Ok to pay bailiffs for council tax?

Question

help plz, i need some advice please, have tried cab before, i owe council tax and my case is supposedly with the bailiffs who i've not had any contact with.

is it ok to pay council tax through bailiffs?

would they charge extra for monthly payments? or are not allowed to?

if you send them payment monthly is there no need for them to come out?

ive written to my council asking to pay them monthly who have ignored me and cashed my cheques. it seems they wont accept my monthly payment offer.

im terrified bailiffs will come out and take my car.

should i not bother trying with council? who have been extremely rude and non sympathetic to my money difficulties. and just offer monthly payments to bailiff?

ive never dealt with a bailiff before?

should i do this rather than send a 2nd letter to council?

Answer 1

o god how worrying is it, i know coz i was in the same boat a few months ago, right what i would do is contact the bailiffs im sure they have wrote to you, and pay it through them if you ignor them they put a calling out fee on your account, the councils are b######ds and are no help at all, if you dont know what baliffs you wid make an appointment wid the council your arrears officer and tell them you dont know who to pay

Answer 2

if bailiffs come round dont let them!! i pay £20 a fortnight to bailiffs for my council tax...

Answer 3

you have to pay the bailiffs now ,as they have paid your debt to the council

Answer 4

Your case will have to go to court first, before bailiffs (the sc*m of the earth) attend.

If your council treats you like this you need to complain.

Go to a Citizen's Advice Bureau NOW!!!

You still have rights!!!

Answer 5

How to turn a £100 debt into £10,000 ... ignore all the 'Final Demands' and Court Notices...

Bailiffs will CHARGE you to 'come round'

(who on earth do you think pays their wages ???) .. last I heard it was about £56 per visit ..

You should send all letters offering to pay arrears monthly by Recorded Delivery and keep copies .. in the event they refuse to accept your offer, you should submit copies to Court as evidence and go and argue your case ..

If you just ignore it, the Court will rule in the Councils favor and you will be stuck for the ENTIRE amount PLUS Court Costs ALL in one go .. PLUS your Credit Rating is ruined because there will be a CCJ (County Court Judgment) against you...

Answer 6

you can pay the bailiffs but always request a receipt, they will add charges to your debt and they may ask you to sign a walking possession order - which means they will do an inventory of your belongings so if you don't keep up with the payments they can come and take your possessions. Eventually if the bailiffs cant get hold of you after about 3 or 4 trys they will give the debt back to the council and the council will then issue you with an agreement plan. The council wont deal with you now the bailiffs are on the case, it saves them time and money just to ignore you so i wouldnt bother with them. Either pay the bailiff (and there is no guarentee they will accept payment in installments or ignore them and wait till it goes back to the council. Generally they are easier to deal with and dont use the bullying tactics of bailiffs!

Answer 7

i would go down to the council office and have it out with them there u would get more answers and maybe come to some kind of arrangement with them that u would have to stick to and avoid anymore trouble with them :)

Answer 8

"is it ok to pay council tax through bailiffs?"

Yes, it is a usual collection method for a non payer.

"would they charge extra for monthly payments? or are not allowed to?"

They will add their fees - which can be impressive - but they will not add extra fees for a monthly repayment plan.

"if you send them payment monthly is there no need for them to come out?""

Nope, you can call them and pay by credit card every month.

Now, what is important is, if you make a repayment arrangement with them, you MUST stick to it. They make most of their money through repayment defaulters. If they say £100 every 30 days, they don't mean once a month, they mean every 30 days.

Also, if you are going to make a payment early, you must tell them you are doing this. Don't pay £200 in August because you will be on holiday in September and think you've got it covered.

Any extra money you pay will be deemed to be an additional payment made voluntarily and your next installment will be due in September as usual. This is a frequent mistake people make.

First of all though - contact the council by phone, stop writing, it isn't getting you anywhere. Find out how your debt stands, offer to pay it if it is still with them, if not, find out which bailiff has it and contact them to make your arrangement. Pro-active is best when it comes to bailiffs.