Urgent Advice Required re House in UK

[reallymadwoman]

You could also turn this on it's head and raise concerns with the council over their staff potentially costing tax payers unnecessary legal fees due to wrongly issuing insolvency proceedings.

[unclebulgaria67]

You could also turn this on it's head and raise concerns with the council over their staff potentially costing tax payers unnecessary legal fees due to wrongly issuing insolvency proceedings.

 

They can't anyway as below the threshold. I think this is Capita infestation of a council and they have limited knowledge of anything. I wonder whether Capita have an incentive in their contracts to obtain older debts. They will therefore make up things to fool some people. I hope this council is keeping an eye on this.

[captainslow]

Actually I have it on good authority that Capita only process the payments and that the revenues people are still all in house. Its still bad though.

[unclebulgaria67]

Actually I have it on good authority that Capita only process the payments and that the revenues people are still all in house. Its still bad though.

 

Very good authority !

 

Hope the person in charge at the council makes sure their staff are acting properly.

[captainslow]

OK, so my email got a response. Key points to note are that they apologised for telling me that non-UK cards were not accepted when this was not true and they also apologised for indicating that they could commence bankruptcy proceedings (claiming that the the recent change in legislation was 'misinterpreted').

 

I still however, take issue with some parts of their response.

 

1. I had raised the fact that they had rejected all offers by myself to pay via instalments. Their response to this was the offers were rejected as the amount outstanding related to a historic period where assurances were given that the debt would be settled in full when the property sold. I take issue with this because when I originally offered to pay via instalments, the revenues officer merely said that because the debt related to a retrospective period he was unable to offer an instalment plan. Prior to that my intention WAS to pay off the debt in full when the property sold but then I had to replace a gas boiler over here in the US (my priority is a warm house over a council tax debt!) and I had told them that circumstances change and it would now be an issue. hence requesting payment to be made via instalments. Their stance now is that the initial agreement should have been honoured (nothing was signed though, so not sure how that would hold up!).

 

2. On the subject of whether or not Greenhalgh Kerr had been instructed to proceed with insolvency proceedings prior to October 2015, their response was that the revenues officer had discussed recovery with Greenhalgh Kerr who advised that action CAN be taken internationally but that this would not be bankruptcy due to the recent change to the threshold limit. So, if I read this correctly, the revenues officer continued to spout the insolvency line, despite having been told by the solicitors that their could not be an insolvency action - so an admission of outright lying? Further, the claim that action CAN be taken internationally seems like more bluff and threat to me, as in reality, WHAT could they actually do?

 

In closing, the Head of Revenues apologised again and said they have instructed Greenhalgh Kerr to put the case on hold provided I repay the balance on a monthly basis at a minimum rate of £100 per month, and if this is not maintained they will instruct the solicitor to proceed - can I counter this amount, if I think its too much, and tell them I will make payments according to what I can afford (in other words, if they are still receiving payments, whatever the level, are they able to do anything about it?).

 

Thanks again!

[unclebulgaria67]

Pay what you can afford as a regular payment. There is no much they can do. I doubt that any legal company in the US would be interested, as the amount of debt would not be enough compared to the fees they would want to earn. All that would happen is Greenhalgh writing to you and you just reply that you are paying what you can afford and this would be recognised by any court. End if story.

 

There probably have been cases where UK debts are tried to be enforced in the US, but i am not sure they are always successful, as i thought generally there had to be a court judgement in the UK first. As you are not in the UK, don't think they can do this. Not sure a Magistrates liability order can be subject to enforcement outside the UK.

[captainslow]

Hi,

 

Some time has passed with this, and in the meantime, I had made a couple of payments to the account but what with one thing or another, was not able to do any more - I have just received a letter, from the local district council, sent to my USA Address, informing me that they were issues Liability Order against myself by the Magistrates Court. This, apparently, gives them extra powers of recovery against me. Now, I guess the most important question I have here, is what can they ACTUALLY do, as I have no assets in the UK, and does this Liability Order carry ANY weight outside the UK?

[unclebulgaria67]

If you have nothing in the UK, there is not much they can do. Because they have a liability order, it means that there is no time limit i.e limitations act. Therefore if you returned to the UK in 20 years time, they could enforce the debt on your return, if they traced you.

 

Liability orders are obtained via an admin process, with a list of people dealt with by council officials at a Magistrates court. People have right to speak to Magistrates if there is a dispute. It is more a rubber stamping process and the council will add costs for issuing a summons and then the liability order with court fee.

 

If you were in the UK it would be handed to Enforcement (bailiffs) and they would visit looking for payment or obtain goods to sell. As you are not in the UK, this is not an option. In the event of refusal to pay, they would go back to Magistrates to report this, but you don't reside in the UK, so they can't summons you to court.