Council Tax Enforcement Letter – What to Do Now It’s Serious

Are you worried about a Council Tax Enforcement Letter? You are not alone. Each month, more than 170,000 people come to our website seeking advice on their debt issues. We understand how serious and stressful this situation can be for you.

In this article, we will explain:

• What a Council Tax Enforcement Letter is.
• What can happen if you don’t pay your council tax.
• Steps you can take to handle this situation.
• How to appeal your council tax bill.
• How to deal with a bailiff.

We have a lot of experience in these matters and want to share what we know with you. We understand your worry, and we’re here to help.

Let’s dive in to discuss your options and the best course of action moving forward.

What Is a Council Tax Enforcement Letter?

There is a subtle difference between paying council tax late, and being in arrears with council tax. If you are just a little late paying council tax, you will be sent a reminder and demand for payment. 

But if you are in arrears, the council may begin collection proceedings against you, and this might include sending bailiffs to your home to collect the debt. You will be informed that bailiffs will be visiting, by being sent a council tax enforcement letter.

How To Deal With a Council Tax Enforcement Letter

First of all, don’t panic the moment you receive a council tax enforcement letter.

You can check the date of the council tax arrears and see how old the debt is. It isn’t impossible for councils to make a mistake and send out requests for arrears that are statute-barred. Take a look at this example.

If it has been 6 years – or 5 years in Scotland – since you last paid towards your unsecured debts and you have not written to your creditor about your debt during this time, it is statute-barred.

This means that the debt is not enforceable. It still technically exists, and you still technically owe the money, but there is no legal way for you to be forced to pay or for the debt to be enforced.

Keep in mind that not all debts become statute-barred!

Any HMRC debts, for example, will stay enforceable for decades. Any debt that had a County Court Judgement (CCJ) attached to it during the 5 or 6-year window will be enforceable for the duration of the CCJ. 

If your debt is statute-barred, you can use my free letter template to write to the council and explain the situation.

If you are unsure about the status of your debt, you can contact a debt charity for some advice. Their advisors will be able to look at the debt in question, determine its status, and advise you on your next steps.

If the debt is not statute-barred or you don’t tell the council that you think the debt is unenforceable, you will have 7 days from the Notice of Enforcement letter to the bailiffs arriving.

When they do arrive at your home, they cannot force entry. This means that they can’t get into your home unless you leave the door open. They are not allowed to force the door or any windows open in order to get in.

So if you don’t want the bailiffs in your home, don’t invite them in.

If you believe a bailiff is acting, or has acted inappropriately in the light of situations such as the ones listed above, you are fully within your rights to report them. 

What if I am a vulnerable person?

Before you start addressing the Notice of Enforcement, you should know that if you: 

• Are disabled in any way or extremely ill
• Suffer from any kind of mental illness 
• Have children or are pregnant 
• Are under the age of 18 or over the age of 65
• Are dealing with a stressful situation such as the death of a loved one or unemployment 
• Don’t speak English very well 

You are considered a vulnerable person. This means that any bailiffs will have to follow some additional rules to ensure their visit is as easy on you as possible.

Furthermore, if any of these conditions apply to you, you can get more time to deal with the Notice of Enforcement. You can also get more time if the Notice of Enforcement was not sent to you properly by the bailiffs.  

If you fall into any of the above categories, you need to either tell the bailiffs yourself or get a relative or carer to do it for you. You can then contact them by phone or by post. I have a free letter template that you can use to explain your situation.

When you speak to the bailiffs, you need to:

• Tell them that you’re vulnerable
• Explain why you would find dealing with bailiffs more difficult than other people in the same situation
• Ask them to stop any visits in the future because it will cause harm and distress to you
• Tell them if a letter or a visit could make your situation worse – this could be the case if you have a mental health problem or a heart condition, for example.

Make a note of what you agree with the bailiffs about future contact. This will make it easier to argue with them if they don’t stick to this new agreement, or if you need to make a complaint.

Make Sure To Check All Relevant Facts

If you can’t afford to pay council tax, and this has resulted in an enforcement letter being sent, then all facts must be correct, for it to be valid. If there are mistakes in the letter, then a bailiff cannot legally act on it. So you should check all facts, such as the ones I have listed below.

• Has your correct name and address.
• The information about the debt is correct, including the amount you owe and who you owe it to.
• It must fully explain the 7-day period after which bailiffs will visit.
• It must have been sent by a registered bailiff. 
• It must have been sent by post, by email or as a fax, or it can be handed to you in person.

Is It Actually a Real Council Tax Enforcement Letter?

Some collection agencies try sending a fake enforcement letter, to scare people into paying a debt before a bailiff makes a visit. If you think you might have been sent such a  fake letter, you can easily check whether it was sent by a registered bailiff, by looking the firm up on your local justice website, and searching the bailiff register.

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Getting Enforcement Stopped

There may be a way to stop bailiffs from visiting due to council tax debt. The hands-down most reliable way to stop bailiffs from visiting, is to call them and arrange to pay the debt in full. Make sure to ask for a receipt if you do this.

In some cases, you may be able to negotiate repayment terms directly with the bailiff, or even be able to get the debt written off. However, this is far from being a certainty. You can also dispute the debt if you believe you do not have to pay it. However, this would not likely stop a bailiff from visiting.

» TAKE ACTION NOW: Fill out the short debt form

How do I appeal my council tax bill?

If you think that your council tax bill is wrong, you need to write to your council and tell them why you think that your bill is incorrect. You can find out who your local council is here.

Your council will then reply to you within 2 months.

This reply will either:

• Tell you you are correct, your bill is wrong, and a new bill will be sent.
• Tell you that the bill is right and explain why.

If the council replies and says that your bill is wrong, you must carry on paying the amount on your old bill until a new one comes.

If you wish to appeal your council’s decision, or you don’t get a reply within 2 months, you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. This is a free services but you need to pay for your own costs.

For your appeal to be valid, you need to:

• 2 months of the council telling you their decision
• 4 months after you first wrote to the council about your council tax bill.

If the Valuation Tribunal agrees with you and says that the council was wrong, your new bill will be sent along with your monthly adjustments.

Can Bailiffs Take Items From Your Home?

You are not legally obliged to allow bailiffs to enter your home. They are not allowed to force their way in. But they can enter through an unlocked door. Bailiffs can only take items from outside of your property if you don’t let them in. For example, your car that is parked on the road.

Furthermore, if the debt is in dispute, a bailiff cannot take your property, and must back off until the dispute has been resolved. However, it is not unknown for bailiffs to act less than ethically. The simple way to deal with an aggressive bailiff, is to talk to them through the smallest opening of the door possible whilst informing them that the debt is in dispute.

Will a Bailiff Charge Me Fees for Council Tax Debt?

Yes, a bailiff will charge fees. This will be added to the total value of your debt.

These fees are generally quite similar, and some bailiff charges are even standardised. County Court bailiffs, for example, have set fees of £75 for a Notice of Enforcement and £235 if they have to actually enforce the debt.

Keep in mind that the enforcement fee can be a bit higher. Usually, they will charge an extra 7.5% of your debt if that debt is over £1,000.

This means that if you have a debt of £1,500 that you don’t pay, you will be charged:

• £75 for Notice of Enforcement
• £235 for Enforcement
• £112.50 for the 7.5% over £1,000.

Total: £422.50.

How do I Complain About a Bailiff?

If you think that your bailiff has been unreasonable or behaved inappropriately, you can make a complaint. You can also make a complaint if you feel that they have broken any of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) guidelines.

Make your first complaint to the bailiff’s company or agency so that they have the chance to sort out the issue themselves. If you feel that they have not taken your complaint seriously enough or have not addressed your issue properly, you can escalate matters.

You can make any secondary complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). They will investigate and, if your complaint is upheld, the bailiff’s company may be fined. You could even be owed compensation.

If the bailiff’s company is not registered with the FCA, you can make your secondary complaints to the Civil Enforcement Authority (CIVEA). CIVEA has its own set of guidelines and procedures for dealing with complaints against its members.