Written by John Kruse, one of the leading experts on Bailiff Law, this consumer friendly guide is essential reading for anyone who comes into contact with a bailiff.
The book is easy to understand and clearly explains the rights
a bailiff has, and also what they cannot do when collecting debts and repossessing goods etc.
Hi
I've received several parking tickets form my Local Authority. I contacted them to explain the circumstances surrounding how i got them, and queried a couple, as not all the information quoted on them was correct..I asked to set up a re-payment plan, as i was unable to pay them all off in one go.
I received a letter back from the Council's Parking Team, (by email which i still have). They said there was nothing they could do, and were not able to set up a payment plan. The only way i could do this was wait for it to go to my Local magistrate Court, and set up a repayment plan with them.
I have heard nothing further from anyone regarding this, until i got home from a few days visit to see friends this evening.
A hand delivered letter was posted through the door and the outside was marked EXTREMELY URGENT DO NOT IGNORE.
Bristow & Sutor bailiff's Notice of Intended seizure of my goods dated 26th June.
Total sum to be paid immediately £1125.72. It states this amount included a charge of £289.80.
Please can someone advise if this charge looks correct, as it appears very high to me? Could he have tried to make a charge for each ticket?
Can i put in writing to them i will not let them into my home and will only deal with them in writing, or is it better to phone the bailiff?
Am very scared - which i guess is what they want to do..
sorry, can't be any more specific about charges as no further details were on their letter.
It was a typed letter and he'd handwritten my name and address at the top, with a date and a single reference number.
Further down, he'd handwritten the total to be paid immediately and then the charge for that visit, which is where i quoted the figures from. He signed the bottom.
. It states this amount included a charge of £289.80.
Please can someone advise if this charge looks correct,
No its not correct. parking ticket are about £40. The law prescribing bailiffs fees for collecting unpaid parking tickets is Schedule 1 et-al of the Enforcement of Road Traffic Debts (Certificated bailiffs)(Amended 2003) Regulations 1993. If you have been overcharged then you have a right to reclaim them. Broadly speaking the law provides:
Letter Fee £11.20. If letter arrives after first visit is made then £0.00
Levying Distress up to £100 (excluding bailiffs fees but including court fees) - £28
More than £100 - 28% for the first £200 then 5.5% on everything over £200.
If no levy is made then bailiffs can charge fees for a maximum of three visits.
Multiple fees cannot be charged for simultaenous unpaid ticket collections. info@bailiffadvice.co.uk
The law does not provide for a bailiff to charge a fee to fix or remove a wheelclamp to a car or sending a tow truckor a van to an address. The law provides "reasonable costs" for attending an address with a view to transporting goods in a van, if no goods are transported in the van then the van fee is £0.00. Culligan -v- Marston Group Ltd et-al, no. 8CL51015 the court ruled that because the Bailiff produced no breakdown of his charges, he is unable to show that it is reasonable costs. Therefore, van fees, tow truck fees and attending to remove fees = £0.00. More
Phone the bailiff on his mobile and tell him you are filing a Form 4 complaint against him for dishonestly obtaining a money gain by defrauding you with his fees and you may be reporting him to police under the 2006 Fraud Act. Ask him for the name of the court that issued his bailiffs certificate and quickly end the call. If the bailiff refuses to disclose it then phone the Ministry of Justice Public Register of Bailiffs on 020 3334 6355 and ask which court issued his certificate. Download the complaint form to make an official complaint against the bailiff http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/c...form4_0606.pdf and send the form to the certificating court enclosing supporting evidence such as the bailiffs document showing the bailiffs fees he is trying to charge and any amounts paid.
The fees COULD be correct....if you have loads of pcn's !!
Without knowing how many PCN's that they are enforing it is difficult to know what charges should be applied.
Can you provide more details please.
Also it makes a huge difference which party of the country that you are in. I say this becuse a London PCN passed to a bailiff would be £198.16 to include a first letter fee of £11.20. A PCN issued in Brighton would be considerably less.
Hi Tomtubby
I called them and they advised there are a total of 9. The local Authority is Leicester.
I dont dispute them, but i am angry the council wouldnt set up a repayment plan as i'd asked, instead of writing and advising me me to wait to this stage, as it was only possible to make re-payment plans when it went to my Local Magistrate court - which clearly it hasn't.
I've been told by B&S i only have 12 weeks to make all the re-payments over, which is impossible on my part-time wages and the necessity outgoings i have such as Council Tax (& arrears), electricity bills, nursery costs, travel expenses to work and food, nappies etc for my 1 year old.
The bailiff made 1 visit on 16/6/09. Their charge of £289.80 was calculated by them making a fee of £32.20 for each ticket.
Can they do this?I thought they could only charge per visit not for how many tickets there are?
I feel very mis-led and angry, an i genuinely want to pay this debt, but there is no physical way whatsoever i can do this in 12 weeks.
I am now very worried what happens next if they come again whilst my baby is in the house with me.
Can anyone assist with the following queries please?
1) When the SAR has been received disputing/querying the fee's, is the bailiff/recovery action on hold while the SAR is being dealt with.
2) The bailiff fee's incurred on the SOLE visit, was made up by a fee for each individual ticket. Is this correct, or can they only charge for one, and not multiple?,
3) What happens when they've made the 3 visits they can charge for?
4) Can i complete a N245, when i have the Warrant info from the SAR?
1. No, only filing an appeal stops enforcement.
2. bailiffs can charge up to three visits, but cannot base his fee on his previous visit fees, its only based on the principle debt.
3. the maximum is three visits.
4. Not sure, speak to a parking tickets expert: Call Traffic Enforcement Centre on 08457 045007 More: Info about - county court Bulk Centre - Traffic Enforcement Centre
I wouldn't bother with a SAR because the law prescribes what the bailiffs fees should be and it will cost you a tenner. You will just get an A4 of fiction. This letter gives the bailiff something to think about.
The Omnipotent Bailiff Co, Plc
Their Address 1
Their Address 2
Their Address 3
Postcode
BY POST AND BY EMAIL
DATE
Dear Sir/Madam
Re: [YOUR NAME + REF]: Your fees.
I write following visits by your bailiff however there appears to an irregularity with your fees and I am writing to ask you to provide me the following within seven (7) days:
1) The name of the court that issued the certificate for the bailiff in charge
2) Written confirmation of a) your fees, and b) the original debt
3) The name and address of the organisation that instructed you
4) a) Truthfully confirm in writing your fees are lawful and comply with legislation or b) refund me the unlawful fees plus reasonable compensation for being cheated by your certificated bailiff with his fees by midday the seventh day from the date of this letter.
A bailiff or any other person who dishonestly charges for work that has not been done will be committing an offence under the Fraud Act 2006. Section 2 of the Act specifically describes a person dishonestly makes a false representation and intends, by making the representation, to make a gain for himself or another, or cause a loss to another, or expose another to a risk of loss therefore, if no satisfactory refund is made to me by 12.00 midday seven (7) days from the date of this letter I will automatically file a complaint to police under the 2006 Fraud Act and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. If you have charged VAT on unlawful fees then you may be reported for VAT fraud and your documents will be given in evidence. If your bailiff is certificated, a Form 4 will be filed.
This letter is delivered by Royal Mail and deem it good service upon you by the ordinary course of post under Section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978. It now is your responsibility and in your best interests this letter is handed to the relevant person within your organisation.
I have called the TES, and thay have confirmed a N245 cannot be filled in o this situation.
Please could you confirm the last query i have for now..
If the bailiff attends only once, he can only make 1 fee.. and that cannot be for multiple accounts/pcn's.. i.e. in my case, their office said the £289 fee was made up of fee's relating to all 9 tickets..
Currently the legislation does not allow bailiffs to charge multiple sets of fees when dealing with two or more tickets consurrently on the same visit.
As you have quite a large number of tickets I suggest you speak to a parking tickets expert and determine whether regulations in Section 66 of the Road Traffic Act and the Enforcement of Road Traffic Debts (certificatedbailiffs)(Amended 2003) Regulations 1993 have been correctly followed. you may be able to have some of them set aside even if you are out of time. info@bailiffadvice.co.uk or www.parkingappeals.co.uk
Currently the legislation does not allow bailiffs to charge multiple sets of fees when dealing with two or more tickets consurrently on the same visit.
As you have quite a large number of tickets I suggest you speak to a parking tickets expert and determine whether regulations in Section 66 of the Road Traffic Act and the Enforcement of Road Traffic Debts (Certificated bailiffs)(Amended 2003) Regulations 1993 have been correctly followed. you may be able to have some of them set aside even if you are out of time. info@bailiffadvice.co.uk or www.parkingappeals.co.uk
Hi
This will make me sound very silly now, but i did not ask if i could appeal, and they never suggested it either.
Could you explain what grounds i could have for appeal?
I need to sit down & google 'Section 66 of the Road Traffic Act and the Enforcement of Road Traffic Debts (Certificated bailiffs)(Amended 2003) Regulations 1993', as i really am not sure what i am doing with this...
Should i contact the Local Authority for copies of the parking tickets, to ensure the correct wording was used, or are you referring to other grounds of appeal?
Speak to someone at parkingappeals.co.uk they are experts in parking tickets. For parking ticket recovery then bailiff Advice is well clued up info@bailiffadvice.co.uk#
If its just a bailiff fee irregularity you are trying to sort out then a windup letter in my earlier post sent to the bailiff usually fixes it.
Speak to someone at parkingappeals.co.uk they are experts in parking tickets. For parking ticket recovery then bailiff Advice is well clued up info@bailiffadvice.co.uk#
If its just a bailiff fee irregularity you are trying to sort out then a windup letter in my earlier post sent to the bailiff usually fixes it.
Thanks Happy Contralis
It was indeed the potential irregularities in the Bailiff Fee's i was looking at, however having taken your advice, i have paid to subscribe to parkingappeals.co.uk, searched the area where i live, and this article has been returned.
Funnily enough, the Area where i received the tickets is the St Georges area right near the Leicester Mercury Offices..
Hi
Despite me having sent the template above by Happy Contralis (thank you btw), i had a further visit from the same bailiff yesterday.
Firstly, my Husband found the letter from him, as he got home before me, and the 2 pages of the letter had been posted through the letter box, and weren't in an envelope.
For this second visit I have been charged a further £468.63. The second page of the paperwork stated £103..50 of this was for him to attend 1 Man & vehicle.
Please can I have further advise, are these charges correct, or can i file a Form 4 complaint due to excessive fee's?
HC, you advised they can only charge for 2 pcn's on a sole visit, could you advise which regulation this is?
I can confirm the bailiff has never been inside our home, and no levy has been made.
I have also taken the issue up with the council who issued the PCN's as the bays were incorrectly marked. The Journalist who wrote the article in our local newspaper confirmed the bay i parked in was one of those they measured, and was found to be incorrect.
I think the bottom line is that unless you let them in, they can't levy or seize anything in the house.
You need to keep your car somewhere away from the house in case they levy on or seize that (and your husband's car too)
If you're going to challenge the legality of the parking tickets then you should pursue that. If not, you should write to the Local Authority offering to pay instalments of £xx and sending a cheque for the first instalment. You need to be seen to be trying to repay and not simply delaying matters.
Can't add any advice but I can offer a landline number if it still works, 01527 504030 - will be cheaper than ringing that 10p a minute number. Incidentally, any company using 0871 numbers now needs to have some sort of permit or licence issued by phonepayplus, and I believe that they should show the cost of the call on their letterhead.
They are a fairly large firm, I used to have business dealings with them and as someone has already said, they know the trick to get the Police onside, one of them told me once how easy it is. All the do is call the local station, say they are attending a property to seize goods but they believe the occupier may "breach the peace". The Police are bound to attend, in order to prevent a breach of the peace occurring as is their statutory duty. He alleged that anyone can use this to ensure Police attendance whatever the matter. Never tried it but good luck to anyone who does!
Any advice or opinion given is done so in the spirit of goodwill and assistance, but please note I'm not legally trained or qualified, only hoping to help. My advice or opinion is based on experience in my life, and research from forums such as this and other useful sites.
Please seek professional legal advice if you are in any doubt about what to do next with your personal case.
hi i have recently had the lovely bristow and sutor team round for the same reasons, on their last visit they charged £180
PLUS an extra £50 FOR BEING THERE MORE THAN HALF AN HOUR (i wonder how many more they've done that too, look on there letter at the times, always 31 mins from time arrived to time left, something needs doing about this alone as they can just turn up eat their lunch and go again at £50 cost to you)
even though i was waiting for someone to get back from the bank for me and was stuck in traffic!!! i wrote to them after this asking for a Breakdown of all charges...didnt get that but did get a letter saying there had been an 'admin error' and my debt was halved (this in my mind proves they are aware that they are over charging and the reckon that now i'll just pay and leave it....not a chance.)
I WILL ADD YOU CANNOT TAKE A bailiff TO COURT WHILE THERE'S STILL MONEY OUTSTANDING..i am now paying them their poxy £200 then taking them to the cleaners over there charges (they can only charge for 3 visits), bullying tactics and receipts that just dont add up.
Also their number on letters is 0871 677 0070 - after some googling their landline no is 01527 504030 which will save you £££s alone!
Hope this has somehow been useful and will keep posting on here on how i get on getting my charges back
Bristow & Sutor - £289.80 charge on 1st visit. Urgent advice please!
with them.
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Originally Posted by zosaphine
Bristow & Sutor - Further charges on 2nd visit
