Advice re debt letter

[ewan221]

Any legal experts ?

 

Got a solicitors letter informing me I have an outstanding bill from the council for communal grass cutting at the property I used to share with ex wife and moved out of in late 2006.

 

As well as the grass cutting bill there is court costs, penalty costs and a cost for the sheriff officer delivering the letter which added over £140 to the original £25 bill

 

I have never revived any bill from the council or any communication about owing them money

 

I contacted solicitor dealing with it who informed me that they had been writing jointly to me and ex wife at my former address asking for payment over past two years but as my ex wife was terminally ill no further action was taken ( the month before I received the debt letter my ex wife actually passed away)

 

I told the solicitor that I would happily pay the original debt if it was due from the time I lived there but objected to the payment for court fees etc.

 

I was informed that they would speak with council and get back to me - nothing further was heard until today where I received a letter saying I have 7 days to pay full amount or they will take steps to recover

 

So on one hand I am tempted just to pay and be done with it but also pretty pi**ed off at the way they are going about it as obviously they will now not be able to claim claim ex wife and sont see why I should have to pay all the extras

 

Any thought ?

[ioneabee]

sounds like a case for the ombudsman really - I would say sloppy administration

you need to discuss it with the officer concerned and explain the bereavement etc - these usually go away, mainly because of the likely bad publicity they will get

but....... ??

[Ekona]

Send them a letter via signed for post explaining the situation along with a cheque for £25. Let them take the next move after that, no chance in hell a court would find in their favour after that.

[Ricey]

Send them a letter via signed for post explaining the situation along with a cheque for £25. Let them take the next move after that, no chance in hell a court would find in their favour after that.

 

This

[Vik54]

Send them a letter via signed for post explaining the situation along with a cheque for £25. Let them take the next move after that, no chance in hell a court would find in their favour after that.

 

This

 

+1 - they have totally fecked up on this sounds like usual communication fail within local authority depts - hope it goes ok

[JetSet]

Send them a letter via signed for post explaining the situation along with a cheque for £25. Let them take the next move after that, no chance in hell a court would find in their favour after that.

 

+1

 

If it was me I'd also consider talking to the local press.

 

Pete

[Ricey]

Send them a letter via signed for post explaining the situation along with a cheque for £25. Let them take the next move after that, no chance in hell a court would find in their favour after that.

 

+1

 

If it was me I'd also consider talking to the local press.

 

Pete

 

Now I'd actually hold fire on that. Press is your last bullet over the trenches.......offer it up too soon and you'll just be treated as a moaning get. Write a full, frank and polite letter and you might get somewhere.

 

If not.......go gorilla.

[ewan221]

Have written to them reminding them that they continued to correspond with me to an address that they were aware I had nor lived at for 6 years, that they admitted that they expected a terminally ill woman to pass these letters on to me and that as I continue to pay council tax, gym membership and rent a lock up from the same council it really should not of been to hard to write to me at current address.

 

I cc to the council chief exec and will wait to see how they respond

[JetSet]

Write a full, frank and polite letter and you might get somewhere.

 

 

 

 

That's what I did when I got a summons for failing to pay the last instalment of my Rates back in 1980. I actually wrote them a letter a month in advance explaining why I would be unable to make the payment. The council were well aware that the Steelworks I worked at had closed down and that the redundancy payments had been delayed....8,000 people lost their job on the same day, the biggest ever redundancy in Europe, but the council didn't even bother replying they just sent a summons adding that for each week I delayed payment the costs would rise. I would certainly go through the other stages first but from experience of dealing with our local council I'm afraid I wouldn't hold out too much hope. After all Flintshire County Council were the council that clamped a Post Office van in Mold while he was delivering his mail.

 

 

 

RED-faced parking enforcers yesterday refunded a £70 fine after clamping a postie's van.

The driver was collecting post at the Daniel Owen Centre, Mold, when the Royal Mail vehicle was targeted.

 

 

Pete

Edited November 14, 2012 by JetSet

[R35LEE]

I'm sure they can only persue a debt through court that is less than 6 years old (from last payment).

[Chesterfield]

As it would be statute barred after 6 years, Id advise the council they can have the £25 or, alternatively, shove the lot up their backside.

[sipar69]

As you appear to be in Scotland, the statute barred rules differ. See below. However, it sounds from your original post referring to court costs etc that some sort of judgement was probably entered already, in which case the statute barred rules don't help much anyway.

 

If the system works the same as England and Wales, you could probably apply to set aside the judgement on the basis that you were never served with a summons. However, you will probably have to pay to make the application and attend court for it to be heard. Might not be worth it considering the amount in question.

 

You should probably try to find out what sort, if any, judgement has been entered, when, and what the consequences are (impact on ability to obtain credit for example). (See below re the recording of judgements in Scotland). It looks as though Scotland is similar to England in that judgements will disappear from the register after six years (paid or not).

 

Scotland

Small claims, summary and ordinary cause Sheriff's Court judgments

The Scottish Register contains details of money decrees entered in the small claims and summary causes sheriff’s courts in Scotland during the preceding 6 years, calculated from the date of the decree. Ordinary causes started being collected in 2010 and the Scottish Register contains details of ordinary cause decrees dated 1st January 2010 onwards.

The records contain:

• Court name and case number
  
• Name and address of defender
  
• Date and amount of decree (excluding costs)
  
• Details of ‘satisfaction’ once RTL has been provided with proof of payment and the search fee.
  

 

Statute Barred Debt - Scotland

 

In Scotland the law relating to the time period that a debt can no longer be pursued in the courts is different from the rest of the UK. Here is a brief guide on how you use the law to deal with creditors chasing you for old debts.

What is a statute barred debt?

 

Statute barred debts are debts which cannot be legally enforced. The Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, Section 6 limits the timescale which a creditor can take legal action to recover their money to 5 years, provided the following conditions are met:-

• There are no outstanding decrees against you, AND
  
• No payments have been made towards the debt for the last 5 years, AND
  
• No written communications with the creditors have taken place acknowledging the debt.
  

Edited November 18, 2012 by sipar69