A bailiff gets control 7
Could Peter have stopped this at the start?
Peter had no idea how Councils treat people who get into tax arrears.
So he was unprepared for what was about to happen to him, mostly because he believed in treating people fairly and couldn’t see why anyone would want to treat him in any other way - especially the Council.
But by the time his income had increased enough to allow him to make an offer of payment, the Council had handed the account to the bailiffs.
The Councils contract allows the bailiffs to act as the Councils Agent, collecting the arrears for the council who hold the Liability Order.
So the council can instruct the bailiffs to accept a payment arrangement.
In theory, all Peter would have had to do was to convince a council tax employee that there was a good enough reason for that.
In practice, simply telling the Council that you don’t have the money to clear the debt, isn’t enough.
So no - Unless he had gone into arrears with his mortgage there was no way Peter could prevent the bailiffs from turning up.
Although with hindsight, that's exactly what he wishes he had done.
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