Fireman 1963 baliffs demand fees whilst parent out from the kids help please

[MARTIN3030]

Fireman Sam can you please confirm that this is Drakes and their location ?
Thanks


Please go and have a look at post 19 in this thread.
I would also question as to whether a Subject Access Request is needed to obtain a list of charges for the baliffs services and applied in your case.
There is a legal requirement for them to provide this anyway,as there is also a table of fees that are chargeable for different actions.
They should be your first point of call,since you will need to give them a chance as prev stated to supply this before taking action to force them to do so.

[demon_x_slash]

I can understand what dj's saying - if anyone threatened my little sister (hah not so little, she's 17 now!) or my kids (when I have them) I would kill them. And I think of myself as a calm, collected and very reasonable (too reasonable sometimes! ) individual. I really am very against hotheaded action...but the thought of some strange men bursting their way into the house and threatening my little sister makes the red mist rise with a frightening intensity. So don't judge too harshly; Drakes have acted absolutely despicably and although CAG doesn't advocate any lawbreaking of any sort, I'm sure we can all identify with that feeling, at least. fireman, please keep us updated - I want these guys to suffer.

[fireman1963]

Hi all,
We have sent letters to the courts, the County Council and to Drakes making a formal complaint and requiring a full refund of the money. My wife who is senior social worker is also making waves with letters regarding the child protection issues and the lack of action from the police when they were called.
Do we also have to send a Subject Access Request to Drakes for a breakdown of their charges, or do they have to supply them as a matter of course?
Your site has also inspired us to claim back bank charges in respect of my sister in law, a single mum of three with a part time job, earning £600pm and just been hit for the third month in a row with charges of over £200!

[MARTIN3030]

A S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) to Drakes gives them 40 days.
If you were requiring additional information to support action then it may have proved worthwhile.
However since you already have enough supporting information that does not rely on Data Protection Act issues then all you need from them in the way of paperwork is the list of charges that should clearly reconcile to the actions they took.
I am sure this will be,or certainly should be available in far less than 40 days.
I have a feeling that it will be addressed more speedily than you may have first thought.
Keep us updated

[fireman1963]

Have received a reply today from Drakes saying they are looking into our complaint.

[djweeble]

Thanks Demon X Slash.

I had a feeling I'd be in hot water for that post I stand by a lot of what I wrote originally, though I suppose part of it was against forum rules.

HOWEVER, the law does allow you to defend your property and family from danger, and if Drakes thugs refused to provide ID, you have no way of knowing that they really are who they claim to be. You would then be perfectly entitled to take action to remove them from your premises, forcibly if neccessary. If they become violent in the process you are allowed to retaliate yourself, in order to overpower and subdue them.

I do not advise anyone to use violence uneccessarily, however, if I found someone in my house claiming to be a bailliff and they refused to provide ID, they would not be in there long, I would remove them by whatever means it took.

Likewise Fireman, keep us informed, I too want to see these thugs suffer, intensely suffer.

[djweeble]

Just out of interest; Fireman, you said in your initial post that the kids were still in their pyjamas, that to me means it was quite early in the morning.

I found this in the Wikipedia sticky at the top of the forum.

Any warrant to a bailiff to give possession of a tenement justifies him in entering upon the premises named in the warrant, and giving possession, provided the entry be made between the hours of 9 A.M. and 4 P.M.

Does anyone know if these times apply to any entry, or is it just for possession ??

[demon_x_slash]

Are you for real, tevion, or are you just a figment of my overstretched imagination? It was a long night last night.

[djweeble]

Woah ! way out of line !! Tevion

[agr]

To enter a property and intimidate minors is an absolute no-no. As a now lapsed cert bailiff, it was something you never did. Leave a letter to say you had visited, or if they were going to be out for only a short time, wait. They cannot either swan up and randomly charge you a huge sum of money as stated. There is a scale of charges for leaving letters, and a fee for an enforcing bailiff. Why they sent an enforcing team when they could have sent a levy bailiff just smacks of trying to intimidate and screw as much money as possible. Did they sent previous letters or a levy bailiff and you ignored them? You have the right to look at the court certificate they carry (not to take it, but look at it) and record the details, if you believe they have acted outside the law you can make a complaint to the court issuing the certificate. If this is upheld the bailiff in question may lose their certificate. The laws regarding legal entry are very specific. It is quite a few years since I was involved in the industry, but I do believe for parking fines you had to be certificated, and I'm certain as an enforcer as opposed to a levy bailiff (for everyrthing except council tax) you have to hold a court cert. I am sorry to say there are some absolute thugs out there, and as they are commission based, they will use every advantage to gain entry. As regards a previous post stating entry times, it varies on what type of work you are doing ie comercial rents is sunrise to sunset. If you arrive after sunset, you have to ASK if you can levy goods, even if you have gained access. The law changes frequently on distress, but I remember some of the enforcing teams for the company I worked for were out at 6am. Also by law you have to show your certificate when required, and bear this in mind, you cannot state you are FROM any specific company or council that is named on the warrant, you have to give the name of your employer and that you are here ON BEHALF of the company, council named on the warrant executing a warrant issued by such and such county court. This wording is paramount as you cannot mislead people into believing you are an employee direct of the company,council named on the warrant. Therefore the correct procedure of a certificated bailiff is 'goodmorning, I am a county court cert bailiff from whatever bailiff company here to execute a warrant issued by such and such county court ON BEHALF of such and such company/council for non payment of whatever, may I come in?'.
Any request for showing your authorisation HAS BY LAW to be honoured. If the door gets slammed in your face, thats it. If a kid answers the door you do not ever effect entry, if they leave it open to get a parent or other adult you can put your foot in thereby gaining legal entry, but not just walk in and start listing goods. (well you can legally, but leave yourself wide open to justifiable complaint). I am here speaking as a levy bailiff who is the first person normally to knock on your door. If you let them in and they do levy walking possession and you dont make an arrangement with the bailiff company or whoever, then the enforcer who comes next can force legal entry to remove goods. If you do get a bailiff at your door for the first time ensure the above points are noted, and dont let them in. Get on the phone to whoever you owe and try and sort it out with them.

[fireman1963]

I sent a letter asking for a breakdown of the charges by the bailiffs and gave them 14 days to reply, the time runs out on Monday. What should my next step be if they don't reply by Monday?

[agr]

When you paid your money you should have been given a receipt stating the charges including letters left, visits by levy and enforcing bailiffs. It is a specific form, but for the life of me I cannot remember what its called, but oyur charges HAVE to be clearly stated, that as far as I am aware, is the law. There is also something (or used to be) called a debt ledger which has your charges listed on it, we did not let debtors have it, but were able to tell them immediately exactly what they owed and why.
If your reply to a charges breakdown does not arrive, have your debt reference number which should be on the payment receipt, ring the bailiff company, back it up with a letter, contact whoever they were executing the warrant for, backed up in writing, and also write to the county court who issued the warrant expressing your concerns. I hope someone more up to date on this type of procedure can really be of more help. One of the reasons I left the industry was because I could not justify with myself some of the less than honest tactics being employed to ease people of their cash - bottom line - I am too ethical to be an overwhelming success at the job. The very best of luck!!

[fireman1963]

It is refreshing to know that not all bailiffs are thugs and do have morals, we have already done the letters you mentioned to all the parties and asked for replies within 14 days which have not been done. Where do we go now, do we write more letters to those mentioned again? ideally I want to now go further but who do I go to now having got no replies within the specified time I gave.
Can I now demand my money back from the bailiff company Drakes as they have failed to supply the information requested?
As for them sending letters or making previous calls this never happened although I believe they are well known for making bogus calls just to bump up their charges. The receipt that was left did not specify any itemised charges, just the total even when I asked for a breakdown it was not given.
What do I do next?

[djweeble]

You say you wrote to them for a breakdown of the charges, was it an Subject Access Request ?

If not, that is your next step, make sure you send it by recorded delivery.

[roughjustice]

I had a recent encounter with bailiff re a parking ticket also (although it was by post/phone and no visit).

I may be missing something here but when I checked the charges they had applied (£300) I found that Section 78 of the road traffic act 1991 clearly 'caps' bailiffs charges at £10 for letter or phone call making initial contact and £20 for a home visit. This applies ONLY to PCN (Penalty Charge Notices, parking ticket) enforcement.

Am I mistaken..(anyone?)..if not then clearly this is a good place to start once they have responded to your S.A.R stating what they actually have charged. My understanding is that they commit an offence by charging more. Certainly 'EQUITA' accepted £10 from me and p***ed off!