Hi everyone,

my first post on here so please bear with me.

I'm hoping to get some advice from here as you guys are well informed.

On Thursday afternoon my husband went to pick up my daughter from school and when he returned to the car, he found it clamed.

It was on the public road outside school.

The bailiff appeared and explained to my husband that it's for a pcn in October 2011.

He was shocked and it's first time we heard of it.

It turned out that they were sending all correspondence to a different address.

He demanded over £860 and said that if we don't pay now, the truck will be on its way to remove the vehicle.

I was at work at the time but tried to make a few phonecalls to the council to find out if the penalty was genuine, but with no joy.

All the phonecalls had automatic answering machines on.

We were running out of time as my husband was also on his way to pick up my son from nursery.

Obviously we didn't want to incure any more cost for towing away our car.

In the end I agreed to pay over the phone using my Masterdard.

The bailiff took off the clamp and left the receipt.

It turned out the original fine and court fees was £202. The rest is just additional fees:

sending letter: £16.20

levy/attendance to levy:£183

Other:£350

VAT:£109.84

It is truly shocking, I thought I was paying penalty, not the fees.

Yesterday morning I e-mailed forms T7 and T9 to TEC, as I didn't have any prior knowledge of the fines.

I also tried to call my credit card company to ask for a chargeback form but was told I shouldn't have given the guy my credit card details and they cannot do anything.

I explained that undue pressure was put on me, and I was told the fine was £860, so I was clearly misled.

I have also now checked and the bailiff is certified, but not to JBW.

I will call Watford County Court on Monday to confirm that.

If it turned out that he is indeed certified to his previous employed, would it mean that JBW will have to refund me the money?

Can someone on here comment on the fees?

They don't seem to be justified.

Are they allowed to charge 'other fee'?

I have not slept for two nights as I cannot get over the fact that I was ripped off like that.

Please help, what is my next step?

Hello there,

This is a list of the fees prescribed in law

- For preparing and sending a letter to tell you that bailiffs are collecting the debt and asking you to pay what is owed.

£11.20 (This fee can only be charged if the letter is sent before the bailiff visits you for the first time.)

- For making a levy (for example, where the bailiffs gain peaceful entry to your home and make a list of goods).

If the parking charges plus court costs are no more than £100 in total: £28. If the parking charges plus court costs are more than £100 in total: 28% of the first £200 and 5.5% for any amount over £200.

- For attending to make a levy, but where no levy is actually made.

Reasonable costs. However the amount charged should not be more than the fees the bailiffs could have charged if they had made a levy. (Bailiffs can only charge this fee for up to three visits. )

- For a ‘close possession’ agreement. For example, the bailiff stays with the goods on your property. This is rare.

£5.60 per day.

- For entering into a ‘walking possession’ agreement. For example, the bailiff enters your home peacefully and makes a list of your goods but does not stay on the property.

55p per day for the first 14 days. 5p per day for any extra days.

- For removing your goods, or attending to remove goods, but where no goods are removed.

Reasonable costs.

- For various items relating to sale or proposed sale of your goods (for example the costs of advertising and storing the goods).

Various fees and expenses.

On the face of it, it sounds like you have indeed been WAY overcharged. I think it's possible for you to continue to try for a chargeback if the payment was made under duress - I'm sure some of the parking ticket experts will be along shortly to help you further.

If all the correspondence has gone to another address, and it is for a council PCN,

you need to contact the Northampton TEC,

I think someone will be along with the contact details,

and submit an Out Of time declaration,

that you had no prior knowledge of the PCN

until the JBW licenced extortion agent aka a bailiff turned up and clamped your motor.

I'm sure others will know more and target the help, but do try a chargeback.

Did the bailiff add a card transaction fee?

Thanks sequenci. Do you know if the levy fee applies in my case? Sorry if it's an obvious question but I am new to it all. Do they have to make the home visit to be able to charge the levy?

I have already contacted Northampton TEC, and e-mailed the 'out of time declaration' to them.

No, no transaction fee but I'm assuming other fee of £350 would cover that...

mastercard are usually very good with chagreback

and have a wider limit period but thats no help.

however this is a bit of a stupid comment from them:

I also tried to call my credit card company to ask for a chargeback form but was told I shouldn't have given the guy my credit card details and they cannot do anything.

thats really irish!!

doh!

phone them up

demand a chargeback, do not take NO for an answer

go up the chain if you mst,

they ARE obliged to refund and investigate AFTERWARDS!

you paid under duress

you and your children were basically held to ransom

miles from home

if thats not duress then nothing is.!!

this tactic needs reporting to someone

the bailiff PURPOSELY followed you to the school and clamped you

because he knew would get his money.

i'll ask someone to pop in.

dx

your PCN should revert back to the start which means ALL fees paid to JBW should be returned to you from THE COUNCIL - the pnc charge at the reduced rate

dx100uk, shall I just write a letter to Mastercard or phone them again? Not quite sure how to go about it.

I know all the fees should be refunded by the council

but I'm also aware that it might take a long time, and the council will resist.

That's why I'm more inclined to go down the chargeback route.

But I'm not totally convinced it's the right way.

Do you know anyone on this forum or else that has been refunded by their bank or credit card company?

After my phonecall to Mastercard yesterday it seems very unlikely they will do a chargeback.

The council will have a contract /service level agreement with JBW there may be a clause in it that says JBW cant contract work out to 3rd party bailiff firms

the best way to find this out is to go on the council website look for freedom of information request and ask

Does xxx local authority have a contact with JBW for the collection of PCN if yes i request a copy of this

does xxx local authority have a service level agreement with JBW for the collection of PCN if yes i request a copy of this

Does xxx local authority allow JBW to use 3rd party bailiffs firms to enforce PNCs on behalf of xxx local authority

dx100uk, shall I just write a letter to Mastercard or phone them again? Not quite sure how to go about it.

phone

dx

It's Barking and Dagenham Council. Does anyone happen to know if they allow 3rd party bailiffs to collect their pcns?

Were all the letters sent to the wrong address because the car is registered at the wrong address?

I have split up with my husband last year and he lived at different address, we then moved back together in November. Completely forgot to changed the address on the log book. I realise it's our fault, this will be rectified on Monday. How does it affect our case?

It means that you have no defence about not knowing about the PCN I'm afraid. I was thinking of another avenue that you could go down, but unfortunately that is a dead end now.

Would that mean that the Northampton will reject my 'out of time application'?

have a read of this pay particular attention to tomtubbys post she the expert

I wouldn't worry to much about you forgetting to change your address with the DVLA

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?252408

It means that you have no defence about not knowing about the PCN I'm afraid. I was thinking of another avenue that you could go down, but unfortunately that is a dead end now.

Can you explain the reasons for why you think this is a dead end?

Can you explain the reasons for why you think this is a dead end?

Because you are legally obliged to update address details with the DVLA. So you can hardly use the fact that you didn't comply with the law as an excuse.

really...

obv not read post 8 on this thread as advised to the OP earlier.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...ead.php?252408

dx

Because you are legally obliged to update address details with the DVLA. So you can hardly use the fact that you didn't comply with the law as an excuse.

This is just flatly false. It doesn't matter why the owner did not get the correspondence. The fact that she didn't is all that is important. It could be her fault, it could be someone else's - it's irrelevant.

This is just flatly false. It doesn't matter why the owner did not get the correspondence. The fact that she didn't is all that is important. It could be her fault, it could be someone else's - it's irrelevant.

Exactly Jamberson, the non receipt of the paperwork is the nub, Op didn't get them, OOT is a way forward, and if JBW have to refund, TOUGH.

Even if the details are sent off correctly, there is no guarantee DVLA will update them, in a timely manner they have been regulars on Watchdog, for their incompetence and wrongful interpretation of the law, especially as they make it up as they go along, putting a non existing duty on a keeper to check they have actioned a change after a month. on pain of a most likely illegal fine. They have lost in court over proof of posting on that one on numerous occasions. Just check out CAG threads on DVLA to see their muppetry in action.

I have e-mailed JBW today asking for breakdown of charges. I am especially interested in 'other fees' of £350. I have seen on other threads that they charge other fee by default and it always seemed to be magic £350.

LB Barking & Dagenham. You can trust them as far as you can comfortably spit a dead rat. You can be assured that this local authority never isued a warrant of execution which then created the following sequence of events.

No warant meant that the bailiff never had one with him

Which means he didn't know who you were or where you lived

Which is why he detected the vehicle on the road instead of at the address which would have been written on to the warrant he never had.

His actions were unlawful for two reasons

a) he never had a warrant

b) he has contravened Civil Procedure Rule 75 7 7 which requires him to levy at the address written on the warrant.

Happens every day.

Corruption personified

You can be assured that this local authority never isued a warrant of execution which then created the following sequence of events.

That's a pretty big claim to make. Please back it up with something. For instance, how do you suppose the bailiff ever became aware of this vehicle or the PCN on it?