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Post by gwenifer on Nov 17, 2007 18:10:23 GMT 1
Ring the council tax office, honestly they are not as bad as you think they're going to be. They have just had a new computer system installed and you guessed it, its crap!! I have had a bill for £49.00 which I don't owe, rang them and sorted it in 5 minutes. The first thing they will do is stop any further action till its sorted out. (My friend works there so I have a little insider knowledge!!)
STOP WORRYING about it, what happens is the computer spits out a bill and whether its right or wrong it gets sent out, but the people who work in the CT office are really good at sorting this stuff out REALLY quickly. (THey've had LOTS of practice as the computer system is cac!!)
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Post by matt on Nov 17, 2007 20:47:43 GMT 1
You know that you don't owe this money, you will be able to prove that, so you have to put this to one side until you are in possession of the document. I know this is not easy, but getting worked up now is not a positive action. As Glynis has said, the CT office are pretty good at sorting out cock ups, and if your credit rating has been adversely affected by an overeager collection agency you might even have a case for defamation against them, and there is truly nothing better than causing discomfort to over eager debt collectors who do not do their research properley.
On that subject, once you have got this sorted, also bear in mind that in the charter under which debt collectors operate within their national association, one of the criteria is that they take all appropriate steps to ensure that the debt they are collecting is correct. If the first contact you have received is a stroppy letter they have clearly not done this, and are in breach of their trade association.
I find it helps sometimes to have a bit of payback to look forward to in situations like this.
Above all, I know it is not easy but you have to put this away in a little box until you have the information to deal with it fully (ie this letter). Until you have that there is nothing you can do, as presumably that will have reference numbers and such on it. Try to put it from your mind till then, and then start from the point that you know you are in the right, and this is just a nonsense that will be soon resolved.
Hugs and tea and sympathy
Matt
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Post by gwenifer on Nov 17, 2007 23:47:29 GMT 1
I'll just add that the bailiffs would not have even heard of you as yet, nor will the courts (as it has to go through the court before a bailif can do anything). I will say that all actions by the council are rubber stamped through but this process takes at least 3 weeks from the end date you were given to contact. This will not affect your credit rating as it takes the best part of a year to register any court action against a credit rating.
You could ring the collections agency explain that you were a student at the time, exempt for council tax and the bill is a mistake, they will cease all action for 30 days till it is sorted out.
While we're on the subject, does anyone happen to know whether you can claim exemption from CT if you're a part time student?
When I wrote to the council to say I had applied for my study grant they said I should contact the CT office as I might be exempt.
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Post by Purplegoddess on Nov 19, 2007 22:23:42 GMT 1
You need a Court Order before sending in the Bailiffs (aka obtaining a Warrent of Execution). I'm applying for them all the time against our client's who send back mail saying they don't live there then we trace them to that place and then they have to attend Court for questionning, then we obtain default judgment if they make no offer and cannot prove they don't owe us (which u can prove in many ways) then we send in the Bailiffs.
My guess is that they've corresponded to ur old address without properly tracing you and entered default judgement as they had not heard from any of you. There should be a court reference number.
I wouldn't worry about it if I were you as you can send copies of stuff showing u were at uni and had moved from that address etc etc.
Talking of CT. My new house is "unbanded" so I can't set up a standing order to pay each month coz they don't know how much I should pay!!! Which means I'll probs get stung with a big bill so have been trying to pay a small amount anyway.
Not sure about discounts for pt students. I know u can backdate it though. I did when I was in Birmingham, I told them Ian had moved out and I was on my own so they backdated to that date and I even got some money back from them when I left Birmingham!!
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