Non payment of council tax bailiffs coming?

Question

My friend has had a real trouble this year paying all bills mortgage as in arrears with everything the council have passed the council tax on to baliffs and she phoned them to arrrange payment but they said has to be done at her house. Will they come round and make a list of all possesions and then take them or will they actually let her pay in monthly payments? She is desperate with any real help?

Answer 1

If she does not let the bailiffs in, they can't force their way in and can't start the process. However, this just makes think more difficult in the long run, as not paying council tax is an arrestable offence, so they will come back with the police at some stage.

Better to bite the bullet and be co operative!

What they will do is to come round and make a list of all her possesions. Its important that if there is anything that does not belong to her, that she proof, so they won't go on the list.

Once that is done, they will give her a chance to arrange a monthly repayment that hopefully she can afford. Once that is done, they will leave, and if she makes the monthly repayments on time that will be the end of it.

However, if she fails to make the monthly repayments, then the bailiffs will return, and will actually take property away.

Its possible that the debt collection company will ask her to make payments that she cannot afford. They can ask for ridiculous amounts of money each month, which is really hard if you are already struggling!

If this happens, your friend should phone the council. In they end they do have a duty of care for the people in their borough. If she explains the situation to them, they will usually allow her to make lower repayments, but they need to phone the debt collection company and tell them they are accepting this lower payment. The payment does have to be realisitic so that it pays off the debt in under a year, they will not accept anything lower. Usually £100 - £150 is the lowest they will accept.

Unfortunately, council tax is the worst bill after the mortgage to fall behind on! Non payment of council tax is the only bill that is a criminal offence if you don't pay it, all the rest are civil offences. So after the mortgage, council tax is the second highest priority. Other bills can wait, as the comeback will be less.

Hope your friend can sort this one out ok!

Tell her to also speak to the people below. They are a charity organisation who help people with debt problems. They will give her further advice, and help her to reorganise her finances to make things easier. The advice they give is free. All the details are on their website below.

Answer 2

The reason the bailiffs will want to talk to her at home is to get some idea of whether she simply can't pay or won't pay.

If they see she hasn't got much of value in the house and she can prove that for some time her outgoings have been greater than her income they will usually come to some sort of arrangement.

However, if she has a great big TV, Sky, CD player, latest hi -fi gear etc, loads of new clothes you know the sort of thing. Luxury items bought when she should have really been paying her council tax then they might give her a little while to pay up in full before they return to remove everything.

It all depends on the bailiff.

When they take things it's a misconception that they will for example only take the TV because that might cover what she owes. Once the bailiffs are called in their fees are added to any debt and depending on the bailiff involved this can run into £100's of pounds per visit.

If they do take things away, they will be placed in storage, adding further to the original debt and then they will be sold at auction for a fraction of their value hence normally a house can end up being cleared to pay what started out as a relatively small debt.

I know this isn't a pleasant answer but if they're coming it's best to be prepared for the worst.

All the very best anyway

x

Answer 3

You really do need to get advice on this, if they do come around don't let them in pull the door after you because if they put one toe over your door the have gained legal access and the only way they can break in is if they have a warrant issued by a judge and to get that you would have to have been taken to court and defaulted. Best bet is to ring the county court and explain to them that you do want to make an offer of payment as long as it is reasonable with how much you have coming in they should not refuse. I've had it happen to me only someone I know used to be a bailiff so I was told what I could do, if it was a debt collection agency she phoned then still do the same, sorry but it is just bully boy tactics that they use to make you scared, DON'T BE. Good luck and try not to worry.

edit; sorry only the answer above says let them in DON'T you will be given a chance to pay ring the court and start the process from there DON'T let them in then they have the power to take what belongs to you.
sorry answer above.

Answer 4

HI there
Been there, done it and got the t-shirt. We had this problem a couple of years ago. Not sure about not being able to speak on the phone with them, but they have got plenty of power. They came to us and did a list of everyhting we had, a lot of our stuff was on HP so they couldnt take it cos it wasnt paid for. The best thing to do is wait for them to come and be prepared to accept monthly payments. Make sure she can afford what they agree on though, cos you are in worse trouble if you default. It would be a good idea for her to speak with some of her family to see if she can have some money for when they come and they will give her a receipt - they wouldnt accept a cheque from us. Tell her to contact the council about this years payment too, let them know what she is having to give to the bailiffs and get a reduction for current payments. This will take longer to pay off, but under the curcumstances she will probably need it. Good luck to you. We got collared just before Xmas, Im afraid you tend to bury your head in the sand and it dont go away!!!!!

Answer 5

I guess it's because it's got to a certain stage in the process. When it comes to deciding what bills to pay, your mortgage and council tax should take precedence above all others. If she can make an initial payment when the bailiffs call, she should be able to agree some kind of payment arrangement

Answer 6

Councils today pass the chasing of debts to outside companies,ie bailiffs, it is cheaper than doing the work themselves.
If this is genuinely the first time she has been in this situation and has not defaulted on any previous court orders,they will make a list of assets, for future reference, but will try and come to some arrangement to pay monthly, and will most certainly demand the first payment, there and then.
The price of household items at auction is about 10% of their value, so the suite you bought for £2k, 6 months ago, will be worth only £200, so they try and recoup the debt in cash before resorting to seizure of goods.

Answer 7

My ex husband left me with debts, they came to my house, listed anything I had that was worth anything and let me pay in installments, the list was just so that if i defaulted they could come and take stuff I had to sign to say this was ok.

I hope it works out well for your friend, and that the baliffs are as understanding as mine were.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

I'm really sorry to hear about your friends plight. I would really suggest that she goes to her local citizens advice office and get help.

She should be able to make arrangements over the phone and that's quite strange that they want to do it in person, but nevertheless she gotta understand the seriousness of this issue. I wish her all the luck in the world and hope that she sorts this out,

much respect

Answer 10

Strange they are making a visit however if they do then they will list items and usually leave them in situ and that means you must not sell them, they will not take the stuff if your offered payments are kept upto date.