In the letter i said i would be paying £40 per week too, and possibly a lump sum payment by the end of the week of atleast half what is due

Hi Guy's, An update for you. This morning ive visited the local council office and spoke to a member of staff there. Pretty much this guy was about as helpful as a chocolate fireguard! And seemed pretty unwilling to help. I showed him the letter i drafted which he took a copy of and said he would investigate. He said he would come back to me by friday the latest. He also explained that i would still have to deal with the bailiffs and that some of the items listed on the document were probably not valid. I made a token payment of £40 and explained i should have some more funds later on during the week. He also said he would speak to the bailiffs and stop them from calling again until a resolution was made. He also said that it was unlikely i could deal with the council directly. Regards Tom

As soon as i return from the council office, i will report my feedback on here for you guys! If only everyone in this world were as helpful as you guys have been, this world would be such a better place. Thanks again

Thank you so much for your help here, i can't actually thank you enough!

I have drafted a letter for the council and planning to take it to their offices at 9am today. Below is the letter i have drafted, i hope this is ok? " Dear Sir / Madam, I would like to make a formal complaint about my Council TaxArrears. On Saturday the 1st September I had a visit fromChandlers Bailiffs who act on your behalf. They came into my property with theview of seizing my goods to recover my unpaid council tax for 2012. After seeking advice, Chandlers have acted in a nonprofessional way by not following the correct procedure for collecting themonies owed. The advice given is that they have caused distress for myself andhave an invalid levy. All items not listed correctly. When the bailiff arrived and provided me with the Notice ofDistress and Inventory, the Surrey Heath charges are incorrect. I’m currently asingle tenant living in the property myself, and for whatever reason the 25%single persons discount has not be applied. The amount due currently is £1383.23 which does not includethe 25% discount. Additionally after seeking advice the Bailiffs have chargedincredibly large sums for Attendance (£292.00) and Levy Fee (£65.00) In summary I would like to arrange a payment plan directlyand have this sum currently due recalculated. I’m currently self employed andhave been struggling for a number of months which is why this council tax billis overdue."

Hi Guy's, Just a quick question, im just writing up the letter to the bailiffs, the template you have provided above what does the following mean? To: Acme Bailiff Co ( I presume this is the Bailiffs company?) Bailiff House (Bailiffs address?) Regards Tom

Thanks for all your help, its appreciated so much

On the "Notice of Distress and Inventory" the bailiff has literally scribbled the 6 items on the back under the "Notice of Distress and Inventory Description" The items listed are as follows: Toshiba LCD TV Specialized Mountain Bike 2 x Brown Cloth Sofa's Pioneer Amplifier 2 x Leather office Chairs Selection of DVD's. That is all he has written exactly, no descriptions for the items etc like Remote Control, Make and Models Regards Tom

What a nightmare this has been this morning, and i appreciate everyones help and advice here. I really hope i can just deal directly with the Council on this one, or atleast come to some arrangement with them. I would have thought there would be thousands of people around the country in a similar situation to me.

The Council Tax is for this year. I have already had a look on here and Chandlers name does crop up a bit!

The Council is Surrey Borough. Thanks for your help here! I will do this first thing on monday morning!

What i have picked up on is that when the bailiff paid his visit this morning he was addament that he would be returning this afternoon, but then when i spoke to him on the telephone he said he would double check things and come back to me on monday. Don't know if its just me but that does sound fishy that he changed his mind so soon?

The break down i put above is how its laid out on the Chandlers document. The Council Tax and the Levy would come to £1448.23

Thank you for your reply. My plan was to speak to the council on Monday anyway, the bailiff explained that he would be calling me on monday too once he had checked his end. By me speaking to the council can this prevent the bailiff coming to seize my goods? The bailiffs im dealing with are Chandlers, i dont know if anyone else has had bad experience with them at all? The letter above that i need to send to the bailiffs, should this be done via email or post? Also what is the purpose for sending this letter? (Sorry im just curious) Thanks again Tom

Here is my breakdown: council tax - £1383.23 Levy - £65 Attendance - £292.50 Total: £1740.73 The only other correspondence ive had from them was a hand posted letter which came in the middle of last week. As explained unfortunatley i didnt open it (wish i had now) All the goods listed have not had any values put next to them