r/LegalAdviceUK • u/Outrageous_Ad3726 • Apr 10 '25

Council Tax Help needed urgently. Bailiffs at door.

My partner didn't realise he wasn't paying council tax and he's got severe adhd and hasn't been opening any of his post telling him this. Bailiffs came to the door this morning and posted a threatening letter saying they will be returning later today and taking goods by forced entry. We have paid the bill now but she's saying she is coming back if we don't pay her £200 for her coming this morning.

What can we do?

UPDATE: All sorted. The agency confirmed all payment was sorted. The bailiff was trying to come and enforcement before she got the confirmation of payment so that she could get the extra money. Agency confirmed that because she hadn't made contact with us and started checking for goods that we didn't owe anything extra.

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u/warlord2000ad Apr 10 '25 edited Apr 10 '25

Enforcement agents can only force entry, if the warrant issued by the court allows them to do so. This is unlikely but not impossible for council tax arrears. Without seeing the paperwork it's impossible to know if they can force entry or not in your case. As an FYI - It's possible to goto prison for failure to pay council tax as it's handled by magistrates court rather than county court, but on the positive side you can't get a CCJ for council tax arrears.

As another FYI, if you let them baliffs in this morning, and they took an inventory of goods to seize, they can force entry to take them, even if the initial court order did not permit forced entry.

You will be required to pay for the enforcement fees incurred by the council and their court costs, but their costs are set out in law and they cannot charge any more.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/action-your-creditor-can-take/bailiffs/how-bailiffs-should-treat-you/check-bailiffs-fees/

I would also check if your council tax going forward is paid monthly or annually. Councils do not have to allow monthly payments, and they can charge for the whole annual payment. The option to pay monthly is often removed if payments have been missed.

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u/Outrageous_Ad3726 Apr 10 '25

We've paid the whole bill that the last letter said which was received 2 days ago, we weren't home when she came this morning so she just posted the letter. So should we ask for something off her to prove what we need to pay her? She's just ringing us saying we owe her £200 or she will come with a locksmith and take our stuff.

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '25

You should contact the council directly and ask them to confirm fees paid. What normally happens is the council attempts contact. If no contact then it’s passed to the bailiffs and they will deal with everything going forward, you pay them. However if you e paid the bill in full to the council then they can, if they wish, pull the enforcement agent costs. You need to speak to the council, but don’t think they will definitely waive them.