Social services

Distress for rates - debtor tendering cash to bailiffs during seizure of goods to discharge her liability - bailiffs rejecting tender and goods subsequently sold - no trespass since debtor only entitled to halt distraint before seizure by bailiffs or before sale of seized goods Wilson v South Kesteven District Council: CA (Simon Brown, Schiemann and Mummery LJJ): 13 July 2000

The debtor was an hotel proprietor against whom a liability order was made for unpaid non-domestic rates due to the defendant council.

The council levied distress under reg.14 of the Non Domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement)(Local Lists) Regulations 1989 (SI 1989 No 1058).

While the bailiffs were seizing the contents of the hotel and loading them onto lorries, the debtor tendered an amount in cash in discharge of her liability.

The bailiffs rejected the tender as insufficient to meet the debtor's liability.

The goods were sold at auction.

The debtor successfully brought an action for trespass by reason of wrongful distress.

The council appealed.Nigel Pleming QC and Mary Macpherson (instructed by Hextall Erskine) for the council.

George Pulman QC and Simon Livesey (instructed by Graham J Wood, Kettering) for the debtor.

Held, allowing the appeal, that it was wrong to assume that it was possible for a debtor to halt the distraint process by payment or tender of the sum owed at any time; that the process could only be halted at either of the two specific stages identified in reg.14(3)(4), namely before seizure of the goods by the bailiffs or before the sale of the seized goods; and that, accordingly, since the debtor had tendered cash while seizure and removal of her goods was taking place, she had no legal right to buy off the distraint process on the day she had tendered the cash.