Aylesbury pensioner with cancer 'harassed' by wrongly sent bailiffs representing the council

Dr Jane McCarthy, 74, who has been diagnosed with non hodgkin’s lymphoma, was targeted by enforcement agents from Chandlers over a council tax debt of more than £4,000.

Due to her illness, the mother and grandmother should have been classed as ‘vulnerable’ and given more time to respond to the enforcement agency.

But this did not happen because the council failed to review her case before passing her debts to bailiffs to recover.

The authority apologised for this and awarded Dr McCarthy, who lives in Aylesbury, £150 on the advice of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “It is so wrong making people feel really harassed. To me, that is counterproductive. They are going to get so scared they don’t want to engage at all.”

Following a liability order against Dr McCarthy in March 2023, she wrote to the council several times to ask for it to regard her as ‘vulnerable’ and also stated this in front of the council in court during a liability order hearing.

She said: “So, it was quite a shock when I got a letter out of the blue from the enforcement agency.”

After the council passed her case to Chandlers, the agency wrote to the resident on July 23, giving her first notice to make payment, otherwise it would visit her by August 2.

However, bailiffs are supposed to give people classed as ‘vulnerable’ more time to respond and make payment and are not allowed to come into their home if they live alone.

This is set out in the council’s own ‘council tax debt recovery procedure’, a little-known 22-page document, which Dr McCarthy obtained a copy of through a freedom of information request.

She said: “How many people are going to know to ask for it? They are making serious errors. They are not telling people what the considerations are and what their own procedures are.”

In a letter to the resident earlier this year, the council apologised to the resident and acknowledged it should not have passed the debts to Chandlers without reviewing her case first or ‘making the appropriate checks’.

It also admitted it had a ‘verbal agreement’ with Chandlers that there must be a 20-day delay before visits take place.

Dr McCarthy said: “It is not transparent. It feels like harassment. For a lot of people, it scares them very much and that is why I got myself well-prepared.”

After visiting the council and emailing them, the authority eventually recognised Dr McCarthy was ‘vulnerable’ in an email in July last year and said bailiffs would not visit her home.

Speaking about the ordeal, Dr McCarthy said: “That was very distressing because you feel like you are trapped in the system with these people who do have power.”

The resident was again threatened by bailiffs in another letter dated October 20, in which agents told her to arrange to pay by November 1 or enforcement agents would visit her home and potentially seize her belongings.

But Dr McCarthy did not open the letter until October 27, meaning she only had one working day to respond.

This is despite national guidance saying the time allowed to respond should be seven full working days.

The resident said this letter ‘shocked her to bits’ both because she received one at all after being told she would not, but also because it was ‘impossible’ for her to meet the deadlines set out.

She said: “I find being involved in all the bureaucracy difficult and challenging. But I know a lot of people are just completely overwhelmed by it.”

She added: “This could be routinely happening, and I do know people it has happened to. Bailiffs turning up on the doorstep unexpectedly and not having any idea at all.

“A lot of vulnerable people – and if you have got mental health issues – you can feel really ashamed of yourself, that it is your own fault.”

Dr McCarthy still owes the council more than £4,000, which she is withholding as a ‘matter of conscience’ until it addresses her concerns about investment in fossil fuels.

The authority has several liability orders against her and has made a charge against her property for the debt, meaning it could recover the unpaid council tax from the sale of her home.

John Chilver, the council’s cabinet member for accessible housing and resources told the LDRS: “We are unable to comment in any detail on specific cases.

“Where a resident has specifically chosen not to pay, we are bound by our legal duties to seek recovery of payment.

“We would never intend to cause a vulnerable person distress, and we have upheld the actions related to the complaint in this case.

“It should also be noted that the Local Government Ombudsman found no fault against us when this case was brought to their attention.

“As a council we have a legal duty to pursue the non-payment of council tax, however, where needed, consideration is always paid to a resident’s individual circumstances.

“We would strongly encourage anyone who is struggling to pay their council tax bill to contact us in the first instance, to discuss the options available.

“Allowances are made for vulnerable residents, and we will always try to work with the resident to support them.”

Chandlers has been approached for comment.