What can the bailiff do to get their fee?

[lee6370]

Been a while since i was on here, hoping veryone is as helpful as they used to be.

Got into arrears with my council tax and owed £589, the bailiffs called at the start of December and i agreed to pay them £300 within a week and then pay £100 each month, (jan. Feb & March).

So paid the £300 as agreed, then in January i get a new bill from the council saying i owe £289 and could they have payment, and detailing that payment be made to them.

So since i hadn't yet paid the bailiffs their £100 January installment, i paid the council the full amount that they asked for on their bil (£289), however i had to wait a few weeks to pay it and ended up paying it about 3 weeks after getting the bill.

The bailiffs then send me a letter saying that i still owe them their fees, when i asked what the fees were for and when they were applied it turns out that because i missed the Jan payment, they have added a fee for a van attending to remove goods (didn't see it myself).

Told them about the councils bill and that i assumed they had taken the debt back so i paid them as they had requested, but bailiffs say i should have paid them and i'm still liable for their fees.

Spoke to the CAB, who said that yes i have to pay the fees.

But my arguement is, if the council hadn't sent me a bill after i had agreed a payment plan, i would have stuck to that payment plan and therefore not occured any more fees.

Any suggestions?

[DBG]

Bailiffs are often claiming that they visited the property when they haven't just take a look at some of the other forums and you'll find plenty of examples. They should leave a card at the time stating that they attended and that a fee will be applied but very few do.
I suggest you contact the council explaining your assumption - why did they continue to pursue you for the debt when they had already passed it to the bailiffs?

[grizzleguts]

Hi write to the Bailiff's head office and ask for a detailed list of charges (send recorded or get proof of postage from the post office), if they fail to respond within 14 days they are in breach of statute law, and you can get the charges removed.
If you get the list, check it against the local authorites web site, as usually, they can only charge £20 for the first visit, and £15 for subsequent visits, unless they actually issue a levy on your goods, which I think they can charge £98, then extra for removing the goods, and selling the goods.

[tomtubby]

Lee 6370

You would do better to post this question in the bailiffs section of the site.

Sorry Grizzleguts but these fees quoted by you are very OLD.

A first visit to "levy but where no levy takes place" is £24.50 and the second first charge is £18.00 There can be only a maximum of two visit charges.

The "levy " fee is wrong. The amount is a percentage of the debt.

[kermit2482]

Originally Posted by tomtubby

Lee 6370

You would do better to post this question in the bailiffs section of the site.

Sorry Grizzleguts but these fees quoted by you are very OLD.

A first visit to "levy but where no levy takes place" is £24.50 and the second first charge is £18.00 There can be only a maximum of two visit charges.

The "levy " fee is wrong. The amount is a percentage of the debt.

Indeed correct and why oh why do so many people on here say we do not attend, its like an automatic line of defense!!! Most bailiff companys i know have trackers fitted to all their vehicles so your excuses of not seeing them or saying they never came are 9 times out of 10 a darn right lie!!!!!! Just like the letters that you lot dont receive, isn't it funny how they get their giros and xmas post but when it comes to bailiffs letters or council letters they never receive them, funny that isn't it!!!!!