If the bailiff had levied your mother's car, apart from the levy being invalid (making the levy fee and attendance fee void), the bailiff has charged these fees on the same visit.

 

Even if it was detailed in the council's Service Level Agreement (which it wouldn't), a bailiff wishing to "Levy and Remove" on the same visit and incur those fees, would need to arrive with sufficient transport - vans etc, to remove the goods it anticipated distraining upon.

 

In your case the bailiff levied on a vehicle, he would need to prove that he had arrived in transport sufficiently capable of safely removing the vehicle. A point worth remembering for anyone else incurring both these fees in respect of the same attendance.

 

This is not only relevant for levy and attending to remove fees charges made on the same visit, it also applies to attending to remove in general. If they haven't arrived in suitable transportation and incurred that cost themselves, they will be attempting to defraud you by imposing it, and actually defrauding you if they are paid it.

hi i have has a similar problem where bailifs were coming round to collect council tax. i have been paying 40 pond a month since september last year but then the council sent me bil for this years bill and i couldnt afford both so i spoke to the bailif and asked if i could pay a lesser aomunt

he told me to write to the office with a statement of earnings which i did the wrote back and said i had to arrange with the bailiff so i paid 20 pound and they then wrote to me saying the bailiffe was coming to remove goods

i phoned te bailife back and he told me to write back to tnem and explain agan and offer them what i could pay, they then wrote back saying this was not acceptable and full payment was due in 7 days.

i phoned the office several times i was old nothing could be done but keep paying what i could afford so i kept paying 40 pound for 2 month but i kept geting letters sayin after repated requests i had done nothing to clear this debt fone this no immediatly i foned them on the 6/6/12 and asked when th bailif was coming and she told thatno bailif had been asigned yet and to just keep paying my monthly payments.

i told her i would pay on the 15/6/12 as thats when my payment was due. on the 9/6/12 i got a letter from equita for 24hr notice to remove my goods payment full in 7 days. on the same day a bailif posted a letter through my door saying and delivered payment full in 24hrs and they may come back at anytime and charge my inexcess of 200 pound.

i phoned this bailiif which was a different one to the one i spoke to before and he was told me he was coming on friiday and my bill had gone up by 206 pound. because he came with a van to remove my godds. i had to get my dad to pay this for me i asked him if he could just accept the 458 pound as that was all i had and he said that he would come bak the week after and charge me another 200 pound so i payed it all but i dont think i should have paid that much fees and i dont no what to do

hi i have has a similar problem where bailifs were coming round to collect council tax. i have been paying 40 pond a month since september last year but then the council sent me bil for this years bill and i couldnt afford both so i spoke to the bailif and asked if i could pay a lesser aomunt he told me to write to the office with a statement of earnings which i did the wrote back and said i had to arrange with the bailiff so i paid 20 pound and they then wrote to me saying the bailiffe was coming to remove goods i phoned te bailife back and he told me to write back to tnem and explain agan and offer them what i could pay, they then wrote back saying this was not acceptable and full payment was due in 7 days. i phoned the office several times i was old nothing could be done but keep paying what i could afford so i kept paying 40 pound for 2 month but i kept geting letters sayin after repated requests i had done nothing to clear this debt fone this no immediatly i foned them on the 6/6/12 and asked when th bailif was coming and she told thatno bailif had been asigned yet and to just keep paying my monthly payments. i told her i would pay on the 15/6/12 as thats when my payment was due. on the 9/6/12 i got a letter from equita for 24hr notice to remove my goods payment full in 7 days. on the same day a bailif posted a letter through my door saying and delivered payment full in 24hrs and they may come back at anytime and charge my inexcess of 200 pound. i phoned this bailiif which was a different one to the one i spoke to before and he was told me he was coming on friiday and my bill had gone up by 206 pound. because he came with a van to remove my godds. i had to get my dad to pay this for me i asked him if he could just accept the 458 pound as that was all i had and he said that he would come bak the week after and charge me another 200 pound so i payed it all but i dont think i should have paid that much fees and i dont no what to do

HI Diane welcome to CAG could you please use this link to start a new thread

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=168

Hi diane

I have started a new thread for you.

Please continue to discuss your issue on this thread.

Ta

ims

hi can anybody help me please. i had balifss thratening to take my goods away, i have now paid them in full but they have charged me a lot of money for fees that i dont think are right. is there anyway i can claim these fees back from equita i would be very greatfull for any advice thankyou

Threads merged.

Diane....please do not start new threads on this issue.....keep to this one.

ok thankyou. i think i may have already started one sorry. i have never been on any of these sites bfore it is a bit confusing any way i was reading someones post about equita and it was very simalar to mine. equitta have charged me a lot of fees but i have never actual been visited by them i have had contact with them by phone and by letters. i have had a hand delivered letter which has actualy cost me 209 pound. i got a breakdown of there fees but i dont understand them. i was charged for a first visit and a levy fee and an enforcement fee could this be right as i have never even seen the bailiff only spoke to him on the phone

list the fees you have been charged as in

Date 1st visit fee £xxxx

Date 2nd visit fee£xxxx

Date levy fee£xxxxx

Date walking possession fee £xxx

Date enforcement fee £xxxx

and any other fee you have been charged

in the meantime send an e-mail asking them what goods they levied

I think they may well have overcharged you. if they only visited once, and didn't levy anything then first visit fee £24.50 is all they get. ass to the "Enforcement Fee" no such animal in the regulations,

You need to ask the council

How many Liability Orders they hold for you

When were they obtained

Which tax years they are for

when were they sent to bailiffs for enforcement

Are any still outstanding

Then write to the bailiffs using this template:

"From:

My Name

My Address

To:

Acme Bailiff Co

Bailiff House

Ref: Account No: 123456

Dear Sir

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a Breakdown of the charges.

This includes:

a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.

b - the reason for the fee.

c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.

d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were certificated at.

e - the date of the Certification.

This is not a Subject access request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

I require this information within 14 days.

Yours faithfully

Ripped off customer"

Once you have the info post back so Caggers can unpick the fees and see what is legal, and which is dodgy.

hi thankyou for taking ythe time to reply. i received a breakdown of fees but it doesnt have any dates they consist of

debt £680.42

statutory visit fees £42.50

levy fees £39.00

enforcement fee £167.00

card charges£3.50

girobook charge £5.82

total £942.04

paid £942.04

outstanding balance £00.00

debt £166.67

statutory visit fee £42.50

levy fee £28.00

enforcement fee £160.00

card charge £1.00

total £398.17

paid £398.17

outstanding balance £00.00

althoug i have never seen the bailiff i have spoke to him on the phone when i trid to pay him i thought i owed £453. but was told they had put £206. on because they had a warrent and i aked if i could pay the £453. and sort out the balance of the fees late as i didnt think this was right he told me i could but he would come back next week and charge me another £206. all i have had is a hand delivered letter saying i nhad 24 hours to pay or i would incur charges of £200 and a leter came from equita on the same day saying notice for removal of goods and i have 48 hours to pay the full amont

What goods did the bailiff levy, and did he leave you a list? We need this to further unpick the fees, but likely there is room to challenge some of them, Specifically "card charges£3.50

girobook charge £5.82" Where in the Regulations does it permit a charge for a payment book? Nowhere i would opine. the "enforcement fee" masy also be dodgy, if their levy is dodgy, or there isn't one an Attending to Remove fee cannot be applied, and there is no provision to allow a fee called an Enforcement fee, in the regulations.

hi thankyou for taking ythe time to reply. i received a breakdown of fees but it doesnt have any dates they consist of

debt £680.42

statutory visit fees £42.50

levy fees £39.00

enforcement fee £167.00 *

card charges£3.50

girobook charge £5.82

total £942.04

paid £942.04

outstanding balance £00.00

 

debt £166.67

statutory visit fee £42.50

levy fee £28.00

enforcement fee £160.00 *

card charge £1.00

total £398.17

paid £398.17

outstanding balance £00.00

 

 

althoug i have never seen the bailiff i have spoke to him on the phone when i trid to pay him i thought i owed £453. but was told they had put £206. on because they had a warrent and i aked if i could pay the £453. and sort out the balance of the fees late as i didnt think this was right he told me i could but he would come back next week and charge me another £206. all i have had is a hand delivered letter saying i nhad 24 hours to pay or i would incur charges of £200 and a leter came from equita on the same day saying notice for removal of goods and i have 48 hours to pay the full amont

Something odd here (nothing unusual).

The enforcement fees (presumably attendances with transport), are different i.e. £167 in the first instance and £160 in the second. Is this a typo?

.....i phoned this bailiif which was a different one to the one i spoke to before and he was told me he was coming on friiday and my bill had gone up by 206 pound. because he came with a van to remove my godds. i had to get my dad to pay this for me i asked him if he could just accept the 458 pound as that was all i had and he said that he would come bak the week after and charge me another 200 pound so i payed it all...

£206 equates to the £167 attendance fee and £39 levy fee and although you don't have dates, it sounds as though from your description that these were both charged on the same day.

For all bailiff action which incurred fees it's important that they supply dates. As brassnecked has mentioned, do you know what goods were levied?

They should have handed you or left at your property a Notice of seizure of goods and Inventory.

It is also important to know what vehicle the bailiff arrived in on his levy/van attendance as it would need to have the capacity to transport the levied goods. If for example he had levied a car he would have had to arrive in a tow-truck.

I'd be interested to know what the £200 would be for that the bailiff threatened to charge if he had to return. Perhaps actually removing goods rather than attending with a view to remove...

i have asked for dates and times of visits. as i said though i have never had anything levied as i have never actualy had any visits apart from the hand delivered letter. but i phoned the bailif after receiving the letter and he said he came to remove goods but he has never been in the house and that was the first time he hsa been. he said if iwas in he would of took my goods then but as far as i know he didnt even knock but just posted the letter as i was actualy in all day. at first i thought the letter came through the post as i got one the same day from equita that said 24 removal notice which was dated the 6th june but i received on the 9th june and the hand delivered baliff removal payment due in full in 24hrs came the same day. also i phoned the office to ask when the bailif was coming on the 6th and was told no bailif had been asigned yet.so from the 6th to the 9th of june i was charged another 206 pound.

when i phoned equitas office on the 6th/june i was told that no bailiff was asigned yet and to keep paying what i could they must have issued this letter later on it actualy says that despite repeated requests i have failed to clear the outstanding balance and there bailif has been unable to contact me so they are sending removal contracters in the next 24 hrs and that an additional charges in excess of £200 will be added to my debt. how can this be if no bailiff was assigned to me yet. this is the letter that came on the same day that the bailiff posted his letter through the door.

Without wanting to sound too optimistic at this stage, it does seem as though they've handed it to you on a plate.

If like you say they haven't levied on any of your goods, both the "levy" and the "attendance with a vehicle to remove" fees, will have been obtained fraudulently. See this post ¡¡HERE!!, particularly the LGO Report.

Just so you don't have any surprises, I will make a prediction that the bailiff might say they had levied goods (probably a vehicle). However, if they say this you can counter their claim by stating you never received the Notice of Seizure of Goods and Inventory. They are required to leave this when levying goods.

SI 1992/613 Regulation 45(5), says so:

(5) The person levying distress on behalf of an authority shall carry with him the written authorisation of the authority, which he shall show to the debtor if so requested; and he shall hand to the debtor or leave at the premises where the distress is levied a copy of this regulation and Schedule 5 and a memorandum setting out the appropriate amount, and shall hand to the debtor a copy of any close or walking possession agreement entered into.

I would not be overly concerned about what they are trying to do. In my view they couldn't win an Ar*e kicking contest. The fact they have failed to give you the dates in your breakdown request suggests they are trying to con you. You should not phone them unless you can record the call. You are definitely doing the right thing by denying them entry to your home and they cannot charge you for sending letters via Royal Mail.

As they appear to be obstructive I would put the ball back in the Council's court and demand they fulfil the rest of the request for the dates as the Bailiffs are refusing to do so - remember the Council are 100% responsible for the actions of their Bailiff whether they like it or not. If you are met with a stonewall at the Council ask the person whether they are an employee of the Council or Capita, if the latter request to be put through to someone higher - Head of Revenues possibly. Do not be fobbed off by them.

i received a letter from equita with another breakdown of fees but this time there is only one list of fees and its different from the other one it says

liability order date 31/05/2011

period up to 31/03/2012

my addres

debt £680.42

statutory visit fees £42.50

visit/levy fee £46.00

atendance fee £160.00

paypoint fees £3.80

card fee £3.50

giro book/admin fee £5.82

total £942.04

balance nil

then they go on about how they noticed the dates werent logged but tthe dates were

22/08/2011, 30/082011, 19/09/2011/, 14/11/2011, 27/04/2012/ , and 09/06/2012 gives me the names of three bailiffs and where they were certified

these dates are wrong as the bailiff never came but i may have got a hand delivered letter around august 2011, i had written to equita with a statement of my earnings but i was refused the offer to pay £40 pmth

as they wanted £109 pmth, i phone there office and was told to pay what i could. i was and thats when the first bailiff eas going to come round i phoned the bailiff and he told me i had a week to get the money or he was coming round. he wouldnt accept a propasal to pay monthly payments at first unless i made a payment of £356. and then i could pay £40pmth. i was paying this but then i was getting letters that they was going to call again so again i phoned there office and it was down to the bailiff not putting anything on record but that got sorted out and i have been paying it everymonth and he never came to visit me. i have paid every month till march i missed a payment then i got a letter saying that someone would call and the name of the 2cnd bailiff, so i phoned the bailiff and he advises me to write to head office which i did i explained to them that i was struggling and asked if i could reduce my payments and i made a apyment of £20, they wrote back and said that it was in the hands of the bailif and to speak to him. i phoned him and he didnt seem to know anything about it and told me to write back to them which i did he never came to visit me. i kept paying the £40 but equita wrote back and refused the offer and said tge full balance is now due i rang them and was told there was nothing i could do but keep making regular payments which i did. but i got another letter saying a baliff would be in the area next week which is why i rang on the 6/06/ to find out when they was goona call thats when the lady told me no one had been asigned yet. then the 3rd bailiff has been on the 9/06 and charged me£ 206 extra for putting a letter through my door so i then phoned him and tried to see if he could do anything to help me,he said he would ring the office and ring me back but he never did, so the next day i borowed the money and had to pay £656.

It seems like they're being deliberately obstructive by providing the information one bit at a time and in this cryptic form. Perhaps next time they'll send you just a hint as to what goods they supposedly levied.

You need complete lists relating to both liability orders, itemising all charges / dates and items they claimed to have levied.

Would you get more sense from the council?

should i write back to them but i dont really know what to say or even ask for. or as you say the council but i dont know where to go from here. i seem to have paid a lot of money for so long to still owe so much at the end of it now i am in debt as i took a loan to pay the first payment of £356. and then another loan for £656 and i have been paying evry month since august last year. oh i dont know all this does my head in how the more you try to pay your debt the more they add on. i wish now that i hadnt payed anythhing as i dont have anything of value that they could of took anyway. but thankyou for your help.

list the fees you have been charged as in

 

Date 1st visit fee £xxxx

Date 2nd visit fee£xxxx

Date levy fee£xxxxx

Date walking possession fee £xxx

Date enforcement fee £xxxx

 

and any other fee you have been charged

 

in the meantime send an e-mail asking them what goods they levied

You need the information in the above form for both accounts.

Which council are you dealing with? It might be possible to get hold of its bailiff contract with Equita to use against them.

Here's Equitas Code of Practice for your interest.

See how many times the bailiffs have breached their own conditions.

i am dealing with rochdale council.

i have sent for information again lets see if they send me what i ask for this time.

thankyou

If it were me I would demand the information from the Council as the bailiffs are being obstructive. The Council are ultimately responsible.

well its been a week now since i asked equita again to resend me the information i wanted such as the precise dates of visits and dates the fees were charged and i asked them for a list of goods that were supposedly levied but i havent heard from them yet

Maybe they need a reminder

You might have this already, but in case you haven't their email address is:

[email protected]

for Revenues and Benefits

EDIT:

Sorry! I see you're dealing with Equita...still, maybe you should involve the council as well.

hi i got a letter back from equita today with the dates and levys it kind of goes like this

both liability orders were dated the31/05/2011

both levy and attendance charged incured on 09/06/12

the levy was made on 09/06/12 the levy was made on blue volkswaggon passet payment was made following visit 13/06/2012

liability order 2

levy and attendance charge was incured on 27/09/11

folowwing payment being made the case has now been archived and so cant retreive specifics asa to what goods were identified but details would of been left with me

statutory visits of 42.50 were added on both cases in line with visits that took place on the 22/08/11 and 30/08/11

firstly no such details were ever left as i have only ever spoke to them on the phone and secondly i dont have a blue vw passat. but i have a blue vw polo so they have levied the wrong car and i didnt even know they had levied a car. can you help me as i dont know where to go from here. thanks for all the help you haven given me so far

Your most recent post suggests there are 3 liability orders.

a) One L/O – levied in 2012

b) Two L/O's – levied in 2011

Ignore above.

Just back tracked through thread and should think the gap between levies will be down to broken or revised agreement.

However, it seems mutiple visits fees have been charged in respect of the same visit. There is something ruling against doing this in an LGO report somewhere.