Types of bailiffs and their fees

[Guest Zooman]

Types of bailiffs

 

County Court Bailiffs

 

County court bailiffs are established civil servants. They are employees of the Court Service, and therefore are LCD staff. They are therefore subject to the Civil Service rules on recruitment, appraisal and monitoring.

They are subject to the control of the Court Manager, but they are also, under section 123 of the County Courts Act 1984, currently responsible to the district judge for their actions and defaults in the operation of their duties.

They are responsible for the enforcement of orders of the County Court. This can be in the form of recovering money through a Warrant of Execution, land or property through a Warrant of Possession, or to recover goods under a Warrant for Return of Goods. They are also responsible for the personal service of court documents and Warrants of Committal. (All County Court orders under £600 are their responsibility; all those over £5,000 (except Consumer Credit Act cases) can only be enforced by a sheriff).

 

Certificated Bailiffs

 

Certificated bailiffs are granted a certificate by a County Court judge which allows them to levy distress for rent. The certificate lasts two years and authorises the bailiff to levy distress anywhere in England and Wales. To obtain a certificate, the applicant must satisfy the judge that he is a fit and proper person to hold a certificate, that he has a sufficient knowledge of the law of distress, and that he is not in the business of buying debts. They must also provide two references and a security bond of £10,000.

They are not officers of the court and are not employed by the court. However, they are seen as representatives of the court because they act under the authority of a court issued certificate. The court therefore exercises, under the certification process, a certain amount of control over the standards of competence and conduct of these bailiffs. Other than that, there is no formal regulatory structure of certificated bailiffs, although those that are members of the Certificated Bailiffs Association are subject to the complaints procedure of that body.

Only certificated bailiffs can carry out distress for rent, council tax, non-domestic rates and parking fines.

 

Private Bailiffs

 

Private bailiffs include all private sector bailiffs who are not sheriffs or certificated bailiffs. (The use of the term ‘bailiff' is not restricted by law). They are generally employees of private companies. There is no requirement for employees of such companies to be certificated or to pass the CBA examination.

There is no general statutory control over the competence and conduct of private bailiffs. There is no compulsory membership of a trade body (although many bailiff firms do join ACEA which does have an established complaints procedure). The creditor employing the bailiff effectively sets out the terms and conditions under which they work and they are not officers of the court, even if they are enforcing court orders.

Unless otherwise restricted as to who can levy distress for a particular type of debt by statute, what type of debt a private bailiff enforces is a matter of contract between the creditor and the bailiff. Mainly used for magistrates' fines.

 

Distrainors

 

There are certain areas of civil enforcement where other people have the statutory right to levy distress for certain types of debt. An example of this is the Collector of Taxes right, under section 61 of the Taxes Management Act 1970, to levy distress for unpaid tax and NIC.

Inland Revenue staff are civil servants, and are subject to the same recruitment, appraisal and monitoring standards as all civil servants, including County Court bailiffs.

There is an established structure for complaints and accountability. In the first instance, complaints are made to the Officer in Charge of the relevant office. Beyond that, there is scope for complaint to Regional Offices, M.P.s, and to the Revenue Adjudicator.

The type of debt that can be levied for and the conduct of the levy are restricted both by statute and by internal Inland Revenue instructions.

 

Sheriffs (now called High Court Enfroment Officers)

 

The rules governing the appointment of High Sheriffs, Under Sheriffs and Sheriffs Officers are laid down in the Sheriffs Act 1887.

All appointees are technically responsible to the High Sheriff, and can be dismissed by him without notice or compensation. Under Sheriffs tend to be solicitors and their actions are therefore governed by the Law Society. Under Sheriffs and Sheriffs Officers both have professional trade organisations but membership is not compulsory. These are not regulatory bodies. When exercising their enforcement functions, sheriffs are enforcing High Court judgments - they are therefore acting as officers of the court and see themselves as responsible to the judiciary.

Sheriffs enforce all High Court judgments. They also enforce County Court warrants over £5,000. County Court warrants over £600 may also become their responsibility in certain circumstances.

 

Civilian Enforcement Officers

 

A number of MCCs employ civilian enforcement officers (CEOs) under the provisions of section 92 of the Access to Justice Act 1999 and Magistrates' Courts (Civilian Enforcement Officers) Rules 1990 (as amended). CEOs are able to execute a range of warrants including warrants of arrest and commitment for non-payment of fines and other sums adjudged to be paid, as well as warrants of arrest for breaches of community sentences. They do not usually execute warrants of distress. Some local authorities also employ CEOs to execute warrants of arrest for non-payment of local tax debts.

 

Approved Enforcement Agencies

 

MCCs may also contract work out to approved enforcement agencies (AEAs), as defined by section 31A of the Justices of the Peace Act 1997. Private enforcement agencies wishing to become AEAs must satisfy the requirements of the Approval of Enforcement Agencies Regulations 2000 (SI2000 No. 3279). Employees of an AEA can execute the same range of warrants as a CEO, and, in addition, are more likely to execute warrants of distress. It is the responsibility of the MCC to monitor the performance of the AEA under the terms of the contract.

 

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[Guest Zooman]

Professional Associations

 

Certificated Bailiffs Association

 

Appointment and Training To join the association, individual members have to pass an examination, which is based on the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuations textbook ‘Distress for local taxation and rent'. The association is seeking to agree a link with a higher education institute to strengthen exam procedures and hence improve its standing. Passing this exam can be used as evidence of suitability for obtaining a bailiff's certificate (in conjunction with references, details of previous experience, evidence of credit history etc.), but the association does not insist on employees of a CBA member firm being certificated and appear to provide no further training.

Complaints Handling The CBA does have a complaints procedure in place. Any complaints are made initially to the member company; if not resolved, they are passed on to the CBA secretary to investigate; if still not resolved, they are passed to the CBA Executive Council. If there is still no satisfactory resolution reached, the matter can be referred to the CBA Complaints Panel, an independent body including representatives from magistrates courts, local authorities and the debt advice sector. Approximately 12 complaints per year get this far, and the decisions made are final. Notices issued to debtors generally contain advice to complain to the manager of the member company involved if there is a grievance. No specific information about the full CBA complaints procedure is included, although they have agreed to issue a new leaflet to cover this.

 

Association of Civil Enforcement Agencies

 

Training ACEA is strongly in favour of a vigorous bailiff training regime, eventually leading to an NVQ qualification. They feel that the current certification requirements are not strong enough from a knowledge viewpoint. However, they do not wish to see certification scrapped but rather that a bailiff qualification and certification should complement each other, with the NVQ building on the basic certification requirements.

Complaints Handling ACEA's complaints procedure is in many ways similar to the CBA's. Complaints are made in the first instance to the member company. They must respond within 14 days, including with the response a leaflet setting out the ACEA complaint procedure in full. (These are also available from Citizens Advice Bureaux and courts). If the complaint is still not resolved, the matter is reviewed by a panel of three of ACEA's directors; if still not resolved after that, it is passed on to an independent review panel, similar in make up to that of the CBA's. Again, their decision is final.

 

Sheriffs

 

Training The Sheriffs Officers Association handbook, ‘The Execution of Sheriffs Warrants', covers the law, practical aspects, fee scales, types of writ and so on. All members are also required to take a two part exam. The first part is a researched paper on a point of law chosen by the Association, the second is a question paper on enforcement law and fees. The College of Perceptors (Cambridge) acts to approve the standards required and oversees the exam. The Association is hoping to expand the scope of the exam with the help of the Institute of Legal Executives. Membership of the Association is open to anyone who wishes to take the exam.

Regulation The National Sheriffs Federation has confirmed that a charter of good practice does exist, but primarily they rely on contact with advice agencies and complaints from debtors to regulate their conduct. They see their primary function as the enforcement of court orders, and therefore consider themselves as accountable to the courts. Complaints The Sheriffs Officers Association do not provide debtors with information as to how to complain. The justification for this was that in the main they deal with business people who mostly already know how to complain and who to complain to, and would probably have their solicitors/legal department involved from the outset of any dispute anyway. But complaints may also be made direct to the Sheriffs Officers Association.

[postggj]

with ref baliffs and fees/council tax

 

what is the up to date fees a baliff can charge

first and second visit

 

many thanks

[kermit2482]

with ref baliffs and fees/council tax

 

what is the up to date fees a baliff can charge

first and second visit

 

many thanks

 

 

£24.50 1st visit and £18.00 2nd visit

[Man in the South]

The Statutory charges for council tax is now £24.50 for first visit and £18.00 for second visit

[Nom132]

what would the Statutory charges be for a parking fine 1st and 2nd visit by bailiff original dept to council was £110

 

no levy has been made

 

Just to note - in the bailiff enforcement of unpaid penalty charges and rent arrears, the VAT on bailiff fees is payable by the chargepayer, whereas with Council Tax and Non Domestic rates it is not.

 

As per "The Enforcement of Road Traffic Debts (Certificated Bailiffs) (Amendment) Regulations 2003" (Edited)

 

For initial letter sent (PE9 Form) £11.20 + VAT (@17.5% £13.16, @15% £12.80)

 

For up to three abortive visits (no levy made)

For the first £100 - £28.00 + VAT (@17.5% £32.90, @15% £32.20) per visit

For £100-£200 - 28% of debt total (Inclusive of costs, not inclusive of VAT)

 

eg.

For first abortive visit (Debt £110.00)

28% of debt total* £121.20 = £33.94 + VAT (@17.5% £39.87)

*£110.00 debt + £11.20 letter

 

(Second visit total charge - £51.04, Total amount due £214.07, inclusive of all VAT)

 

The fee for a bailiff levying distress is usually 28% + VAT

 

VAT charged as of the date of action

 

Further chargeable bailiff fees include a £110.00 'Attendance to remove' fee and can include fees for Walking Posession, bailiff 'waiting time', clamping a vehicle, removal, tow, auctioneer storage fees and sale fees etc.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Nom132
Amendment