Hi everyone, Thank you for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it. I will try and answer your questions and points you've all raised but if I miss anything please let me know. They agents arrived at my property at about 4.30pm and we paid them in full at about 6.20pm. In my original post I said the agents told me the amount owed was £3,399 shortly after they entered the property but one of them had already told my wife they were here to recover £3,399 just after they arrived while they were still on our driveway and definitely before they entered the property. They also told her that we had to either pay the full amount or they would take the horse transporter. Most of the points I mentioned about not getting the correct notices were taken from the Citizens Advice website. They have a page on Bailiff's Notices but I can't post links yet because I'm new to the site. The CA site does state this: Bailiffs' notices These pages show you examples of the different notices bailiffs must give you at each stage of the process. They also tell you how the notices should be delivered to you and how much warning you should get of the next step of the process. It is also stated in the Ministry of Justice National Standards guidelines that appropriate notices must be given: 23. Enforcement agents, for the purpose of taking control of goods shall, without the use of unlawful force, gain access to the goods. The enforcement agent must produce all relevant notices and documents, such as controlled goods agreements, that are required by regulations or statute. Their page on issuing a Notice After Entry gives a clear overview and an image of the notice they are required to give but the information is not that clear. For example, it doesn't say whether this notice is issued only when someone is not present when the enter the property. The site says that if notices and procedures are not followed I can complain to the company and request a refund and if not satisfied then take it to a magistrate. The business that the writ was in the name of has never traded, has never made any purchases and has zero assets showing on the balance sheet. Only dormant accounts have been filed for it. The escalation through the stages happened within a few minutes. I asked if I could make a payment arrangement (I offered to pay in full by Friday 5th i.e within 5 days) but they refused. I offered to show them evidence that money was going to be available to pay but they refused to even look at it. One of the agents told me that there's always someone "people like me" can call to get money and he wasn't going to leave without payment. The horse transporter is on an HP agreement with our other business and therefore they couldn't seize it. I also read that they could only seize goods up to the value of the claim and not something of a significantly disproportionate amount. The horse transporter is significantly more valuable than the claim was for. The items they were threatening to take were essential items for my other business. By taking them they would have prevented me from being able to work. I also read that this was not permitted. I don't believe they sent a Notice of Enforcement and I am interested to know of they are required to keep a record of its issue. I realise they can "create" a copy but this is such an important document in the whole process of the involvement of an enforcement company. I suspect they will cover their trail very well here because to charge a fee for a letter/service that they do not carry out could be classed as fraud (but I'm sure they would put it down to an "oversite" or "clerical error" if I was able to prove it. I would welcome any further advice/questions anyone may have. My plan is to get some legal advice before I make my initial complaint to the company. I will see what their response is before deciding whether to take it to the Magistrates court. Having read the Ministry of Justice National Standards guidelines and the HCEOA website I feel I also have grounds for complaining about the conduct of the agents. I'll keep the thread updated and thanks again for your help.

Hi, this is my first post on the site and I hope someone can help. I am self-employed, based at home and have 2 Limited companies (1 active and 1 dormant). Business has been very difficult over the last couple of years and cash flow has been a major problem. On the 9th July a high court writ was issued against my dormant business for £1,717.66 and Court Enforcement Services Limited were given the job of enforcement but I did not receive any Notice of Enforcement from them. On the 1 Aug, 2 enforcement officers came to my home (where the dormant business is registered) and said they were High Court Bailiffs and had come to seize goods. I asked to see the writ but they only very briefly showed my an Ipad type device but wouldn't let me examine it. They then just brushed passed me and entered my home through a patio door. I informed them that I had not received any notification which they just dismissed out of hand and said that we were now at stage 2 anyway. I told them I didn't know what they were talking about and needed to see the proper documentation. I asked what the amount owing was and they told me £3,399. I told them that the business was dormant and had no assets and they said that they would take whatever they wanted from the property and began collecting my laptop and printer. I told them that those items did not belong to the dormant company but I was told I had to prove it. I began finding proof for them and I also told them that removing any other items was going to affect my ability to work and run my active business. They ignored this. Having proved I owned the items I was asked if I was refusing to pay which I said I wasn't refusing to pay I just needed some time to get the money. I was told I needed to pay immediatley or other goods would be removed. They threatened to remove a horse transport lorry whose value is far in excess of the amount owed. I was able to prove that that vehicle was on a HP agreement. They also threatened to remove horses from our field. I had to repeatedly ask to see paper copy of the writ and they eventually went to their van and printed one. That is when I saw that the original amount was only £1717.66 and I asked why they were demanding so much more. They said it was down to the fees that had been added. I asked for a breakdown of their fees and they said they would provide that later but said that because I wasn't going to pay we were now at stage 3. I told them I still didn't know what they were talking about but they didn't explain. I had also been telling them that I could pay because I was owed money through my active business and the payments were due to go into my account at any time (I even had remittance advice notes from companies making payments but they were not interested). They repeatedly threatend to remove goods and apply more fees unless I paid immediately and they then began going round the whole of my house (kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, childrens rooms etc.) looking for things to remove, I told them I needed some time to make some calls and get the money, which I did. Luckily I was able to get someone to pay me straight away and once I had received the money in my account I paid the enforcement officers by debit card. They wrote me a receipt but failed to give me a breakdown of the fees. I asked for one but they claimed they couldn't get an internet signal to print it from their van. They said they would email it to me but I didn't get an email from them either. I emailed their office the next day and they provided this breakdown: Dear Sirs With reference to your email dated 2 August, please see below a breakdown in this matter as requested: Writ amount: £1,717.66 Interest on writ amount (@8%) from date of writ to date of payment: £9.46 Compliance Fee: £90.00 Enforcement Stage 1 Fee: £228.00 7.5% Fee of amount over £1,000.00: £65.41 Enforcement Stage 2 Fee: £594.00 Sale of Disposal Fee: £630.00 7.5% Fee of amount over £1,000.00: £65.03 Totals: £3,399.56 The above fees are inclusive of VAT at 20% They also added: "There is no requirement to actually remove goods for the Sale or Disposal fee and 7.5% fee to be applicable, the commencement of the process is sufficient for the application of the sale or disposal stage fee." Having done some reading and trying to check the facts I think they have charged too much because this was their first visit and full payment was made, no initial Notice of Enforcement was received, they failed to give proper notice of moving to the next fee stage, no 'Notice After Entry' form was given, nothing was itemised or removed, no control of goods notice was written up or issued. They also knew the exact total figure (Including the fees) shortly after entering the premises. They provided no explanation of that, or their fees and no explanation of my options/consequences etc. They were just very high pressure and applied more pressure whenever I asked a question. I am going to make a complaint to them because I believe they have charged too much and I think I should be refunded some the fees. I accept that they attended my property so up to level 1 Attendance on the fees scale is correct but above that I think is incorrect. Can anyone with knowledge in this matter please advise me? Sorry if my post is too long but I wanted to give as much info as possible. Any help or guidance will be greatly appreciated! Thanks.