A friend of mine went to pay his council tax at the council offices albeit a little late about 2 months late, I did tell him off but any hoo, he was told to come back later that afternoon to "have a chat" with the bailiff as the council un-be-known to my friend had passed the debt over to them. So he went back to have his little chat he paid what was owed (which he thought was the up to date amount) but when he came away he found that he owed more, the whole years amount plus the bailiff has put on their charges of almost £80. Now before I start letter writing I need to know whether bailiffs can charge a fee for this proceedure seeing that the bailiff didnt make a visit to my friend but the other way round. There was a lot of people seeing this bailiff that afternoon, can you imagine how much she earnt just by sitting there for two hours if she charged the same amount for every one she saw that day. even if she charged the correct amount of £24.00 thats £24.00 per visit ranging from 5mins to 10 mins thats over £100 per hour for sitting on her backside for 2 hours. Does she have to be certified also as my friend noticed that she was new, yes he has been there before silly man. Next visit he is going to ask for a break down on the charges and ask her her name so I can check if she is certified. Info about this would be greatly recieved:)

they are meant to be regulated and they must stick to the law, but they think that people do not know the law and will use every trick in the book to bully, intimadate, lie etc just to get more money off people. People who do know the law fight back take said bailiff to court and the bailiff gets his just desserts. Its a long process but well worth it in the end believe me I know There are many success stories in here where the said bailiff loses his certificate and pays compensation out of his bond money from between 500 to 3000 pounds, albeit not out of his pocket, dosnt look good on his employment record though

In my opinion every one should pay what they are DUE to pay, no more no less, and as much as I hate bullies who think they can get away with it they still have rights and the law should be adhered to. (not that I agree with that though- no criminals should have rights) But where as these bullies get arressted and get a fine the bully boy bailiffs get off scot free and think they can intimadate, assault and threaten people and not pay the consequences and think that this is their God given right to treat the people the way they do. Most bailiffs to me are just glorified criminals who thwart the law at every opertunity so are just as bad as the common criminal if not worst in some cases.

well personally I wouldnt call it stupid I would of called it some thing far worse. Debts or no debts the money was not yours and you should of paid it back straight away, which was the moral thing to do.

wouldnt that be down to the council to get that back, if so, oh wouldnt I like to be the fly on the wall, can you imagine the look on the bailiff's face having to pay back that money.

This is what I like to hear, thats made my day, well done you Lucy

Hi Pauline, my daughter is going through a very simular thing but it hasnt got to the court stage yet as the debt company who has taken over my daughters debt from EON has seen that EON has made a huge mistake on the account, she is being charged £3000 for electricity for 4 months for a 2 bed cottage during the summer where mostly she used gas ie cooking and hot water and had electric for tv and lights and your normal everyday appliances. and get this she worked in the day and was away every weekend. she did a meter reading and it worked out at less than £200 but eon have taken that reading agreed to send her out a bill at her new address which has never been sent but now have passed on the debt adding over 2800 pounds. I have had the same with BG sent me a bill for £280 for 6 weeks of gas, I did a reading which turned out to be under £40. My point is that these companies always estimate at a far higher amount than is really nessasary and BG has in the past been fined for this. I hope you get this sorted. Good luck You will get help from here

That number is for the 'action for debt' advice line.

Can I also ask what the debt is for and how much the bailiff was asking for. had your grandparents been notified that this was going to happen. Im guessing it was for a parking fine. I am 100% positive that they cannot do this unless the car was on hire purchase and the company wanted it back through non payments.

The answer is no they cannot take a car that either has a blue badge in it or registered as a disabled vehicle and also your grandparents are classed as vunerable so should of checked the car in the first place to see that it was a disabled vehicle. Department for Constitutional Affairs - Enforcement - National Standards for Enforcement Agents London Motorists Action Group - Drakes bailiff Pt4 complaint court report from Bailiff Advice Online FightBack Forums > Pensioner dies after being taken to Cash Point by Bailiffs. I hope that these links help

Firstly you say you are disabled do you have a blue badge, if so then your car should not have been taken. Also if this bailiff was not certified then he should not have carried out this proceedure. You need to get onto Marstons asap and tell them this and tell them they either get your car back to you asap without further charges or you will make a formal complaint to the courts stating that their bailiff was not certified to carry out such proceedures and what he did was illegal also state that they cannot take a disabled vehicle. I hope this helps

if you have paid in full before he came to visit the second time then he dosnt have a leg to stand on, in other words he cannot inforce it

what I am understanding from this is that you got a giro which you cashed at the exchange, the DWP or DSS did not honor the giro. The exchange should of been aware that any crossed giro's can only be cashed at a bank or post office savings account in your name only. So really shouldnt of cashed the giro. If the DWP or DSS did not honor this giro then in theroy they should still owe you this money. did the DWP or DSS ever send you out another giro for the amount in question, you could of asked them to send it in smaller amounts so that you could cash them at a post office so you could of paid back the exchange.

rings a bell.....

They will class that as a clerical error no doubt

If I am not mistaken wasnt he either banned from here or he changed his name, but if its the same one he is about on here from time to time under a new name. Not used him though;)

some excellent advice given here claire so dont worry. Bailiff will do everything in their powers to intimadate you into paying what they think they can get out of you. keep us informed

So you have been paying them each week without fail and they say no payment plan is in motion, I hope you have all records of your calls and payments to them because if you do then they have made a huge mistake. You need to ask them where your money is going and who the hell do you speak to when you call them to make payment. Sounds all very fishy to me, but thats no surprise

Is the actual debt from the council £1000 or do these include the charges the bailiff made. this is important to know, plus as you are a single parent on a low income you are deemed to be classed as vunerable. I would get intouch with the council asap and ask if they could take the debt back and try and get them to get a payment plan set up, it is often wise to go and see them rather than speak to some one on the phone, tell them you feel threatened by this bailiff. by the way what did he write on the WPO what goods has he listed.

To cover his back he got a certified bailiff to sign on his behalf, this is not allowed. I got some ones charges taken off their debt because a bailiff had done this in the past, get a complaint sent to his head office asap but have a form 4 ready upon their reply. send all copies to the council in question enclosing a letter of your intentions.

looks good to me .. simply yet straight to the point If I was you and you could afford it I would pay any money owing to the council via their online payment method. Its worth a try.

Thats a steep charge they made for the one vist, but its not surprising. it might be of interest to you to have a look at some of the other threads in here where extortionate charges have been made by bailiffs, will give you an insight of what to say or write if need be.

Ok he cannot force his way into your property or get a lock smith, what he has told you there is a blatant lie. Get intouch with the council who you owe money too and ask them how much is outstanding, ask them if they can take back the debt as you fear the bailiff after he started to threaten you with arrest and that he was going to break in explain you have a child/children there. Dont let him in if he comes back, tell him you know your rights and what he told you was a lie and you will complain about him to his employers and if they do not do anything then you will submit a form 4 to the courts where he was certified. Check he is certified. He cannot charge you any more that £24 for the 1st visit £18 for the second visit. No wpo or levy was made so he cannot charge for those either. You need to call him or call his firm and ask for a break down of the charges and see what he is charging you for. once you get the breakdown see how much is outstanding and offer the council a payment plan. Let us know how you get on.

Thank you so much for that info T2upNorth. Unfortunately for my friend he was letting this property from some one who did not Buy to rent and failed to inform her morgage provider, so he was not informed that the house was being reposessed. What sadens me is that he has lived in this property for 4 or more years. This was his home and it was taken from him in a matters of minutes, he isnt a young chap where he can start over easily, he is getting on in years and is claiming benefits so its hard for him to get the monies to get together a deposit for a home either by renting or buying. He has gone from a 2 bed home to just a dingy room with nothing but the clothes he stands up in. And the morgage company dosnt give a damn, shame on them, shame on the courts the landlord the poilce and the bailiffs. All he is guilty of is not asking if the landlord had permission to rent out the property. I have rented properties for most of my adult life and not once have I ever asked that question to a landlord. he just wants his belongings back so he can find a home. I am concerned now though for his state of mental health and what this has done to him.

My advice is to phone the courts back and ask if your case has been reffered back to them. If so all well and good.. if not then you may need to chase up marstons again and ask them if they are planning on sending back your case to the courts. These people, who I have had dealings with in the past are not very forthcoming with information from the start and have a nasty habit of just turning up when you least expect them to.