Hi all,

Advice required please regarding bailiffs and charges,

Some 18 months ago we fell into arrears with various bills etc,

Rossendales were assigned to collect the arrears from us,

we agreed to pay £100 per month which we have kept up with until sept of which

1 payment was missed due to various problems,

The payments have now been resumed oct and nov,

last week a letter from Rossendales demanding £553 now and threats of committal to prison.

I have contacted the council and they say i only owe £318,

I have the bailiff calling aggressively every other day demanding full payment,

Now i can handle the calls but

my wife who is disabled and in the house alone most days while i am at work is worried sick

that they will come round when i am not in.

can anyone out there advise please Paul.

Hi all,Advice required please regarding bailiffs and charges,Some 18 months ago we fell into arrears with various bills etc,Rossendales were assigned to collect the arrears from us,we agreed to pay £100 per month which we have kept up with until sept of which 1 payment was missed due to various problems,The payments have now been resumed oct and nov,last week a letter from Rossendales demanding £553 now and threats of committal to prison.I have contacted the council and they say i only owe £318,I have the bailiff calling aggressively every other day demanding full payment,Now i can handle the calls but my wife who is disabled and in the house alone most days while i am at work is worried sick that they will come round when i am not in.can anyone out there advise please Paul.

You need to phone the council to make a complaint about Rossendales behavior as the council are responsible for them. You need to mention your wife being disabled and Rossendales making daily threatening phone calls. There are new rules regarding vulnerable households and the council can take the account back from Rossendales.

Ask the council to deal with this for you and to reply to you in writing confirming what actions they have taken.

Some of these bailiffs really are the pits.

First there is no way that Rossendales or the Council would even attempt to begin Court proceedings after you have already paid so much and just missed one

payment in almost two years. They are just saying that to scare you. I expect what they wrote was that if you did not resume paying they may try to have you

committed to prison which is not quite so threatening - it is an empty threat and not one that you should worry about. But it is a threat that you should inform the Council about as it is unwarranted in the light of your payment history to date.

Since the 1st September, have Rossendales been to your property? I notice that you had a letter from them-was that via the postal service or delivered by hand?

Bailiffs are not supposed to charge for a break in the agreement so what they are doing is calling round in the event of a missed payment and thus legally

charging £235 for doing so. Even if they did call round, I don't think that the Law intended for situations where the hand delivery of a letter resulted in such a

high cost. But it is a salutary lesson that if you are unable to keep to the agreement for whatever reason, no matter how difficult or embarrassing, one must keep

the bailiffs informed and advise when the next payment will be made, to avoid the having an excuse to come round and charge £235 to deliver a letter.

Hi,Yes they called round a couple of weeks ago but no one was in so they posted letter through,payments were resumed in mid oct,spoke to council they said they wouldnt refuse payment of318 to clear balance but just concerned if i do that are rossendales goin to add more charges,paul

Hi,Yes they called round a couple of weeks ago but no one was in so they posted letter through,payments were resumed in mid oct,spoke to council they said they wouldnt refuse payment of318 to clear balance but just concerned if i do that are rossendales goin to add more charges,paul

You need to let the council know of you household being vulnerable and about the phone call threats from Rossendales. Make a formal complaint and insist that it be registered. Speak to a manager if necessary.

When you made the arrangement with Rossendales, did they come into your house and if so, what did you sign ? Were Rossendales aware that your wife is disabled ?

Hi. No never been in property just agreement to pay£100 per month over phone,Also disability not mentioned although council are aware she is disabled,Are Rossendales allowed to add more charges if payment(their charges) are late! .

As this has been going on for so long it must be dealt with under the Transitional arrangements unless they had prior levy. You must ask Rossendales for a breakdown of charges for your account from the beginning up to date. Do you also know how much you actually owed the Council & how many Liability Orders they had against you?

As this has been going on for so long it must be dealt with under the Transitional arrangements unless they had prior levy. You must ask Rossendales for a breakdown of charges for your account from the beginning up to date. Do you also know how much you actually owed the Council & how many Liability Orders they had against you?

Plodderom is absolutely correct.

New bailiff regulations came into effect on 6th April and with it a completely new fee scale. Naturally there are thousands of accounts that had been subject to monthly payment arrangements that were in place before 6th April and it is for this reason that the Ministry of Justice imposed a further legislation to cover these accounts. Your account is one such account and what is required is a definitive breakdown of all fees and charges that had ever been charged to your account. You will need to call Rossendales to get this information.

In the meantime, when you set up the original payment arrangement 18 months ago was this following a visit to the property and if so, did the bailiffs ever 'levy' upon any goods of yours (such as a motor vehicle)?

You defaulted with your repayment arrangement a few months ago.....have you ever defaulted before in the past 18 months? (the reason for asking is to to get an indication on the fees charged).

Plodderom is absolutely correct.

 

New bailiff regulations came into effect on 6th April and with it a completely new fee scale. Naturally there are thousands of accounts that had been subject to monthly payment arrangements that were in place before 6th April and it is for this reason that the Ministry of Justice imposed a further legislation to cover these accounts. Your account is one such account and what is required is a definitive breakdown of all fees and charges that had ever been charged to your account. You will need to call Rossendales to get this information.

 

In the meantime, when you set up the original payment arrangement 18 months ago was this following a visit to the property and if so, did the bailiffs ever 'levy' upon any goods of yours (such as a motor vehicle)?

 

You defaulted with your repayment arrangement a few months ago.....have you ever defaulted before in the past 18 months? (the reason for asking is to to get an indication on the fees charged).

Hi No levys bailiff not entered property not defaulted before,Spoke to council today they cant take case back under new rules,They wont accept payment because they then have to send payment to Rossendales to take off their fees and then return payment to council,Fee of £235 is for hand delivered letter demanding full payment,council employee mentioned there had been quite a few complaints today about the same bailiff.

claytown

just to reassure. comm to prison wld be a last resort, dont worry about that. there wld need to be a court hearing prior, and any payment offer wld be accepted by the court.

Hi No levys bailiff not entered property not defaulted before,Spoke to council today they cant take case back under new rules,They wont accept payment because they then have to send payment to Rossendales to take off their fees and then return payment to council,Fee of £235 is for hand delivered letter demanding full payment,council employee mentioned there had been quite a few complaints today about the same bailiff.

The local authority are correct in that if any payment is made to them they will be required to deduct the necessary bailiff fees.

The fee of £235 has been applied. Whether it should be charged depends entirely on what fees have been charged up to date. Can you clal the council and post back.