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Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

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  • Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

    I received a letter through the post today for 3 old council tax debts totalling £1600, the Cover letter states enforcement action commenced.

    I stopped working just over a year ago after having a heart attack, followed by anxiety/depression (the doctor wants to medicate for this but I don't want it). and became a stay at home dad whilst my wife went into full time employment. I have zero income from benefits as I didn't qualify. My wife is already paying an attachment of earning order for a different council tax bill (roughly 14 months left to clear), but these bills were not on that order as they were in my name only from our previous house.

    We are on a very low income and are in receipt of Council Tax and housing benefit, awaiting to hear the results of this years Tax credits, basically we are just about scraping by.

    B&S are asking for £160 p/w for 10 weeks - we could not even afford food if we tried to pay that.

    Unfortunately I have had to deal with these people in the past, but right now I am in no physical shape for a stand up argument (and the elevated stress that will bring).

    Ideally I would file for bankruptcy (other debts too from house being repossessed), but cannot afford the fees in the forseeable future.
    Does anyone reading this have any suggestions for the best way to proceed with B&S?
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

    Are you still signed off personally? You appear to be vulnerable and Bristols & Hooters should not even be involved, Do the council have medical evidence etc? If not give it to them |PDQ

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

      Originally posted by bizzybob View Post
      Are you still signed off personally? You appear to be vulnerable and Bristols & Hooters should not even be involved, Do the council have medical evidence etc? If not give it to them |PDQ
      I'm not signed off sick, but voluntarily left a stressful job. Not really the kind of person who wants to be signed off sick so I chose to end my employment until I feel well enough to return to work.

      Edit: The Doc recently prescribed me with anti depressants but after thinking about it I didn't want to take them and would rather try to self manage.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

        I would suggest you contact your local Councillor(s) ASAP - best initial contact by phone - explain your circumstances and ask if they can help/intervene. You need more info from the Council and suggest you ask them the following:

        1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you
        2 - the dates they were obtained
        3 - the addresses they were for
        4 - the period of time each covers
        5 - how much each one was for
        6 - how much is still outstanding
        7 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement
        8 - the dates & amounts of any payments

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

          Is it possible you can tell us what the letter from B&S says? Does it give you a date by which you must contact them? Better still would be to post up a copy by PDF remembering to remove all personal identifiers.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

            Thanks for the advice, just one more question - under the new powers of these parasites, can they force entry at any point? Or do I simply go back to the routine of making sure my doors and windows are always closed/locked. I will speak to the Local Authority tomorrow, if I get no joy I'll contact the councillor. Ideally I would ask that they let the Attachment of earning on my wife complete so that I am not trying to pay 3 lots of council tax.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

              Don't forget they are allowed to have 2 AoE's run at the same time so be careful what you wish for. In my eyes contact the Councillor before the Council as they will no doubt try and fob you off with the "deal with the Bailiff" conversation.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

                Originally posted by ploddertom View Post
                Is it possible you can tell us what the letter from B&S says? Does it give you a date by which you must contact them? Better still would be to post up a copy by PDF remembering to remove all personal identifiers.
                Cant post a pdf atm since I dont own anything that will do it

                The letter states I have until 11/07/14 to commence payment, includes copies of the 3 liability notices all dated 30/06/2014 as the date the notice was issued.

                The cover letter lists the 3 liability orders with the balances of £341.50, £552.76, £875.45 and offers payment in full within 7 days or 10 installments commencing on 7/7/14 of £169.71 and 9 x £160.00

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

                  Originally posted by ploddertom View Post
                  Don't forget they are allowed to have 2 AoE's run at the same time so be careful what you wish for. In my eyes contact the Councillor before the Council as they will no doubt try and fob you off with the "deal with the Bailiff" conversation.
                  They cant put an AoE on me since I am not working and cant put it against my wife as she wasn't named on the council tax bill in that property?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

                    Originally posted by LT2K View Post

                    Cant post a pdf atm since I dont own anything that will do it
                    To do PDF you just need a bit of software such as CutePdf, it's installed as printer, simple to do. Google it.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

                      Originally posted by LT2K View Post
                      They cant put an AoE on me since I am not working and cant put it against my wife as she wasn't named on the council tax bill in that property?
                      If you both lived there then it doesn't matter as it is called joint & several liability.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

                        LO.pdfCover letter.pdf

                        Uploaded the cover letter and one of the Notice of Enforcement letters (other 2 have different references and amounts but other wise identical)

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

                          If a persons name is not on the council tax bill, the council cannot obtain a liability order against him/her. If there is no liability order against LT2K or his wife then he/she is not liable for this debt.

                          Given the time scale involved (11/07), I would write to B&S, copying the council in. I would outline your circumstances and stress your financial hardship. Both the MOJ & DCLG have issued guidelines stating that debtors should not be forced into punitive repayment arrangements. The instalments asked for by B&S are unreasonable and unrealistic, given your circumstances. I would add that due to your concerns, you are in the process of contacting your local councillor regarding this matter. You can then offer what you can reasonably afford. I would end the letter by stating that your are not trying to avoid this debt, you are simply trying to arrange a payment plan that is realistically affordable. You would ask that whilst negotiations are taking place, that no further enforcement action is carried out which will lead to you incurring further needless fees at a time when you are already heavily in debt.

                          As a side issue, would anyone like to comment on the last bit of the letter in bold, warning the debtor that they may not sell their goods until the debt is settled?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

                            Originally posted by The Starving Taxpayer View Post

                            As a side issue, would anyone like to comment on the last bit of the letter in bold, warning the debtor that they may not sell their goods until the debt is settled?
                            A threat more than anything else as they have not seized or taken control of anything as yet.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Bristow and Suitor - Enforcement Action Commenced

                              My feeling is that B&S can't be telling debtors that, simply because the case has been passed on for enforcement. As you say, they have not visited, let alone taken control of anything. It appears to be misrepresentation which is contrary to guidelines in the National Standards.

                              I can only think that B&S may have used the wrong letter template on this occasion and that it is normally used for notifying debtors that goods have been taken control of.

                              Comment

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