No problem. I spent so long on "the other side of the desk" myself before joining the department (ha doesn't that make it seem all mysterious and men in black!!) that i am well aware of how confusing, even intimidating the whole thing can be. best of luck

Hopefully will better understand where I stand come Monday. Won't hold my breath though as it could be fatal. And right now couldn't afford the funeral!!

Hi Thanks a lot. Going to get in touch with them first thing Monday. Have heard that bailiffs etc often use misleading, half truths but was naive enough to think there would be some sort of regulation preventing them from doing so. When I spoke to the council earlier today I mentioned that I wasn't even sure chasing a debt of 10 years old was even legal. Obviously, as a council employee she immediately replied that yes it was and was happening all the time. Not sure i believe that one. My problem is how after 10 years can i possibly prove that we don't owe this money. Furthermore, what's to stop them (or anybody else for that matter) from crawling out the woodwork in another decade or so and pulling the same stunt all over again!!!

Hi The bailiff is Marston and the letter we have says FINAL NOTICE Execution of Liability Order Imminent. What confused the issue is that we were dealing with another bailiff company (which we were unaware of until they knocked) over this years council tax. We'd fallen into arrears but brought the payments up to date by paying the council direct, so that's sorted now. In the meantime we received this letter from Marston and we're thinking, "what the hell is going on here? 10 years and we're only just finding out now!!!" Before this current financial trouble we're having now we always paid everything. Now, however, we're in quite a bit of debt although nothing huge considering the problems others are having. But like I said earlier, this is just one more thing we could really do without and you can't help thinking that this is not only deliberate but cynical on the council's behalf. After all, how many people keep records dating back 10 years? Feels like a ploy to unfairly extract money from someone in the full knowledge that we're unlikely to have such records. Going to ask the CCCS on Monday for their advice, but to say its put a downer on my weekend is something of an understatement to say the least.

HaHa Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm currently in between roles right now bouncing between benefit inquiries, signing and finance but am happy to offer any advice I can. Occasionally, I'm called in to do a spot of floor management and I'm always surprised at the wealth and scope of inquiries we receive so am well used to often obscure subjects. Won't always know the answer but i'll try

Hi The council instructed the bailiff. Sorry, when I say they have no knowledge that was what the lady in their call centre said. she explained that often old cases are transferred off their system onto another which was probably why she gave me the number for corporate debt. She explained that recently, they've had a load of these cases. Probably the council scrabbling to recover as much money as possible. I mean, come on they have to get the money from somewhere to pay their chief execs their measly £100,000 plus salaries. just a little bit miffed with them as you can probably tell.

Hi Just saw your thread, I'm kinda new to this but thought I might be able to offer you some info. What you've been told already on this forum about earnings for JSA is correct. Don't worry about this compliance interview though. Many people think compliance is the fraud dept of DWP when this is not actually the correct. They are like a first line, preliminary investigation dept. They'll have a chat with you and it will only go to fraud if they think there are grounds for your case to do so. And from what you say there are no grounds. it was a simple mistake. How do I know? I work in the department, but please don't shoot me. Whenever you sign on you should be asked if you participate in any part time work and if so be asked to fill out a B7 form. This is then passed onto the BDC (Benefit Delivery Centre) for your area. If there are any deductions to be taken from your benefit for arrears they should inform you of this via letter. What used to be done (i used to process JSA) was to average out your earnings for a period of 6-8 weeks. This means that even if 1 week you go over 16 hours or permitted earnings it would not automatically disbar you from getting JSA. Best thing to do if you are worried is to make an appointment to see reception in your local jobcentre. That way any kpaperwork the BDC require can be either faxed over to them or electronically scanned and emailed over to them. That's how we do it in our office and it ensures things don't "go missing".

Cool thanks

Hi I'm a new user and not familiar with how this all works so I'll apologise ahead in case I make any glaring howlers either in protocol (ha, can't actually believe I've used that word!!) or even with my spelling. my problem is this: I've recently received a bailiffs demand for council tax arrears when I called them, relate to arrears over 10 years old from a previous address. So far as we were concerned there were no arrears and this is the first we've ever heard of them. Have contacted the council concerned who can't find any trace. The bailiffs in question have "agreed" to postpone any further action for a period of 21 days while we look into this matter. The council have given me a number to call which is their "corporate debt helpline" who they said may have a record of this so called debt. At the moment we're in sever financial straits and are under a debt management plan with CCCS which is almost crippling us to keep up with partly because my wife's income changes from week to week (shes a career, agency worker). And while we're trying to sort all this out the sudden appearance of this arrears bill is, as you might imagine, unwelcome to say the least. I've looked at some of the threads (is that the right word/expression?) but am totally confused so if anybody out there could give me some pointers that doesn't involve numbered paragraphs, arcane points of law of intimidating blocks of Latin it would be much appreciated. Apologies if i come across as flippant by the way, but it's either that or embark on a mass killing spree involving a machete and a chainsaw. However, since I couldn't afford either it would probably be a somewhat bloodless killing spree more likely involving a cucumber and a borrowed copy of last nights metro. Yes, I know - I need help!!!