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Hi, this is a really confusing tale that i'm not sure i even understand myself, but here goes, I hope you can help and please accept my thanks in advance .
Due to the way paying the council tax online works, early this year i made regular payments supposedly for my arrears and also for this years council tax. Unbeknown to me until too late if you dont pay exact installment amounts the computer assigns any money you have paid entirely to the debt from the previous year. Eg my payments for this year were £99 per month, so i was paying more than that every month to clear the old debt as well. It ended with them handing me to jacobs on a plate last May, i followed the advice on here begged, pleaded and insisted they took the debt back even using the new legislation from april but the man i spoke to refused as he said although id paid 1300 of the 1500 debt id done it too sporadically . He set up an agreement on my behalf with jacobs to pay the outstanding balance at 20 pound per month over 9 months. I reluctantly agreed in the end. I made the payments on time without incident, in september knowing i had alot to pay out in october i paid 40 instead of twenty, thinking it would be ok because i was still up to date. This months installment i am actually 2 weeks late paying.
This morning the postman put a letter through my door that stated it had been delivered by hand (i assume they meant their hand which is a lie). It said an enforcement officer would be here at 5.00 pm today and i had to pay 248.28 to avoid this. I rang them to be told i had broken the agreement and they had previously contacted me about this. They had not, I tore all my mail apart in case i had missed something from them but i have not. He then said that the agent had previously visited my home and hand delivered correspondance, i disputed this. Then, he changed the story and said that the agent had come to my address but had noted that the house looked unoccupied and the gate was locked so he could not gain entry. So there was another lie, if he couldnt get in how could he hand deliver the previous note as claimed? I also disputed the hand delivery of this mornings letter, again he back pedalled and said it must have been posted because the agent couldnt gain entry, so another lie. Incidentally my gate has never been locked so he didnt try hard, if it was locked how does my postman deliver mail every day? In the meantime whilst looking for an email from my council i came across this e mail from last thursday that i had missed from another staff member at my council
Dear Miss xxxxxx
Thank you for your email dated 14th November 2014, which was received in this office on 17th November 2014.
I have looked at your accounts and can confirm that the payment of £155.00 that we have received has now covered your instalment for 14th November2014. Also, when checking our records you have been making payments directly to us rather than Jacobs Enforcement Agents, I have now advised them that payments totalling to £140.00 have been received – this now leaves £13.28 outstanding with them. I would suggest you pay this amount to Jacobs as soon as possible as the adding of extra costs is imminent. You can contact them directly on 0151 650 4800.
Your outstanding summonsed arrangement is now £468.00, and you need to pay 4 instalments of £117.00 from 14/12/2014 – 14/03/2015 in order to clear this.
I hope this clarifies everything for you, but if you do have any further queries do not hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards
So that basically means jacobs are charging me 235 because i owe them 13.28 and according to the council records as of last thursday no further action was being taken by jacobs but it was imminent. I have emailed her back pointing out amongst other things that i had been paying jacobs but i have yet to have a reply. I requested a breakdown on the phone of charges from jacobs, then i received an e mail saying there was a £10 charge for this, i used the template letter from here to say that there was not and why but have not received a reply as of yet.
My head is spinning my spelling is probably awful because im typing so fast, but im trying to remember if ive included everything on here. Oh yes, i advised jacobs on the phone that we could be classed as vulnerable because i have a baby and also a teenage daughter with mental health issues and anxiety as a result of her dads death, this can be backed up by doctors etc if need be. He said he could put a note on the file but could not guarantee it would stop the visit and it would be best to ring the agent direct, which i have not done since ive been reading through the invaluable info on here. So im waiting, in a locked up house typing very fast in the dark wondering where i go from here. As he has admitted he hasnt actually been to my door cause he thought he couldnt gain access i cannot of and did not know about this charge till today, which means i havent had an opportunity to dispute it and have it wound back on the grounds that we are vulnerable, would anyone in the know agree with that or am i misinterpreting things?
I know ive babbled and its hard to understand the story, but i hope you get enough of an idea to advise me what to do next. I'm not soft by nature but this has me rattled and would appreciate any help .....
Many thanks in advance everyone and thank you for your time
Due to the way paying the council tax online works, early this year i made regular payments supposedly for my arrears and also for this years council tax. Unbeknown to me until too late if you dont pay exact installment amounts the computer assigns any money you have paid entirely to the debt from the previous year. Eg my payments for this year were £99 per month, so i was paying more than that every month to clear the old debt as well. It ended with them handing me to jacobs on a plate last May, i followed the advice on here begged, pleaded and insisted they took the debt back even using the new legislation from april but the man i spoke to refused as he said although id paid 1300 of the 1500 debt id done it too sporadically . He set up an agreement on my behalf with jacobs to pay the outstanding balance at 20 pound per month over 9 months. I reluctantly agreed in the end. I made the payments on time without incident, in september knowing i had alot to pay out in october i paid 40 instead of twenty, thinking it would be ok because i was still up to date. This months installment i am actually 2 weeks late paying.
This morning the postman put a letter through my door that stated it had been delivered by hand (i assume they meant their hand which is a lie). It said an enforcement officer would be here at 5.00 pm today and i had to pay 248.28 to avoid this. I rang them to be told i had broken the agreement and they had previously contacted me about this. They had not, I tore all my mail apart in case i had missed something from them but i have not. He then said that the agent had previously visited my home and hand delivered correspondance, i disputed this. Then, he changed the story and said that the agent had come to my address but had noted that the house looked unoccupied and the gate was locked so he could not gain entry. So there was another lie, if he couldnt get in how could he hand deliver the previous note as claimed? I also disputed the hand delivery of this mornings letter, again he back pedalled and said it must have been posted because the agent couldnt gain entry, so another lie. Incidentally my gate has never been locked so he didnt try hard, if it was locked how does my postman deliver mail every day? In the meantime whilst looking for an email from my council i came across this e mail from last thursday that i had missed from another staff member at my council
Dear Miss xxxxxx
Thank you for your email dated 14th November 2014, which was received in this office on 17th November 2014.
I have looked at your accounts and can confirm that the payment of £155.00 that we have received has now covered your instalment for 14th November2014. Also, when checking our records you have been making payments directly to us rather than Jacobs Enforcement Agents, I have now advised them that payments totalling to £140.00 have been received – this now leaves £13.28 outstanding with them. I would suggest you pay this amount to Jacobs as soon as possible as the adding of extra costs is imminent. You can contact them directly on 0151 650 4800.
Your outstanding summonsed arrangement is now £468.00, and you need to pay 4 instalments of £117.00 from 14/12/2014 – 14/03/2015 in order to clear this.
I hope this clarifies everything for you, but if you do have any further queries do not hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards
So that basically means jacobs are charging me 235 because i owe them 13.28 and according to the council records as of last thursday no further action was being taken by jacobs but it was imminent. I have emailed her back pointing out amongst other things that i had been paying jacobs but i have yet to have a reply. I requested a breakdown on the phone of charges from jacobs, then i received an e mail saying there was a £10 charge for this, i used the template letter from here to say that there was not and why but have not received a reply as of yet.
My head is spinning my spelling is probably awful because im typing so fast, but im trying to remember if ive included everything on here. Oh yes, i advised jacobs on the phone that we could be classed as vulnerable because i have a baby and also a teenage daughter with mental health issues and anxiety as a result of her dads death, this can be backed up by doctors etc if need be. He said he could put a note on the file but could not guarantee it would stop the visit and it would be best to ring the agent direct, which i have not done since ive been reading through the invaluable info on here. So im waiting, in a locked up house typing very fast in the dark wondering where i go from here. As he has admitted he hasnt actually been to my door cause he thought he couldnt gain access i cannot of and did not know about this charge till today, which means i havent had an opportunity to dispute it and have it wound back on the grounds that we are vulnerable, would anyone in the know agree with that or am i misinterpreting things?
I know ive babbled and its hard to understand the story, but i hope you get enough of an idea to advise me what to do next. I'm not soft by nature but this has me rattled and would appreciate any help .....
Many thanks in advance everyone and thank you for your time
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