I'm not sure as he left no paperwork. I'll have to dig out my own paperwork later on. I Contacted the court yesterday, last thing. The agent I spoke to at the payments office could see the original warrant had not been recalled. I will check later on that this has now happened, as promised.

I'm after some advice today... I had a Bailiff visit today, regarding a court fine for a motoring offence. I had the original judgement set aside at the end of January, as I had no knowledge of it. I went to Court, swore an oath, and was retried for the original offence and fined. I paid this fine within the agreed timescale. The Court said that the original fine and warrant would be cancelled. Today a Bailiff arrived at my address, to seek payment - the Court hasn't cancelled my original warrant. I wasn't in (I was 300 miles away!) and my landlords girlfriend let the Bailiff in, though he didn't have any ID on him (it was in the car, apparently). I have a TV and an Xbox in the room I rent, and that's about it. The rest of the equipment in the house self evidently doesn't belong to me. The Bailff has gone round the house, photographing various electrical items in my bedroom, and in the rest of the house - my landlords girlfriend told him the situation, explained I'm only the lodger, and that the stuff in the house wasn't mine, other than what was in my room. He's told her, and me, that all of these good are subject to a Controlled Goods agreement. She has no paperwork at all for this, has never seen any and wasn't given anything. It's just photos. Apparently they will be attending on Saturday to remove all good listed - we have no idea what they are, as there is no Agreement! What I'd like to know is - does this sort of thing happen often, ie a Court not cancelling a Warrant properly? Bailiff reckoned he'd not experienced it before, but then he's probably thinking I'm making it up I suppose. I was very specific with him about what I'd done and when I'd done it, including dates of hearings and when I paid the new fine. I've phoned the Court Payments office, who could see what had happened. He said he would lodge a Complaint on my behalf, as he could sense I wasn't happy about having a bailiff stamping around my landlords house, threatening to take stuff that isn't mine! Not to mention the embarrassment of this happening in the first place. Said Bailiff also flat refused to speak to the Court to see whether I was telling the truth - apparently that was my job to do, despite me pointing out that I'm not the person in the wrong here! So - has the bailiff acted correctly? He's not offered Id, has not left a Copy of a Controlled Goods agreement, or offered a chance to sign one, or even attempted to fill one out, and he's threatened to take goods that plainly don't belong to me. Is it worth lodging a complain about the whole sorry a fair, and if so, who are the best people to complain to? I've included a text from the Bailiff, showing he's said he's taken control of goods. Sorry about the long post!

Thanks for all the helpful input folks. My main concern is that the EA can't return and clamp a different car, as I have another registered to my name - hence why I wasn't too worried about one being clamped, from a transport point of view at least. It's not worth over £1350, so I should be ok? I can't pay the full amount for 3 weeks.

Having read up, seems like I'll just have pay up, and look happy. One to chalk down to experience!

The fine element is £188 - he's charged an additional £75, and £235 enforcement fee. He's saying he would have charged that whatever had happened, ie just for visiting. If he hadn't clamped my car, would he be able to do that, ie are the fees for the visit, or clamping? That's what I'm also interested in. Cheers

Its on HP.

Hoping for some advice..... Had my car clamped this morning for an unpaid parking ticket. The car itself is on finance, so when I told the bailiff this he said he was immobilising the car instead. He's acknowledging that they can't remove or sell the car, but says immobilising it is fine. His paperwork states he has taken control of it, though he says that telling me he's changed that to just immobilising it is enough. Surely he shouldn't have immobilised it in the first place, it's not my property, though it is the car mentioned in the paperwork for the PCN. He's adamant I have to pay the clamping fees to get my car released - is he correct? I'm of the opinion he should never have taken control of it in the first place, as it's on finance. He hadn't checked before he clamped it, he's admitted that - though he says he's still entitled to clamp it. Any ideas?

Well I have come to an arrangement with them, but it was hard work, and expensive. I think I am going to have to take it on the chin regarding the actual fines, but I'm not happy about a couple of things., and could do with some advice. The bailiff clamped my car, but I didnt get any paperwork for it and it has not been levied on as far as I can tell, but there seems to be a difference of £336.70 between the amount now outstanding and the amounts from there last letter. So it seems today's visit has cost me £336.70 in fees, for which I have no accounting. The car they clamped (now released!) is effectively pretty worthless - I had it advertised a month ago for £250 and had no interest at all. The bailiffs were insistent they could clamp it and remove it if needed, despite me pointing out that it would not even cover the cost of the removal fee, let alone any other fees associated with selling it - I believe it would have been an unlawful levy. On a different note, they insisted that unless I paid them £450 they would break into my property and remove goods. Despite my assertion that this was not legal and I had advice to that effect from the council themselves, they said they were correct. Any thoughts on this? Thanks for the input so far folks.

ok,just to clarify,am goingthrough the system of g etting the original notices reissued so i can give them the details of the owner at the time of the offences.Forms te7 ant te9 filled in for each. Reading up, my car is essential for work,I have a 70 mile commut each day.I understood that they are not allowed to levy in such cases. My worry is that they will refuse to release the car without levying on something. I certainly will not be allowing them into my property,and I dont want them to get my car,obviously. I also dont want to pay for tickets that are not my responsibility!

I find this morning that a bailiff has kindly clamped my car due to outstanding fines on a car that was not owned by me at the time of the tickets. The car is parked on the road. The clamped car is not related to the outstanding tickets in any way, but is registered to me. The new owner of my old car ran up several tickets in my name, but that is another story. Is the bailiff allowed to clamp a totally unrelated car? It really is not worth anything, but I am worried about the associated costs involved in getting the clamp released. I am currently getting the tickets on my old car transferred by the TEC at Northampton, but this could take a while. What is my best course of action here?

Ok, thanks again! Sounds like the landlord would be liable in that case! That's a shame - was hoping to be able to exert some pressure on the bailiffs to give a bit more time to sort things out.

Thanks for that speedy reply. What I am trying to find out is who would be at fault - the landlord, bailiff or both, and if the bailiff could be in trouble for suggesting it? have had a good poke round on the web, but cannot find any information on it, apart from something on here that mentions "Using a Landlord's key is illegal" in the Devon and Cornwall Police Guidelines sticky.

Had a bailiff call round today. I was not in, and the reason behind the visit is not really relevant, but it was for a parking ticket for a car I didnt own at the time of the offence - it is being dealt with via the Traffic Enforcement Centre in Northampton. Now, I understand he asked my landlord, who was around at the time ,to let him into my property. As I understand it, this is illegal. Where do I stand here?

Sorry ,should have made myself clear.Smiths Bailiffs was taken over by Ross & Roberts after the founder of Smiths died.

I am trying to find out if a bailiff is currently certificated ,but the process now seems very hard ,to say the least! The no 0207 210 0516 is no longer available ,nor is 0207 210 1883 ,both numbers for HMCS headquarters. i understood the list they keep is a little out of date(or can be-updated Nov annually?) ,so I tried my local county court ,who have no record of the bailiff I am checking(NO names in public!).the bailiffs company say he has been registered at my local county court for nearly a year ,so this is before Nov 2008 ,so do I smell a rat? Also ,if the bailiff changes employers ,I assume that the certificate has to be updated ASAP ,or levies will be invalid? Cheers SF