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Original poster

Council Tax Debt...company chasing payment after they failed to take it

22 replies

albapunk · 22/03/2023 19:20

I received a text today asking me to call Alex M Adamson. They are sherrif officers, whom I've dealt with before for council tax debt. In late 2021 they stopped taking payments, I have checked, nothing bounced, they simply stopped. I (albeit wrongly) assumed the debt was paid. No futher contact of any form...until as above. I did move house.

They said I owe £720 from 2013 that remains unpaid, and will be getting passed on to earnings arrestment. Of course this caught me completely off guard and I explained how payments stopped being taken and I had no contact from them.

They said a payment "must have defaulted" and as I've moved house they were unable to contact me. Again bank shows no defaults. I asked how were the able to contact me via telephone today then? Low and behold they already of course had my number and email address, as they haven't changed! I asked why instead of waiting 18 months, they didn't simply call me in the first place...they said it is an automated system.

Do I have any grounds to now challenge this as I deliberately didn't not pay, my credit history is now impeccable after a hard life of debt and financial abuse in thr past. I've had no missed payments in 4 years, I'm now a home owner, it's sort of obvious that I wouldn't just ignore debt.

Or am I stuck and have to suck it up?

OP posts:
nc345678 · 22/03/2023 19:43

With the best will in the world- it's not the Sheriff Officer's responsibility to ensure you are making payments to your arrears; it is yours entirely. If payments stopped then there is no obligation on them to chase you- you should be keeping on top of that. Presumably if the debt had already been passed to sheriff officers by your local authority, the local authority have already exhausted attempts to come to a payment arrangement with you or resolve the issue. I'm sure you could still make a payment plan with the sheriff officers rather than proceed directly to an earnings arrestment.

nc345678 · 22/03/2023 19:50

and if by 'they' you mean the local authority, it is not their responsibility to chase you either or to check your details are up to date- it is yours.

premicrois · 22/03/2023 19:54

Do I have any grounds to now challenge this as I deliberately didn't not pay, my credit history is now impeccable after a hard life of debt and financial abuse in thr past. I've had no missed payments in 4 years, I'm now a home owner, it's sort of obvious that I wouldn't just ignore debt.

You still owe the money so you have nothing to challenge. Just pay it.

GoodChat · 22/03/2023 19:56

Pay the debt.

scoobydoo1971 · 22/03/2023 19:57

You owe the money to council tax. You have to pay that, and the bailiff can attend to collect or seize goods. If you want to complain about the way the council handled the matter, you can exercise that right through the Local Government Ombudsman service. You have to make an internal complaint to the council tax department manager in writing first.

Original poster
albapunk · 22/03/2023 19:57

I already had a payment plan with the sherrif officers, it had already been passed to them, regular payments taken off me for years. Over 3k actually and suddenly they stopped. As above I assumed that it was finally finished. The debt was a direct result of financial abuse in a relationship so please be kind.

I have worked so so hard to be almost debt free, so this has came as a massive surprise and a massive kick in the teeth. They've had my details and ability to contact me the entire time, so I don't understand why they waited.

OP posts:
premicrois · 22/03/2023 19:58

albapunk · 22/03/2023 19:57

I already had a payment plan with the sherrif officers, it had already been passed to them, regular payments taken off me for years. Over 3k actually and suddenly they stopped. As above I assumed that it was finally finished. The debt was a direct result of financial abuse in a relationship so please be kind.

I have worked so so hard to be almost debt free, so this has came as a massive surprise and a massive kick in the teeth. They've had my details and ability to contact me the entire time, so I don't understand why they waited.

No one is being unkind by suggesting you need to pay your debt.

GoodChat · 22/03/2023 19:59

@albapunk but it's your responsibility to know whether or not your debt has been cleared. If they were taking a set amount every month, you should have calculated what you'd paid and contacted them if you knew it hadn't been cleared.

Sorry OP but you can't just ignore it and claim ignorance.

Original poster
albapunk · 22/03/2023 19:59

The arrears had passed from the council to the sherrif officers many years ago, sorry if that wasn't clear. So LA are no longer invovled directly. I had already paid off £££ when they payments simply stopped. I have checked with my bank and no defaulted payments.

OP posts:
nc345678 · 22/03/2023 20:01

I don't think anyone's being unkind here- you've asked for advice re what you should do in the circumstances and that's what you're getting. The debt is there- you are responsible for it- it is for toy and no one else to ensure that is addressed. You should have been checking in with the sheriff officers to ascertain if the debt was cleared or not. I would certainly want confirmation of that if it was me.

Original poster
albapunk · 22/03/2023 20:01

@premicrois No but I'm hoping people realise why I'm feeling very sensitive around the whole thing. Especially as I've already paid over 12k in various debts because of the abusive person, sadly this was down to him too.

I have no issue paying debt, but it makes zero sense to me why they could claim they had no way to contact me, when they did.

OP posts:
GoodChat · 22/03/2023 20:01

albapunk · 22/03/2023 19:59

The arrears had passed from the council to the sherrif officers many years ago, sorry if that wasn't clear. So LA are no longer invovled directly. I had already paid off £££ when they payments simply stopped. I have checked with my bank and no defaulted payments.

You hadn't cleared it all though. When you started paying did you not work out when you'd be debt free by?

LIZS · 22/03/2023 20:02

So can you ring and make a new payment plan for the balance. It won't get written off just because the payments stopped a year or so ago and you did not realise. Did you move house last year?

nc345678 · 22/03/2023 20:03

I should add that if the debt has already been passed years ago to the sheriff officers, your credit rating would have been affected back then, not now. I can't see why they wouldn't simply allow you to recommence payments- they won't do an earnings arrestment with no good reason to. Just liaise with them and explain that you will start payments again immediately, it's really neither here nor there why or how the 'default' came about.

Original poster
albapunk · 22/03/2023 20:10

I am happy to rearrange the payment plan if needed, but I cannot understand how the can claim I defaulted, when my bank shows they simply stopped taking payments. Surely they could at least acknowledge this? They are horrifically rude and threatening on the phone, they are sadly well known in Scotland for having almost 0 compassion.

OP posts:
GoodChat · 22/03/2023 20:12

albapunk · 22/03/2023 20:10

I am happy to rearrange the payment plan if needed, but I cannot understand how the can claim I defaulted, when my bank shows they simply stopped taking payments. Surely they could at least acknowledge this? They are horrifically rude and threatening on the phone, they are sadly well known in Scotland for having almost 0 compassion.

For whatever reason, the payment wasn't made. It's your responsibility to ensure the payment is made. Therefore you defaulted.

premicrois · 22/03/2023 20:13

It doesn't matter why it's happened. Frustrating as it is, the end result is the same. You can't challenge is because you do owe it.

If it's Hutton's/Scott's I have had exactly the same thing happen to me - I had a monthly standing order for years and suddenly it bounced back to me. I noticed it straight away and called them; they blamed the bank, I set up a new SO same thing happened. In the end I just paid the whole lot; it was around £800.

Thisisthewaywe · 22/03/2023 20:17

It won’t show on a credit rating.

However, some of the posts above are not entirely correct. You might owe money to the council, however you don’t owe it to the bailiffs. If the debt is unpaid, it does eventually get handed back to the council. However, in the interim they can attempt to gain access to your property/car if you have one, which is obviously very stressful. I would probably take this one to CaB, see what they say.

nc345678 · 22/03/2023 20:18

As above- it's neither here nor there if they acknowledge that you didn't default or if they don't- the outcome is the same. I am a Scottish solicitor and have always found Alex Adamson as well as most firms of sheriff officers to be entirely reasonable. Liaise with them and make the payments. If you don't, they will proceed to earnings arrestment, which will incur further charges for you.

nc345678 · 22/03/2023 20:28

Thisisthewaywe · 22/03/2023 20:17

It won’t show on a credit rating.

However, some of the posts above are not entirely correct. You might owe money to the council, however you don’t owe it to the bailiffs. If the debt is unpaid, it does eventually get handed back to the council. However, in the interim they can attempt to gain access to your property/car if you have one, which is obviously very stressful. I would probably take this one to CaB, see what they say.

You owe money to the council who are using Sheriff Officers to do diligence on their behalf. It's pretty much the same thing. It won't simply 'go back to the council' and if it does, they would immediately instruct further debt recovery from Alex Adamson or A another firm of sheriff officers.

You are beyond the stage of challenging the debt.

Original poster
albapunk · 22/03/2023 21:05

I am in Scotland. Unsure if the laws are different. Thank you for all responses so far.

OP posts:
LunaandLily · 30/07/2023 18:57

nc345678 · 22/03/2023 19:43

With the best will in the world- it's not the Sheriff Officer's responsibility to ensure you are making payments to your arrears; it is yours entirely. If payments stopped then there is no obligation on them to chase you- you should be keeping on top of that. Presumably if the debt had already been passed to sheriff officers by your local authority, the local authority have already exhausted attempts to come to a payment arrangement with you or resolve the issue. I'm sure you could still make a payment plan with the sheriff officers rather than proceed directly to an earnings arrestment.

Presumably if the debt had already been passed to sheriff officers by your local authority, the local authority have already exhausted attempts to come to a payment arrangement with you or resolve the issue.

Not necessarily true - in my LA (Aberdeen City Council) two missed payments are automatically referred to Sherriff Officers. You get one letter reminder from the council after the first missed payment.

I know this as I was chased for council tax for a property I no longer live in. Ironically, the landlord of that property passed the letters on to me rather than actually sort out paying council tax for his empty property. And well, the council blamed covid (in 2023!) for not updating their system to show I didn’t live there, despite being more than happy to take council tax payments for my new home too! So debt can and does get referred to SOs with very little contact between council and payer.

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