Council Tax - How can bailiffs tell which car is mine?

[The GodMother]

kk thank you for correcting me on this. I did not know this and only found sum info about baliffs on beat the baliff one bbc one. this is not on any more tho.

[Goldlady]

I had fun (wasn't at the time) a few years ago when bailiffs came to our office. OH pushed the van keys into my hand as I was leaving to collect the kids (with my laptop hidden in a carrier bag). I then proceeded to drive off in the van after which the bailiff said to OH - well of course we can distrain on your van; he turned round and there it was - gone!! OH could not remember the registration number so that was that:D

[Oh Boy!]

ER NO

 

All warrants issued from the courts are valid for 1 year I know because i deal with them all the time, if the warrant expires it needs to be re-issued.

 

A bailiff cannot act on a expired warrant Distress Warrants in particular for Council Tax is valid for 1 year.

[Bonus77]

If your name is recorded with DVLA this is good enough for the bailiff to remove the car. Even changing the name may not work as it can take some time to record the information at DVLA.

 

Goods on Hire Purchase are NOT always protected. Most bailiff's will leave these alone....however some will remove them.....BUT they cannot sell them. The removal is a threat to get you to pay.

 

Sorry for the delay in responses, ive only just been able to check, and thanks for everyones contributions.

 

I am complaining to both the council, and the bailiffs office, and the guy himself in the hope I can come to a payment agreement.

 

Just curious about this point though, I thought the bailiffs dont have access to DVLA records, so how can they check the car is actually yours before its taken?

[Oh Boy!]

Bailiffs can if they have the access.

 

But generally they can ask the council to undertake an enquiry with DVLA,

the check is done and results returned electronically within 24 hours, that information if a different keeper, will be passed to the bailiff to assist in locating the "goods".

[Coasters]

You must prove that items belong to someone else not the other way around as far as I know.

[tomtubby]

Bailiff law is very clear on this point.

 

If the bailiff has good reasons to believe that goods belong to you, then he can take them. The onus of proof is on YOU.....not the bailiff to prove ownership.

[Coasters]

Ahh, I got it right for once

[hagenuk]

Can bailiffs levy on a car without the owners knowledge and then produce, for example a Walking Possession Agreement duly completed with the car details and pass this off to claim the extra fees?

[Coasters]

Do not quote me on this but i think so yes. For cars I do not think they need a 'walking possession' agreement as thats when you let them in to stop immediate action. It may well depend on type of debt, court papers and the like but the short answer I believe is yes (if they are damn sure its the alleged owner). Bailiffs are allowed to take cars parked outside but cannot break into a garage. If I know Bailiffs I would also not be suprised if they do not charge for the pleasure of taking your car as well.

 

If you can prove you need a car for your job and there are no other (reasonable) options they also cant take it I believe. What is reasonable is anyone's guess.

 

Wait for someone with more experience to confirm though

[tomtubby]

There ia a specific Walking Possession Agreement under the Statutory Forms that provides for a Walking Possession to be agreed in the case of collection of unpaid parking charge notices.

 

Normally when enforcing an unpaid PCN bailiffs will instead clamp and remove a vehicle. This SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE.

 

Bailiff's DO NOT like to enter into Walking Possessions for cars because.......they can't then charge the clamp and removal fee but can instead charge just the walking possession fee which is nominal.

 

The answer to your question is that a vehicle that is seized MUST be recorded as such. Either on a Walking Possession if he leaves the vehicle behind OR if the vehicle is being removed, then the bailiff BY LAW must leave behind a Notice of Seizure and Inventory (Form 7) .

 

If he fails to leave this document then it is recorded as IRREGULAR SEIZURE.

[hagenuk]

Thanks for the swift reply. At the risk of a further hijack, although I believe it is relevant to this thread, the bailiff company have crossed out the WPO section.

 

They are claiming two visit fees and a levy fee for a car.

 

The car does belong to the debtor, that is not in dispute, however, he was not there that day and he also states that the bailiff only visited once and that was simply to push a scrap of paper through the door. The bailiff in question was not certificated at that time either and the total amount outstanding now includes two visits and a levy fee.

 

Further, the alleged levy on the car was made in July so surely, if it were real, they would have acted upon this by now, since no payments have been made?

 

His contention is that this is fabricated in order to increase the fees in particular since the fees indicated on the scrap of paper left after the first visit actually add up to the total allowed for the first and second visits, so clearly they are getting ahead of themselves by charging for two visits on the day of the first visit.

 

Incidentally, all three alleged visits were made within 4 days, is this also permitted?

 

I should point out that this is a council tax debt. Many thanks

[Bonus77]

Bailiffs can if they have the access.

 

But generally they can ask the council to undertake an enquiry with DVLA,

the check is done and results returned electronically within 24 hours, that information if a different keeper, will be passed to the bailiff to assist in locating the "goods".

 

So, do they search by name or by the vehicle?

 

Im hoping to ride this out til they return it to the council, ive done as advised and sent in letters to both the council and rundles complaining about the extra fees and offering to settle the first account immediately and requesting a reasonable payment plan for the second. I think im doing all i can, but am really still worried about my car.

 

Its hard to explain, but my car is nowhere near my house, my house is on a walkway, and you cant park behind either, and my wife needs the car for her job and the kids. Unless they searched on about 40 vehicles in the area, I cant see how they would tell which one was mine apart from possibly asking my neighbours. I dont really want to have to park it even further away. Its very annoying, but ultimately my own fault.

 

How long does it take for the bailiffs to give up and send it back to the council? Im going just make the payments directly online for now, just to show how willing to pay i am.

 

Again, thanks for continued advice.

[Oh Boy!]

Yes as I have i advised on Multiple occasions on other matters pay the Creditor Direct, there is nothing in law that bars you from doing that.

 

They will always come up with "the file is with bailiff you have to pay them" WRONG. I have spoken to many bailiffs from all the well hated ones, they are loathed to find that Debtors pay the creditors direct.

 

There is a search facility for names against cars but only POLICE are allowed to do it, these are for very serious criminal cases. Councils and Bailiffs do not have access to such information, so you have no worrys about name searches against cars.

 

Drakes USED to check the first 20 cars near to the debtors home, but the DVLA put a stop to that, Data Protection Act and other reasons. They can only sieze the vehicle that is listed on the warrant of execution no other.

 

Goods seized that belong to others is dealt with a Interpleder hearing owner comes to court and and provides evidence of ownership etc.

 

The real question is, is that Bailiffs will always try and go for the car, but if they can't find it then they won't bother and they will return the warrant back to the council.

 

BUT BE WARNED THE COUNCIL HAVE THE RIGHT TO HAVE YOU COMMITTED TO PRISON FOR COUNCIL TAX DEBT OR EVEN MAKE YOU BANKRUPT IF DEBT IS OVER £750.00.

[Bonus77]

Thanks, thats reassuring.

 

I think ive been pretty honest with the council, have written to them several times and their only reason for passing my second account across is that I didnt fill in the correct form in time (which I didnt receive!), so dont think they be able to quite send me to prison.

 

hope not anyway!!