Can a bailiff apply for an attachment of earnings order CTAX

[Completely desperate]

Hi,

 

A private bailiff firm collecting for local council council tax,

 

 

have sent my employers a letter which infers that they are having problems contacting me

and asking for information as to my whereabouts and do I still work for them.

And if they cannot help the bailiff will have to pursue an attachment of earnings order,

 

 

can a bailiff apply for an attachment of earnings order ??

 

Thought the council did that ??

 

We had one before when my wife was working and was doing great,

nearly cleared all arrears,

then she lost her job.

 

 

I started working part time against doctors orders,

asked council to put attachment on my wage, they said no.

 

Next thing bailiffs were calling again

 

 

I refused to speak with them,

 

 

due to my last problems with bailiffs documented on CAG in the past,

 

 

and it is now up to this stage.

can anyone advise.

thank you.

[ploddertom]

Unfortunately they can, think it is in the Council Tax Contracting Out Regs.

[Completely desperate]

Will they woork off the same level of payment as the council does

 

 

or will they just ask for a certain fixed amount.

 

what about the letter to my employers

 

 

its not a request for AECO

 

 

but asking for personal and business details.

[Bailiff Advice]

There has certainly been a large increase in the number of Attachment of Earnings Orders and many are causing great difficulty given the amount of deductions (which are set at a percentage of the net salary (after tax and NI).

 

If you post back with either your weekly or monthly net wages I will post back with the amount.

[Bailiff Advice]

Unfortunately they can, think it is in the Council Tax Contracting Out Regs.

 

PT: Correct

 

The actual name of the order is The Local Authorities (Contracting Out of Tax Billing, Collection and Enforcement Functions) Order 1996

 

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/1880/contents/made

 

Regulation 23 of the Order allows for a 'contractor' to be able to undertake functions in relation of Attachment of Earnings Orders.

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/1880/article/23/made

 

 

Regulation 23 states as follows:

 

Subject to article 70, an authority may authorise a contractor to exercise the functions—

 

(a)of making an order under regulation 37 to secure the payment from a debtor of any outstanding sum which is or forms part of the amount in respect of which a liability order has been made;

 

(b)of serving a copy of an attachment of earnings order on a person who appears to have the debtor in his employment, and on the debtor;

 

©where the whole amount to which such an order relates has been paid, of giving notice of the fact to any person who appears to have the debtor in his employment and has been served with a copy of the order; and

 

(d)of discharging an attachment of earnings order, and giving notice of the discharge to any person who appears to have the debtor in his employment and has been served with a copy of the order.

[Completely desperate]

HI

 

 

I only work part time for health reasons

not supposed to work according to docs

but have to to survive 16 hours a week

I take home £112.

 

When I went back to work when my wife lost her job and council had an attachment of earnings order on her wages,

by the way she was unable to work at that time as she is now ill, so I had to.

My wages less than she was earning.

 

Right at the beginning told the council on-line of the change of circumstances.

but received no council tax rebate. but got a change in housing benefit.

 

 

I told them then, put an attachment of earnings on my wages which they refused to do.

Six months down the line requesting a re-look at our situation

was told yes you should have got council tax rebate.

because you are over 60 will only roll back to 3 months back allowance.

 

 

Thought that was the end of it but no,

after one week was contacted saying you don't qualify for this

because when you sent in change of circumstances

it only applied to Housing benefit for you

you were not getting council tax rebate so it wasn't a change in circumstances for council tax

 

 

I should have applied for Council tax as a new application according to their rules.

so took back and cancelled the rebate, which was worth £10 a week

 

So sent in new claim for council tax rebate

and didn't get it still to this day no wiser why.

 

 

So now have this agreevation all over again.

[Bailiff Advice]

HI I only work part time for health reasons not supposed to work according to docs but have to to survive 16 hours a week I take home £112.

 

On a take home salary of £112 per week the amount of deductions would be just £3.36 per week.

 

With regards to the other circumstances that you have outlined I will leave that for others with more experience to address.

[Completely desperate]

Hi,

Is my employer under any legal obligation as to this letter, to complete the questions they have asked

 

It is not an actual request for to set up an attachment.

 

It seems to suggest to my employer they don't know where I am which is nonsense.

 

 

Letter is headed in bold headlines

CAN YOU HELP US TO CONTACT THIS EMPLOYEE?

Enquiries indicate that you may be or still are the employer of the above.

We wish to make contact with them or alternatively if we are unable to do so we would pursue an Attachment of Earnings Order

 

WE would be most grateful if you could please let us have the following information

 

followed by 6 questions including

 

 

last known address

 

are they still in your employment

 

If yes can you confirm their payroll reference

 

If, no do you have any current employment details for them

 

If we were to pursue an attachment of earnings could you give us the correct address

 

 

where the paperwork should be sent and the name and address of any person to whom it should be addressed

 

Please advise the date of your next payroll - is your payroll Weekly/Fortnightly/Monthly

 

It continues quoting sections of the Data protection act 1998 section 29(3)

The information Commissioner has confirmed the debt we are trying to collect fits Section 29

category and you can therefore release the information to us

 

Is this letter something they have the power to send to my employer

 

Thank you for your thoughts or knowledge of this.

 

N

[Completely desperate]

Thank you for that appreciated

[Coughdrop]

Can you apply apply to suspend an AOE if it might affect your job?

[Bailiff Advice]

Can you apply apply to suspend an AOE if it might affect your job?

 

As far as I am aware (and I could be wrong) there is no provision to enable the debtor to apply to suspend an Attachment of Earnings Order for Council Tax.

 

It may well be possible to do so when an Attachment of Earnings Order is made for repayment of an unpaid CCJ in the County Court (which is covered by completely different regulations)

[Completely desperate]

Does the bailiff ask for whatever amount he wants or is he governed by the scale of % charges dependant on wage income??

CD

[wonkeydonkey]

Does the bailiff ask for whatever amount he wants or is he governed by the scale of % charges dependant on wage income??

CD

 

BA addressed the amount you will have deducted by AoE in post #16

[Completely desperate]

Sorry, Yes I saw that thank you, but wasn't sure if the bailiffs would be working it differently knowing what they can be like.

[ploddertom]

This may help you http://www.northampton.gov.uk/info/200028/council-tax/996/council-tax-attachment-of-earnings

[Bailiff Advice]

As confirmed in the link above from PT once an Attachment of Earnings Order has been made there is not provision to have it set aside.

Can I tell my employer not to make deductions?

 

No. An attachment of earnings order is a legal document. Your employer must make deductions or they could be prosecuted.

 

Can I make an alternative arrangement to pay so that my employer does not have to make deductions?

 

No. Once an order has been sent it will not be stopped unless you pay the outstanding amount in full or the deductions we receive are insufficient. We will not arrange alternative payment with you at this stage.

 

If you pay the amount in full you must contact us so that we can arrange for the order to be stopped

[Peterbard]

Here is the schedule form the OP home authority

 

http://www.tameside.gov.uk/counciltax/attachmentearnings

[Peterbard]

I know that Tameside (the OPs authority) used to do AOE's before the account was passed for enforcement, i am unsure this is still the case. It may be that they still do in addition to the bailiff also being able to perform the same function should the account be passed onto them.

It may be that the bailiff have taken the responsibility over completely of course.

I will ring on Monday and find out the procedure there.

[Completely desperate]

I am really grateful for all the comments and information that people have given up their time

and energy to bring to my original questions and concerns.

 

In the midst of all the conversations and postings

 

 

I appear to be a little lost on the question,

 

 

I posted the letter the bailiffs had sent to my employer

 

 

it was not an actual application for an attachment of earnings but a letter, if you go back to the posting asking for information

 

 

, I was looking to see if my employer has a legal obligation to reply to this letter as it is not an actual attachment of earnings order. ???

CP

[Peterbard]

Mr Murdle, now there is a last form the past,good t hear he is still about.

 

Anyway as said back to the subject, i for one have not had the time to pour over the regulations in this regard so I for one would appreciate the procedure where bailiffs include charges in AOE to be spelled out for me.

[Coughdrop]

I am really grateful for all the comments and information that people have given up their time and energy to bring to my original questions and concerns.

In the midst of all the conversations and postings I appear to be a little lost on the question, I posted the letter the bailiffs had sent to my employer it was not an actual application for an attachment of earnings but a letter, if you go back to the posting asking for information , I was looking to see if my employer has a legal obligation to reply to this letter as it is not an actual attachment of earnings order. ???

CP

 

My view is that it is not for your employers to be revealing your personal information to third parties without a legal compulsion to do so, or your permission to do so which you have clearly not given.

 

If they apply for an AoE that is a different matter.

[ploddertom]

Hi,

 

CAN YOU HELP US TO CONTACT THIS EMPLOYEE?

Enquiries indicate that you may be or still are the employer of the above.

We wish to make contact with them or alternatively if we are unable to do so we would pursue an Attachment of Earnings Order

 

WE would be most grateful if you could please let us have the following information

 

followed by 6 questions including

 

 

last known address

 

are they still in your employment

 

If yes can you confirm their payroll reference

 

If, no do you have any current employment details for them

 

If we were to pursue an attachment of earnings could you give us the correct address

 

 

where the paperwork should be sent and the name and address of any person to whom it should be addressed

 

Please advise the date of your next payroll - is your payroll Weekly/Fortnightly/Monthly

 

It continues quoting sections of the Data protection act 1998 section 29(3)

The information Commissioner has confirmed the debt we are trying to collect fits Section 29

category and you can therefore release the information to us

 

Is this letter something they have the power to send to my employer

 

Thank you for your thoughts or knowledge of this.

 

N

 

I am really grateful for all the comments and information that people have given up their time

and energy to bring to my original questions and concerns.

 

 

I posted the letter the bailiffs had sent to my employer

 

 

it was not an actual application for an attachment of earnings but a letter, if you go back to the posting asking for information

 

 

, I was looking to see if my employer has a legal obligation to reply to this letter as it is not an actual attachment of earnings order. ???

CP

 

Can we get back to the job in hand as whether the employer is required to respond to the request of the questions asked. At present they have not applied for the AoE.

[Bailiff Advice]

I am really grateful for all the comments and information that people have given up their time

and energy to bring to my original questions and concerns.

 

In the midst of all the conversations and postings

 

 

I appear to be a little lost on the question,

 

 

I posted the letter the bailiffs had sent to my employer

 

 

it was not an actual application for an attachment of earnings but a letter, if you go back to the posting asking for information

 

 

, I was looking to see if my employer has a legal obligation to reply to this letter as it is not an actual attachment of earnings order. ???

CP

 

I will have a look at the contracting out regulations to see whether there is provision for this. Will post back shortly.

[Coughdrop]

Can we get back to the job in hand as whether the employer is required to respond to the request of the questions asked. At present they have not applied for the AoE.

 

See post 58.

[Bailiff Advice]

I am really grateful for all the comments and information that people have given up their time

and energy to bring to my original questions and concerns.

 

 

 

I posted the letter the bailiffs had sent to my employer

 

it was not an actual application for an attachment of earnings but a letter, if you go back to the posting asking for information

 

I was looking to see if my employer has a legal obligation to reply to this letter as it is not an actual attachment of earnings order. ???

CP

 

The relevant legislation covering Liability Order and Attachment of Earnings Orders is the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992:

 

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/613/made

 

Regulation 36 provides that a debtor commits an offence of failing to provide employment details on request.

 

Regulation 56 outlines this further and from my reading of the regulations an employer may only commit an offence once an Attachment of Earnings Order is actually in place (for instance by failing to deduct payments).

 

Therefore, as I see it your employer is not under a legal obligation to respond to the letter. I would also suspect that the enforcement company would not be criticised for sending the letter.

 

PS: Once an Attachment of Earnings Order is actually in place an employer may be fined for refusing to make deductions and I was reading of one such case early this morning where a small garage had refused to make deductions for a mechanic who had an AEO for £1,000. The garage were fined £800.