Council tax bailiffs

[oscar21]

Ok, I got 8 weeks behind with my council tax, the first in 17 years, immediatley I was hit with a liability order from the magistrates. I immediatley wrote to the council and offered to pay £100 per month, (I only owed about £400), I sent £100 cheque with the letter, which the council duly cashed. I heared no more until I got a bailiffs letter asking for £500+. Giving me 7 days to pay. I wrote to the bailiffs saying I have allready started paying the council back but they ignored this and sent another letter exactly 7 days later for a demand for £700. I have done some research and there are strict guidelines for the bailiffs when dealing with council tax arrears. They have tried to charge me £300 for 2 letters, but I believe the cant even charge for a letter. The company is Phoenix Commercial Collections. Do I report them to the police under the administration of justice act, complain to the magistrates or what? I really want to screw this company for trying to take me for a fool.

[mutzi]

Write to the council, they are obviously accepting payments so get them to call their dogs off.

[oscar21]

Allready sent letter back to the council, can somebody point me in the direction of what the bailiffs can charge.

[mutzi]

Since you started paying the council before they got involved you owe them nothing. If they keep pursuing then yes you can report them.

 

Department for Constitutional Affairs Website scroll down, there's a council tax section.

[Ellie968]

I think this has come up elsewhere on this site - I suggest you read the whole of the Phillips Bailiffs thread - if the bailiff has not obtained a levy then they can charge £22.50 for the first letter/visit and £16.50 for a subsequent letter/visit. If collecting for council tax then that is all they can charge unless there has been a levy taken after which it becomes much more nebulous as you are then in the realms of "reasonable charges"

[oscar21]

Ive now read all the pages on the Phillips thread, Ive also sent another letter to the council with another cheque attached to the letter. I have also written to the bailiffs via special delivery demanding a breakdown of the costs and saying I will report them if any are unlawful. I know not to let them in to my house if the call but what if my vehicle is present, It is allways parked on private land but it is my works vehicle, Im self employed and it is full of tools. If they clamp it can I angle grind the clamp off as they shouldnt have clamped it. If this is also the case I will send them an invoice for storage of the clamp until they come and collect it.

[maybelline]

remember how the bailiffs reacted to letters, no matter how strong? - they just say any old drivel in their defence because their managers, and those that licence them just dont give a damn. looking at the charges they have tried to apply to me I see an entry under LEVY - how can this be when they have not been in my home to levy anything??

[Ellie968]

Reckon you might be able to challenge that one maybelline!

[martonman]

Hi Oscar,

 

Phoenix are a bunch of cowboys and their agents really don't have a clue. In terms of baillif companies, these idiots are the bottom of the food chain.

 

Watch out for phantom visits, they tried to charge me 3 lots of £145 for 'attending to remove goods with a van' on the same day for 3 parking tickets.

 

We were in all day as it was a family members birthday. No sign of any baillif, let alone 3 pairs of them in 3 different vans!

 

I reckon they would have been easy to spot as they would have been wearing floppy shoes, face paint, orange wigs, spinning bow ties and red noses.

 

When I queried these (and other) charges with a Freedom of Information Act letter, they eventually replied and offered to reduce those 3 charges to just 1 as long as I paid the balance in full immediately. they maintain though that all their charges were lawful and in line with regulations!

 

Jokers. They won't be getting a penny.

 

 

Best advice is to carry on paying the council, preferably online or through their automated telephone service rather than a cheque - as cheques can always be returned to you and online or automated payments are taken 'automatically'.

 

Then tell Phoenix to 'whistle' and suggest that if they have incurred any fees they should ask the Council for them.

 

Get onto the Council's recovery department to make a complaint, sending copies of your complaint to your local councillors, asking them to follow it up on your behalf.

[oscar21]

Good advice everyone, just to note in the last few days I've had a couple of strange phone calls - I never answer the home phone anyway (all my friends ring my mobile), but these two were obviously wrong numbers, the first was at 10.30pm and the other was in the afternoon, the next day, both witheld numbers, but both left messages (could'nt understand them,nothing to do with me). Is it Phoenix checking when I might be in or just coincidence?

[oscar21]

Ok now theyve really peed me off, got in tonight and another letter off them. They have totally ingnored my request for a breakdown of charges that I requested by special delivery, received by them on 26th and sent another demand dated 27th asking if I havent paid because I dont know how to! Now its personal.

[martonman]

They'll always ignore requests for breakdowns whenever they can because they don't even keep proper records of what they have done. Remember that they probably use self-employed ex-doormen to collect off you, hardly any of whom are certificated or even trained, let alone capable of filing reports on what they have (and usually haven't) done.

 

Let the council know that Phoenix have ignored your request for a breakdown of charges, put some pressure on them. After all, it's the council that set these clowns on you in the first place.

[oscar21]

Just had an apology letter from the council, sory for the delay, your offer letter must have got overlooked, bla, bla, bla, we accept your offer of £100 per month and have transfered the debt back to the council. Thats all very well and good, but the bailiffs still didnt send me any correspondance regarding breakdown of fees etc for their unlawful charges. Can I still report them and to whom, I want to try and help stop them from ripping anybody else off, I really hate people that try to get the better of me.

[Guest HUSBANDKHAN]

you can report them. what the council are saying is a lot of bo******. the bailiffs must belong to a trade union of some sort. if they dont kick it up in the councils face. as these are guidlines set down by the government

[barracad]

as these are guidlines set down by the government

 

I've seen you post about these "guidelines" on several threads now but you haven't stated what the guidelines are or provided any links so people can check what the guidelines are.

 

If you are going to quote these guidelines can you please state what guidelines you are quoting or else, frankly, it's no use to anybody.

 

 

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[michaeludell]

just a quick one, i am helping my sister, she got behind on her council tax, the bailiffs came out, she offered to pay £10 a week on her arrears, they said the minimum she can pay is £20

 

any ideas on the state of play?

[funbint]

Name and shame the bailiff companies and councils that they work for ....