Council rent arrears - gone to bailiff (Whyte & Co)

[thunderknuckle]

I received a hand delivered letter today from Whyte & Co stating that I owed rent from the my last tenancy at a previous address (around £1000). I don't dispute the amount and I'd like to set up a repayment plan as I definitely can't afford to pay everything upfront.

 

Based on my passed dealings with bailiffs, I have a feeling that they will reject a repayment plan since I won't let them in in to do an inventory of my goods. (I'm pretty familiar with what bailiffs can and cant do as long as I don't let them in).

 

I also have a feeling that if I contact the council directly and try to negotiate a repayment plan, they'll tell me that I must deal with the bailiffs directly.

 

I'm going to try the council first, I just wondered if anybody had an opinion on the best way to deal with this...

 

Thanks in advance.

[lookinforinfo]

The Council cannot refuse your money. Tell them that you have no faith that the bailiffs will treat you either honestly or fairly and you will not deal with them but confirm that you do want to pay the amount off.

Just make sure that you don't leave any garden furniture or your car outside as the bailiff will levy or clamp to get their money. Do not open the door to them.

[josephbloggs]

this will be classed as a sundry debt. there is no fees and no court order- and no financial benefit for the bailiff company. they should be more lenient than the time restrictions for council tax

[ploddertom]

I suspect you will find they are acting as debt collectors & not Bailiffs.

[danmcr]

You may find that Bailiffs can still be used under certain tenancy agreements, however I have not heard of this for a while.

[tomtubby]

This is not a common debt for a bailiff to recover and I am not too familiar with the regulations.

 

Suffice to say that there is no legal obligation to allow the bailiff into your property but you need to ensure that you do not have a car outside.

 

If you do not have a car then I always suggest writing ( or better still emailing AND writing) to advise the company that you will not allow a bailiff into your home and that you do not have a car that can be levied upon and that accordingly, you would like to make a payment proposal of £ xxx

 

DO NOT wait for a visit.......WRITE to the company.

 

PS: In your letter ask them to confirm that NO FEES have been applied to the account.