Erdington woman claims bailiff tried to bully her over £23 council tax debt

Feb 12 2012 by Jonny Greatrex, Sunday Mercury

A MUM of four who owed just £23 council tax has told how bailiffs threatened to take her boyfriend’s car and increased her debt tenfold.

Part-time fish and chip shop worker Pamela Ravenall, aged 51, owed the cash to Birmingham City Council.

But the local authority passed her bill on to debt recovery firm Equita when they did not receive the payment.

Pamela said a bailiff from Equita harassed her, threatened to take her boyfriend’s car and added charges to her bill each time he visited her address in Erdington, even though she had arranged a payment plan for the money she owed.

“This bailiff tried to bully me into paying more than I owed,” claimed Pamela.

“It was partway through the month and he called, saying I’d missed my payment date, but I had until the end of the month to pay.

“To keep him happy I rushed off and made the payment, and he said that was fine.

“But then he kept calling, saying I owed extra because he had to visit the house.

“One time, when my boyfriend came round, the bailiff put a note through the door saying he was going to take the car.

“This was after I’d made my payment.

“Lots of people will be so scared they will just pay the extra, but I wasn’t having it.”

Pamela’s original debt stemmed from an unpaid bill of £225 from the 2010-11 council tax year. A summons was issued and the debt was passed to the debt recovery agency.

But her council tax status was subsequently reviewed, and the bill reduced to £23, plus £57 for the costs of a court hearing of the charges.

Despite the reduction in debt, bailiffs increased Pamela’s bill to £233 by charging her for visits they made to her property.