HELP ME QUICKLY PLS: bailiff/ car ownership question

[rac1980]

I am being bothered by Equita bailiffs for an outstanding Congestion Charge Penalty.
The total debt it £491, out of that, the penalty is £155 which i have now paid. However Im reluctant to pay the remainder which is apparently bailiff fees for 2 ALLEGED visits.
Theres no way these people have been to my home twice, no knock on the door, no letters thru the mailbox, and i have already written a complaint letter.
In the meantime, i worried about bailiffs turning up. I've already instructed my family to keep the door closed. So here's my main problem: my car.

1) Can I transfer registration of the vehicle to, say, my father, to avoid the car being seized?

2) How about if i write a receipt to a third party/friend to show that i've 'sold' the car, meaning i am no longer the owner?

3) CAn they take the car if im not at home?

4) Can they commence action even the matter is under investigation?

Pls help me, i cant sleep!!

[rac1980]

wait, i just found the receipt for the car (MY DAD IS THE ONE WHO ACTUALLY PAID FOR THE CAR, he bought it for my brother to take lessons but i am the registered keeper)

The receipt states my fathers name and signature, the date it was sold to him and the price.

Can they take the car still??

[Herbie]

This fee that Equita are attempting to charge is a disgrace, and in the first instance, I would advice that this is bought to the attention of Transport for London.

Equita's fees are agreed with TfL.

They can charge a letter fee of............£11.20

They can then charge a visit fee.........referred to as: an "Attend to Levy Fee" of: ...............£28 for the first £100
or "Attend to Levy Fee" of :................28% up to £200


Do you have details of the following:
The date that the warrant was issued by The Traffic Enforcement Centre

The date of the "visits"

Breakdown of Equita's fees.

[PizzaMaker]

Originally Posted by rac1980

I am being bothered by Equita bailiffs for an outstanding Congestion Charge Penalty.
The total debt it £491, out of that, the penalty is £155 which i have now paid. However Im reluctant to pay the remainder which is apparently bailiff fees for 2 ALLEGED visits.
Theres no way these people have been to my home twice, no knock on the door, no letters thru the mailbox, and i have already written a complaint letter.
In the meantime, i worried about bailiffs turning up. I've already instructed my family to keep the door closed. So here's my main problem: my car.

1) Can I transfer registration of the vehicle to, say, my father, to avoid the car being seized?

2) How about if i write a receipt to a third party/friend to show that i've 'sold' the car, meaning i am no longer the owner?

3) CAn they take the car if im not at home?

4) Can they commence action even the matter is under investigation?

Pls help me, i cant sleep!!

Who have you paid the £155 to?

If you wrote a receipt to a third party, you would have to prove this with other documents, its not that easy. You car CAN be removed if you are not at home.

Normally if investigation is under way then i would imagine TfL would place your account on hold for a period of time.

[rac1980]

ok, ive been researching this, under the sale of goods act, since my father paid for the car (last year) and we still have the contract/receipt signed by him and the seller, legal title and ownership belong to him.
The V5 document merely confers right of possession on me, as it states on the registration document 'the registered keeper is not necessarily the owner.'

Surely they cannot take the car if it legally belongs to my dad. Isnt that called theft??

help!

p.s. i paid the 155 to equita, she told me the rest of the £491 total was made up of 11 letters and 2 bailiff visits.

[rac1980]

pps.

Herbie, i have none of those things. Not sure when the warrant was issued. She didnt tell me when the visits were made, but i'll find out. And the breakdown of the fees, ive just sent a letter requesting this.

[rac1980]

ive written this to equita, threatening them not to touch the car:

Further to my letter dated 14th April 2007, I would like to inform you that I have written to TFL to inform them of this situation and have enclosed a copy of the aforementioned letter.
Whilst this matter is under investigation I would also like to stress that although I am the registered keeper of the vehicle I am NOT the owner of it. This car that you are threatening to auction had been purchased last year from a private seller by my father, registered in my name (since I have a drivers’ license) to be used for the purpose of giving my brother driving lessons. I have enclosed a copy of the contract of sale receipt and have been in contact with the seller who has agreed to cooperate with me in any way to confirm this fact to you.

Under the Sale of Goods Act 1979:

Rule 4.—When goods are delivered to the buyer on approval or on sale or return or other similar terms the property in the goods passes to the buyer:—

(a) when he signifies his approval or acceptance to the seller…


And in S.2(1)
A contract of sale of goods is a contract by which the seller transfers or agrees to transfer the property in goods to the buyer for a money consideration, called the price.
Therefore, the legal title and right of ownership has been conferred unto my father which supersedes the right of possession conferred unto me by virtue of the V5 Registration document. It states clearly on the V5 that the registered keeper is not necessarily the owner.
Since I do not, by law, own this vehicle that you are threatening to auction, any attempts to clamp or remove it will be treated as THEFT and the police will be called. The Theft Act 1968 defines this offence as the ‘appropriation of property belonging to another person’ and S.5(1) further clarifies that, ‘property shall be regarded as belonging to any person..having a proprietary right or interest.’ (i.e. my father).
You are charging bailiff fees and costs that are 3 times higher than the actual debt! Are those costs to be deemed reasonable as required of you by law? I think not. More, disproportionate to the extreme. Considering NO bailiff visits have taken place, this becomes outrageous.
Can you kindly forward me the name of the bailiff who is apparently ‘dealing’ with my case and the name of the county court who has issued his certificate. I would also like the dates of the alleged ‘visits’. Again, I request this under the Data Protection Act 1998 and respectfully ask that to comply within the time frame allowed by the said statute.




Sincerely,

[Herbie]

I have PM'd you

[bennyg13]

How about paying what you owe in the first place, as a bailiff myself I would have taken your car by now no messing about. Sounds to me like you are getting a very easy ride here. PAY it and LEARN from it.

[demon_x_slash]

Benny, the OP has already paid what they owe to TFL. The excessive charges that the bailiff has stuck on top need to be accounted for and justified before payment - therefore, the account is in dispute (a legal term which I'm sure you've come across before...). As a bailiff yourself, you will know that many of your colleagues would be as unscrupulous as to take away a car that does not belong to the debtor, for payment of a disputed debt... but I'm sure you're not one of them, right?
Incidentally, have you notified one of the moderators that you're a practicing bailiff?

[bennyg13]

does having a job mean you get to threaten my membership of this forum?? unscrupulous fees are added by many bailiffs but I am actually one of the good guys, I work mainly for the magistrates court dealing with criminals and the like so I'd love to hear you berrate me for that. I am however disgusted but not supprised that you find me being a bailiff so hard and of course would be happy to discuss this with any moderator. Can I also suggest that in my professional opinion all the case I am reading about could have been resolved before bailiff action........so why are there people complaining about perfectly legal actions that are happening because they chose to ignore previos warnings. Oh and I pay my bills as ontime as I can, and any fines i get, or I make contact with the people I owe money too, just a suggestion to everyone else, try it!

[Janet-M]

Originally Posted by bennyg13

does having a job mean you get to threaten my membership of this forum?? unscrupulous fees are added by many bailiffs but I am actually one of the good guys, I work mainly for the magistrates court dealing with criminals and the like so I'd love to hear you berrate me for that. I am however disgusted but not supprised that you find me being a bailiff so hard and of course would be happy to discuss this with any moderator. Can I also suggest that in my professional opinion all the case I am reading about could have been resolved before bailiff action........so why are there people complaining about perfectly legal actions that are happening because they chose to ignore previos warnings. Oh and I pay my bills as ontime as I can, and any fines i get, or I make contact with the people I owe money too, just a suggestion to everyone else, try it!

you are very much welcome here if you are abused by anyone because of the job you hold then we would ask you to report the post.
People use this site to reclaim their legal rights if you are here only to make comments such as 'repay your debts' then you are not being helpful as people are in debt for many reasons and not all the debts are legally binding.We do not encourage debt avoidance but we also do not encourage a user being unsympathetic to genuine cases.

If we think any user has joined just to cause trouble ' trolling ' then we will monitor them .

I apoligise to OP for the temp hi-jack of this thread

[bennyg13]

Thankyou very much janet M. I am glad of the support. I would like to extend an offer of advise to anyone who would like a real life opinion, rather than that of those who advise blindly from a forum (not that some of what i see isn't very sound) But I would also like to point out that the time to ask for help in discussions with creditors, councils, courts ect is at the first notice from them, not when the bailiff is at your door. To a bailiff (as to me) you are just another person who they have a warrant for, I peronally can deal with 30 cases a day, so you can see why I am a little un sympathetic when it is just debt avoidance.

[yvette18]

So benyg13, you have become DESENSITISED to unfortunate human beings who may not have the benefit of your worldly ways?

Yvette

[setmefree]

Some good points there bennyg13,And i would also like to point out that there are so many creditor's,debt collection agencies etc etc who use bully boy tactics on many debtors with their phone calls and abusive letters,and that is why you have so many cases every day,it's not just a case of ignoring the debt it's the fear of the people handling it in the first place.

[bennyg13]

Originally Posted by setmefree

Some good points there bennyg13,And i would also like to point out that there are so many creditor's,debt collection agencies etc etc who use bully boy tactics on many debtors with their phone calls and abusive letters,and that is why you have so many cases every day,it's not just a case of ignoring the debt it's the fear of the people handling it in the first place.

I think you may have a very valid point there, the company that I work for (I'll not name it, for obvious reasons) Send an initial letter offering advice/payment plans, then a second letter is dropped by hand with similar innards, then they are visited by myself, all very reasonable, all hoping for a fair and painless solution. I am disgusted by the behaviour of some other companies and would like to assure you that i have not quote:

become DESENSITISED to unfortunate human beings who may not have the benefit of your worldly ways?

but thanks for your concearn Yvette.

Unfortunately for me, I know how many attempts at contact are made and when I hear 'I don't know anything about this' 20x a day I get a little jaded towards the people saying it.

[setmefree]

the company that I work for (I'll not name it, for obvious reasons)

Now i'm confused, originally you stated you worked for the court services i.e.your words dealing with criminals etc etc.yet in your above statement you work for a company,so do you work for H.M.C.S or are you a certified bailiff.