help with jacobs!!! please!

[brentmiester75]

i was visited a few months back from jacobs bailiffs who spoke to my wife, and was very rude and intimidating, i was a work at the time. this is referance council tax for this year. they state i owe £1800, which i think is a bit high to be honest, however, they attended last week again and he told me i had 7days in which to find the money or he was coming with a van to collect goods. i said that it just wasnt possible to obtain that ammount of money, as i dont earn that a month!! i asked if there was anyway i could pay by installments as this was the first time i had been in contact personally with them, he said no, and i said he wasnt getting in the house, he told me he would break in, which frightnened both myself and my wife. i spoke to the council to try and see if they could help me but they just said no. i know that i should have paid it by now, and set it up in installment by DD, but its been a really bad year for me, both financially and personally, i just dont know what to do, he wont let me pay, i cant pay the lump sum and the council wont entertain me. i can pay by installments but they wont accept that. i cant sleep at night with worry about all this and have even contemplated ending it all just to escape this nightmare, if there is any advice anyone can give im all ears! the bailiff has never entered the house and has only been twice to my knowledge. i know that come april my council tax DD will be set up without fail!!!!!!!

[ambershadow]

They can't Just break in unless they have been in to your house before they will tell you anything to get the money from you.

 

Don't open the door to them or leave any windows open when you go out as they can get through the window if it's open.

 

Do yourself a letter to the council with a repayment plan and a payment if you can then carrie on paying the council dorect they won't refuse the money.

 

I have uploaded a template letter I sent to my Bailiffs which did the trick of them sending the debt back to the council

 

I will find it and post, But ots really inportant you do a repayment plan to the council, whether they except or not you still pay

[ambershadow]

Send this one to the bailiffs with you filling in your details

 

re: YOUR ADDRESS

 

YOUR COUNCIL appears to have instructed you to recover unpaid council tax from me.

 

This letter gives you notice that you are not being given peaceful entry to my home or to levy goods contained within and I will not be signing anything for you. This notice revokes your eligibility to charge a Walking Possessions fee or other fee relating to the handling of goods.

 

Due to my circumstances I am unable to pay the debt as you demanded because it is unrealistic. I have sent an affordable payment direct to the council along with a written schedule of repayments.

 

Please be advised it is not a "criminal offence" for me to deny a bailiff entry to my property, the law says I have to settle the debt; it does not obligate me to do business with you. If you suggest to me otherwise I will automatically report you to the police and you may receive a criminal record.

 

I AM NOT REFUSING TO PAY THIS DEBT.

 

Meanwhile please provide me with a written breakdown of your fees you have demanded and put it through the letterbox and quietly leave the property. If your fees are found to contradict Regulation 45(2) of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 I will automatically file a Form 4 complaint against you at your certificating court for attempting to defraud me under Sections 2 and 4 of the Fraud Act 2006.

 

This document was sent to you recorded delivery to the above address and a copy was sent to HEAD OF council tax Recovery Dept.

 

Please also supply me with a breakdown of the fee's you have charged me

 

 

Yours Faithfully

 

 

 

 

AND THIS ONE obviously fill in your details to the council and enclose a payment plan that you can afford for the ct you owe

 

Re: your details

On DATE I was visited by your bailiff collecting unpaid council tax who overcharged me with his fees. We were unable to reach an amicable resolve and the bailiff showed threatening behaviour and became vexatious in nature. I also received a letter stating I should pay WHAT THEY ASKED YOU per month to clear the debt which is unrealistic with my present financial state.

 

I now ask the council to:

 

a) Take the case back from the bailiff.

b) Accept my original offer to pay £10.00 extra of what I pay already a week to clear the arrears

c) Pay me a reasonable compensation for my inconvenience and for my efforts in seeking discovery of information and

d) Receiving an over-zealous bailiff acting for you making unrealistic demands of money.

 

If you fail to satisfactorily complete the above I will automatically escalate the complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman in=2 0fourteen days from the date of this letter.

 

Due to my circumstances I am unable to pay the debt as demanded by the bailiffs and I will make payment of £10.00 each week for 249 weekly installments with a final installment of £9.80 This may seem a long time but it's all I can afford and allows me to pay future liabilities without falling into arrears. I confirm I am not refusing to pay this debt.

 

This letter is delivered by Royal Mail and I deem it to be served on you by the ordinary course of Recorded post in the meaning of Section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978. It is your responsibility and in your own interests this letter is handed to the relevant person within your organisation.

[brentmiester75]

so i need to send a letter to the council, with a payment plan, i have filled out an income and expenditure sheet, and with what disposable income i have after everything is paid, including food, living costs, im left with £114.00, i was going to offer £80 a months as i can definately make sure i can afford that. i spoke to them on the phone and they stated they wouldnt do anything as it was with the bailiff, and until then they wont get involved. so am i expected to pay them even when they wont accept it? ordo i throw myself at the courts mercy, and hope they dont sent me to prison? its not that i dont want to pay, i just got myself in a real mess last year! i have a good job and can and am willing to pay, just not £1800 in 7days.

 

cheers

[The Unfairy]

Firstly sorry to hear about all this but just to say this happened to me last year and I sent the letter to the council, they agreed a stay while the matter was looked at and I carried on paying what I could in the meantime. I sent the letter above amended to suit and the council agreed a monthly plan. I do have to pay in to the bailiffs but it was ok.

 

I have had a bit of hassle with the bailiffs which is ongoing aboout charges etc but the actual payment plan part went fine. Definitely worth sending that letter.

[ambershadow]

Please don't pay them more than you can afford incase you get into trouble again, I don't know your circumstances and if you feel you can offer this till you pay it off them fine But once you miss a payment again they will give back to the bailiffs of they take it back, AND if you send the letter I put with your details on they should hand back to the council.

 

DON'T SIGN ANY LETTER'S PRINT YOUR NAME

[ambershadow]

Please don't feel you are alone most of us here have been through all this

 

 

Good Luck

[brentmiester75]

thanks, im a very nervous person by nature and this has almost broken me, i just want to pay it and get it all sorted out. im dreading tommorrow as the 7days is up and he is coming to try and get in the house, i will be at work so the wife will deal with him, i have told her to call the police if he wont go away. he said last time he would break in, and get the police to cordon off the road so i we can go out til he gets in, he did mention a locksmith??? my wife wont let him in, or answer the door to him. has he got the powers to get the police to assist him in getting in the house??

 

im going to draft the letters tonight, and send them this week to both bailiff and council. thanks so much for the advice and i will keep this thread updated after he has been, and with the response from the council.

 

one more final punch in the stomach was, on the radio it said council tax was set to rise 3.5% this year as they are feeling the credit crunch. EAST RIDING COUNCIL, at least dick turpin wore a mask!! lol

[ambershadow]

We have been there don't worrie tell you wife NOT TO ANSWER THE DOOR

 

send the letters asap please they can't get in unless your wife lets them in or you have left windows and doors open

 

you will be ok

 

Good Luck

[berrylover]

As long as she didn't let him into the house last time he has no right to enter it this time. If you have a car make sure its parked securely away from your house (see if a friend will let you park it in their garage for a bit). Tell your wife not to open the door, and to make sure all doors and windows are locked. When they turn up she can either decide not to answer the door, or to talk to them from an upstairs window. If he starts to become abusive tell her to shut the window and call the police. Try going online to your local council and paying what you can, when you can to them through their website. Don't even bother getting into a conversation with them. Print off copies of any receipts that you get from paying online too. Keep strong, even though its tough.

[chris600uk]

thanks, im a very nervous person by nature and this has almost broken me, i just want to pay it and get it all sorted out.

 

That's what the bailiff is counting on - He has no powers at all unless you let him into the house, or he is able to levy upon a vehicle.

He's probably picked up on the fact that your nerves are a bit shot right now, that's why he's asked for £1800 in 7 days, a silly amount, no one pays that.

 

im dreading tommorrow as the 7days is up and he is coming to try and get in the house, i will be at work so the wife will deal with him, i have told her to call the police if he wont go away

 

Now this is serious - DON'T REACT, DON'T DO ANYTHING - if he turns up, all she has to do is go into the back room with a nice cup of tea, or coffee, and dunk some biscuits until he goes away.

 

Don't open the door - don't acknowledge his existence - with no feedback he'll get fed up and go away.

Don't call the police, you'll only **** them off because they can't do anything unless he actually breaks the law in a way you can prove like burglary.

 

If he wants to bang on the door for half an hour, let him, he'll only be wasting his own time earning nothing - so you must do nothing, just drink your tea and biscuits and read a book.

 

Now go and tell your wife that - it's important to give no feedback, and even better if he thinks that nobody is in.

 

he said last time he would break in, and get the police to cordon off the road so i we can go out til he gets in, he did mention a locksmith???

 

Why,why, why didn't you record this!!!!!! He would probably lose his certificate to collect for saying stuff like that.

Unless you let him in he has no right of entry - so draw the blinds/curtains so he can't see in.

 

has he got the powers to get the police to assist him in getting in the house??

 

No, not unless he has been in before, and even then he must give you a date and a time.

 

So first, check the amount on the liability order with the council, your entitled to that info, and then check if he has a certificate, because if he hasn't he's in a lot of trouble, it's well worth it.

[Audreygreeneyes]

given the level of intimidation show by this bailiff perhaps you should consider making a fromal complaint about him..