Reaaurance needed Balififfs have no legal right to enter my property?

[hasbean]

I have recieved a very intimadating letter today telling me they are going to take my property and sell it - if I do not let them in they can't. As far as I know I do not have to let them in but can they take my car? (or should I hide it)

Hiya. We've had loads of grief with bailiffs over the last year or so. They cannot force their way into your home, but you must not open the door to them. If you do they can come in. Make sure windows are closed too. We hid our car because the bailiff was ready to take it but he was such an arrogant swine I called the police on him. If they try to intimidate you, call your local police and they will help you. You will have to come to an agreement to pay them though - we did it by dp going round the back of the house and talking to them out the front so they couldn't get in. You have to stand up to them, don't let them think they can intimidate you.

Thanks I live in a top floor flat so the only access is only through the front door so I will not open it to them. Can they trace my car to me? and can they legally take it without my permission. They are collecting in respect of council tax I only owe £550 (from this year) but can't afford to pay anything at the moment.

Ours is for council tax as well. They will take your car if they see it there and you ignore them long enough. When they tried to take ours dp ended up starting to take all our car seats etc out but I stood up to them and told them they weren't taking it. I rang the police and told the police they were intimidating us etc and they sent a couple of policemen around who overlooked while we arranged a payment agreement - funny how quickly the bailiffs agreed once they were there I would park it somewhere well hidden for the time being until you can speak to the bailiff.

Horrid people aren't they?

Yes they are horrid and thats mild I do not intend speaking to them, I will pay money directly to the council as and when I can afford it and I am going to ignore anything that comes from the bailiffs - they make my blood boil.

We have had a lot of trouble with bailiffs in the recent past - it is terrifying, isn't it? Ours was council tax too, among other things. Keep windows/doors locked and do not let them in. Have you and dh/dp got mobiles so you can call him if they turn up? I sympathise, it's bloody horrible.

Hasbean you cant "just ignore anything tha comes from the bailiffs". That will make things much worse in the long run. You need to get help now from the Citizens Advice Bureau (its free).

You cant never open your front door because you need to go out.

Oh god yes, from the point of view of actually sorting out the problem, lorina is right - I just meant while you are in and if they turn up - it's not a long-term solution.

Go to the DAB and ask for an income/expenditure form. Ask them to talk you through how to fill it in and how much you can reasonably be expected to pay. The you can send the council/any other creditors a copy of the form with a covering letter expressing your "legal intent to pay". This will make it very difficult for anyone to take you to court. If you possibly can, accompany the form with an offer of a token amount - even if it's £5 a month, it makes it more difficult for them to progress the situation to the point at which bailiffs can come and take your stuff.

We played cat and mouse with creditors like this for years. It's incredibly stressful. Good luck to you.

CAB, not DAB

Thanks for everyones advice but I am going to pretend they do not exist. Bailiffs are the scum of the earth as far as I am concerned, pressurising and intimadating often the most vunerable. I will try to make some payments to the council as I do intend to pay in full, this is the first time in 6 years I have fallen behind with payments as DP was out of work. I could have claimed benefit but he works as a temp and usually there is a maximum of 2 weeks between contracts, this time it was 4 months.
I have a spy hole and view off the whole corridor so I can check the coast is clear before going out and if they are there when I go to school they will not get past me (pumps up chest ready for action)

But can they legally take the car - I thought because it is a civil matter rather than criminal they are not allowed to, does anyone know for sure?

Have you tried to make an agreement for payment with the council, or is it past that? Who do you owe?

I have just rang the CAB they can clamp my car then tow it if I do not pay. Off to move it now

hasbean, honestly do make an appointment with the CAB - they are always so friendly and helpful, they will give you all the time you need. It was a turning point for us when they showed us how to do the income/expenditure form and write a covering letter offering a token amount. It was like a shield - it got all the maurauding creditors off our backs so we could sort ourselves out. It can't hurt, can it?

Good luck to you, anyway.

Hasbean the council will not accept your payments once it has been passed to the bailiffs. They will simply tell you that it isn't in their hands anymore and that you have to deal with the bailiffs. Believe me we've tried!!

www.broxtowe.gov.uk/nonpayment_bailiff.htm

not sure how to do links but if you look at the above it should be the same rule for all coucils.hope its some help to you

surely youd have had letter from the council before this letter? i.e didnt they give you a chance to come up with a replayment plan, even £5 a week?

They couldn't refuse my payments because I pay through direct bank transfer maybe I should check they recieved it I paid £200 4 weeks ago when I got some from the tax credits as they had underpaid me !!!!!!!! No doubt I'll get a letter back telling me they have now overpaid me and I owe them money
I did get letters from the council so this isn't entirely out of the blue and spoke to a very understanding guy on the phone who agreed I couldn't state an exact repayment plan as I didn't know when Dp would be working or not in the last 3 months I have paid £500 maybe I should have strung them along at £10 per week.
I pay them as and when I have the money to do so but unfortunatly the wheels of beuracracy do not catre for this

Has it been to court then if bailiffs are involved ? Presumably you'd get your chance to come to an arrangement there but the longer you leave it to speak to the bailiffs the more costs and interest will accumulate on top. I'm slightly surprised that a debt from this year's(2006/7) Council tax has already got this far, althgouht hey may be asking for the balane fo the year's if you have defaulted from monthly payments. Are you certain there isn't any outstanding from further back, especially since it sounds as if you should have paid over £1000 (500+550 still owed) since April. How much is your annual bill ?

hasbean, you seriously need to sort this out. I don't want to scare you, but the ultimate sanction for non-payment of council tax is imprisonment. If you show real willing to negotiate they are highly highly unlikely to push for imprisonment, but if you pay them as an when...put it this way, thats not what they're looking for.

Also, you are going to end up paying for the baliffs visits-they are added to your bill.

Ultimately they will take you to court (at your expense) and the court will probably order you to pay a certain amount each week. So you might as well make them an offer now.

Personally, I'd get yourself to the lovely CAB, and get them to urgently help you work out how much you can offer. Do you have other debts?

now I admit that I have been on ML for a year, but I doubt the law here has changed much. This is the kind of situation that should be fasttracked by the cab.

am not trying to scare you, i know its horrible and scary, i know...but honestly, it has the potential to get much worse.

Seriously, get in touch now with them

agree with LITZ btw-do you have previous arrears carried over? the bills are often very confusing, and don't make it clear that the ct is from dif years

Hasbeen, your posts do not make it sound like you are taking this seriously. All the s and comments like "I am going to ignore anything from the bailiffs" and "if they are there when I go to school they will not get past me (pumps up chest ready for action) seem to ignore the fact that this is serious. You do owe the money and one way or another the bailiffs are going to get it back be it by taking property, a payment plan of taking you to court.

have a look at this

It tells you what happens if you get into arrears with CT. It must have gone to court already and the council have obtained a liability order because you did not reply to the court summons and make arrangements to pay.

If the bailiffs fail to gain entry and no payment plan is agreed then it may go back to court and it will probably mean attending a hearing where you may be able to arrange a payment plan.

Really important you stick to any arrangement made by the court otherwise as others have said non-payment of CT could end up as prison sentence. N.B if the court orders you to pay £5.00 per month then you must pay at least that amount monthly not just save it up and pay £20.00 every four months for example. If you miss a payment then you have defaulted on the court order.

It may be worth writing to the court and making an offer of payment based on your income/outgoings. As others have said - use the CAB!! They can ring council/court/bailiffs for you or even write on your behalf.

Because in this case the ultimate penalty is prison you can't afford to ignore it and regular payments are better than one-off sums when you have the money. Good luck with it

You are right I am not taking it serriously because I know I will get it paid off before the year end. It is only for this year I am in band D in a two bedroom council flat and my bill is £960 I already have £50 court fees added to this as a liability order was issued. I will call the council but at the moment I am really annoyed and would not be able to keep my temper.
I agree I am totally at fault and should have kept up with payments I fully intend to pay but DP was not working from April - until the start of August, so although I have made an effort since then I had paid nothing up until this point. I could agree a plan with them and sorry if this sounds glib and I know I will incur more costs I really can't be bothered to speak to the officious idiots at my district council. I am doing my best to pay them and if they looked at the records rather than let a computer they would see that. It may also be pride I do not want to discuss my finaces with some pompus git at the council.

Why did you ignore the courts though ? They were likely to help you, the bailiffs won't. They are paid to collect the money and will not wait until the end of the year, what can you sell to clear this now ?

awww hasbean, not trying to get at you, really really not, sweetheart. I know you must be well peed off.

But honestly, I've worked in the system all my adult life (for advice centres, not the council).

This is how they work. It just is. If you fight the system, you will come off worse. You already must have a liability order, and thats going to affect your credit rating and all sorts.

You need to take care of yourself and your family here.

I can understand you're angry. Get help from someone who deals with the system day in day out. Don't take it on yourself, its honestly not worth it.