!

dispute resolved 10.09.06.