council tax

[trotters]

Hi, i received a letter from the Council saying i owed nearly £4,000 in old Council tax arrears, however i had a Bill stating i owed £0.00 with no mention of any old arrears, i have written to the Council on numerous occasions asking for exact copies of my bills to support their claim, however none have ever been provided, the Council then opted to take me to Court over this matter, i wrote to the Court and copied my Bill for their benefit, and no action was taken against myself, since then ive remained in dispute with the Council in writting, however they have now chosen to hand this matter to a Bailiff, i have written to the Company and provided all copies of my correspondence to the Council and stated this is disputed and not a proven debt, however the Bailiffsa company have replied saying their instruction is from the Council and unless i pay then they will attend my property and remove goods, can they do this ? is the Council and the Bailiff acting lawfully in demanding money that their failing to prove is owed ? what can i do ?

[ploddertom]

Re: council tax

How many Liability Orders are they claiming to be chasing? How much is each one for?

[Milo]

Re: council tax

Hi, i received a letter from the Council saying i owed nearly £4,000 in old Council tax arrears, however i had a Bill stating i owed £0.00 with no mention of any old arrears, i have written to the Council on numerous occasions asking for exact copies of my bills to support their claim, however none have ever been provided, the Council then opted to take me to Court over this matter, i wrote to the Court and copied my Bill for their benefit, and no action was taken against myself, since then ive remained in dispute with the Council in writting, however they have now chosen to hand this matter to a Bailiff,

You say that you wrote to the court and sent a copy of your bill and that no action was taken again you.

I am confused as to how bailiffs can now be involved.

PS: The bailiff company are correct in that they are acting on behalf of the council. If you have a query then this must be taken to the local authority.

[trotters]

Re: council tax

i am also confused, the Court have never taken any action against me and no award has ever been given to the Council, so this whole matter is still in dispute, can they now just demand a disputed sum and use a Bailiff ?

[Kati]

Re: council tax

The bailiff shouldn't be acting while the matter is disputed - maybe you could try contacting the bailiffs and telling them that the account is in dispute (and telling them to put it on hold)?

[trotters]

Re: council tax

does the Court need to issue the liability order ?

[trotters]

Re: council tax

i have written to the Bailiff and i enclosed copies of my letters to the Council to show that this matter is in dispute, however they replied saying that they still fully intend to come to our home to collect the debt or remove our goods

[Kati]

Re: council tax

does the Court need to issue the liability order ?

You should have received a summons from the council before a liability order can be granted (Magistrates court).

[Kati]

Re: council tax

i have written to the Bailiff and i enclosed copies of my letters to the Council to show that this matter is in dispute, however they replied saying that they still fully intend to come to our home to collect the debt or remove our goods

Put in a complaint with the bailiff company!

If they turn up, you can just refuse to let them in - for CT debts, the bailiffs are only allowed to enter peacefully (and only through a 'normal means of entry) They cannot force doors or climb through windows! It would be an idea to park your car (if you have one) away from your house tho' - they would be able to 'take control' of it if they visited and it was there

[trotters]

Re: council tax

ive seen no liability oreders, the Council have just said so much for each year and thats my total owed, ive requested copies of my bills but none have been provided, does the Council need Liability orders to enforce the Bailiff ?

[trotters]

Re: council tax

i received a summons from the Court and i wrote to them defending myself and i sent a copy of my Bill which said i owed £0.00, and i never heard from the Court again, so i believe that as there was no liability awarded, and non of the council letters mention any liabilty awards. without the Liabity from the Courts can the Council and the Bailiff proceed ?

[bizzybob]

Re: council tax

No Liability Order no bailiff however the council will likely ignore your letter and go for the Liability Order anyway, as they are a bulk applicatiuon and the magistrates generally nod them through and the council run the whole shebang. I would be writing a Formal Complaint to the council CEO, Elected Leader, Head of Revenues and your local member, copy to MP.n asking what isd going on as you have a zero balance, and it would appear the council are enforcing against you with bailiffs for £14K.

You really need to know how ,many LO they have and for what tax years.

[trotters]

Re: council tax

at present there appears to be NO liability orders, the Council did summons me to Court last April, now i wrote to the Court and i supplied a copy of my bill £0.00, and to date ive heard no more from the Court, i have however been liaising with the Council in writting asking them to provide me with exact copies of my Bills, to date they've never provided them, so its purely based on their word only, if they'd achieved the LO in the Court then i presume they would not have waited so long to engage a Bailiff ?

would i be right in thinking that i should write to the Council and Bailiff asking for a copy of my LO to prove this debt exists ?

[Milo]

Re: council tax

The query that you have is for the council and not the bailiffs.

You will not receive a copy of an actual 'Liability Order'. The council must inform you whether they were granted an order and why an order was made if your council tax bill was showing as nil.

As I say, this is for the local authority to resolve and until they do so bailiffs can continue with enforcement. Address your concerns to the Head of Council Tax Revenue.

[trotters]

Re: council tax

good morning, i received a letter on Saturday from the Council saying they had received a liabilty order in April 2014 and this order was now with the Bailiffs, why have the Council waited until now to mention that they've had a liability order for nearly a year ? if the Bailiffs have a copy of this order then should i be entitled to a copy ?

are you saying that until this matter is resolved then the Bailiffs cant proceed with enforcement ? what happens if the Council do have a liability order, it doesnt make sense that they'd have an order for a year before enforcing action.