Phantom Visits - Harassment / Intimidation

[proph786]

Hi All,

I have read some of the posts since yesterday and have decided to join the group to see if anybody can a) empathise with my situation and b) offer me the best solution, to avoid what could be a very awkward / uncomfortable weekend, this weekend.

There are obviously lots of more details, but I wanted to keep it concise. I have deliberately avoided putting the name of the company or individual bailiffs but they are available. Needless to say the company do feature in exisiting threads.



I received a letter from the bailiffs on 21/01 (dated 07/01), stating that a warrant of execution had now been issued by teh Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northampton CC and therefore they required the sum of £168.16 by return.

I contacted the company on Mon 28/01 and was told that their systems were down and I should call back later, after 15:00. When I tried to do so, I could not get through. The same thing happened in teh morning (Tue 29/01), so I paid an amount of £155 for an unpaid congestion PCN. I also paid a further £13.16 for bailiff's letter .


This was all posted off on the 29/01 (postal orders made payable to bailiff company) via Recorded delivery and online tracking shows it was received on 30/01.

Also on the 30/01 a letter was delivered by hand whilst we were out asking us to contact a specific bailiff, within 24 hrs to ensure costs did not go up. This did not state what the costs already were, only that if Idid not contact costs could go up by £140. I contacted and confirmed payment had been made and offered tracking number but this was refused, bailiff commented that if I had paid then it would show up later.

On the 08/02 received another letter (dated 06/02) stating that Automatic Number Plate Recognition was going on the area and they will be looking to locate the vehicle and would seize the car via their ANPR vehicles, IN RELATION to the outstanding congestion charging penalty notice. The car ultimately belongs to a finance company, with which I have a finance agreement. I tried to contact the office and had my calls terminated twice, they told me I needed to contact the specific bailiff. When I contacted the specific bailiff he informed me that I should ring the office - catch 22. I knew I had paid and there was no notification whether verbally or written to say there were now more amounts to pay. Also nobody could answer why this letter was being sent on the teh 06/02 when payment had been received on the 30/01.

Yesterday (20/02) I received yet another letter (dated 18/02) , which now is headlined REMOVAL NOTICE. It states amongst other things that "you have failed to pay the outstanding PCN due to Transport for London. Therefore I have been issued your case so that I can call at your home this coming weekend with a removal contractor when I will remove your goods to the local auction house"

Upon receiving this I called the bailiff's office that then proceeded to tell me I owed £319.61. I explained I had never received any notification of this amount but was told that's what I owe and that's a fact. I explained I had not ever been told of these charges to which I was informed “well I’m telling you now”. :o

Today, worried about the weekend I again telephoned to understand the charges and was told there was a £47+vat for a visit levy, £100+vat for a bailiff visit, £90+vat for a bailiff to attend to remove goods. I have been told that their system shows the dates and times of these visits but when I asked a name of the bailiff in attendance, they could not give saying they hadn't been involved at that level of detail. The bailiff went on to add that the case would not be put on hold and they would attend to remove goods unless the sum was paid. How can I / Why should I pay for something a) which has already been paid b) they are charging for by deception?

When I stated that there would be no point in arriving because I would not let them in, so they could not remove goods. I explained that I know my rights and they could not remove anything. The bailiff responded, by saying "we have our ways!". I asked him if he was threatening me and obviously he said no, but the tone said it all! He told me I should do what I have to and he will do what he has to.

The bailiffs and company's behaviour is none other than harassment and intimidating and can only be classed as daylight robbery. I am now concerned about what will happen this weekend.

Any advice most appreciated. I have conversation details for all the calls I have made to the bailiff company and to the individual bailiffs as a result of some bad press about them I thought I had better cover myself as best as I could.


Thanks in advance.

[proph786]

Hello All,

I am new to this and so I think I have been ambitious and set this as a poll and I don't know how to take the poll off.

Thanks to all those who have looked - If anybody can help advise on the next steps that would be great.

[Recycler]

1 empathising
2 poll is attached - doesnt make any difference to th thread
3 did you keep the envelope the 1st letter was sent in & does it have a postmark showing date sent?
4 TfL has an enforcement timetable written into the contracts with its bailiffs which requires a period for payment between the 1st letter & 1st visit - not sure of period but know someone who does...

Can you keep car in a lockable garage?

send a private message to Tomtubby - she will check the bailiff is certificated & be able to advise on best course of action

[Recycler]

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...our-rights.pdf

[proph786]

Good Morning Recycler,

Or is it ! I'll wait and see.

Appreciate your support - nice to know you're not alone

No, I don't have the envelope. I can see where you are coming from - Now kicking myself

I can keep car somewhere else but thought more about sending a recorded letter advising that my car belongs to finance company (with supporting material). I'm not sure if this letter needs to include specific references to anything particular.

Wrt sending Tomtubby a PM, will that be ok or do I have to wait to be invited to?

Thanks again

[proph786]

Bailiffs are certificated - confirmed after ringing the HMCS number provided in another thread.

[proph786]

Hi all,

Just a quick note to say thanks again to everybody who has ever posted anything to do with the rights of an individual and legislative knowledge from:

• What a bailiff can/can't do
• What they can/can't charge
• How to request account info
• Links to adressess for TfL, HMCS docs, OfT, Payment schedules, template letters.

Using all of the above links and information, I sent a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request), vehicle ownership, and bailiff complaint letter to the company concerned but copied in TfL, NCC, OfT and my vehicle finance company.

Conclusion

Nobody came to my property
They responded in 3 days to confirm receipt of complaint and they would get back to me in 14 days.
They sent letter on 14th day, detailing charges etc and confirmed the charges were valid. However as a gesture of goodwill only they would reduce the £319.61 charges on my account and the balance is now nil.

They even sent back my cheque for £10 for the S.A.R - (Subject Access Request), stating that they assume I will not now be needing this information.

In my complaint, I detailed dates, comments and stated that I had telephone call transcripts which would highlight the inadequacies, harassment and intimidation and that I will be considering raising a form 4 complaint.

Thanks again to STB, TT, 1011 whose comments in other posts helped me and Recycler for responding to my post.

If I can help anybody who is reading this with anything to do with ongoing parking ticket issues, feel free to send me a message. I will gladly pass on any templates (proven) to assist.