car bailiff towed

[alisheikh]

Hi

 

I got a knock at 6am today by a bialiff, claiming that I owe them £500

 

there apparently has been a congestion fine for the car but it was being sent to my old address, I did not receive any fine whatsoever.

He clamped my car and towed it not negotiating at all about payment.

 

now my car is gone. and they want £700 for recovery.

 

who can I speak to about this.??? what advice can you give me

ive called about 100 solicitors. none of them seem to deal with bailiff issues, then ones that do said they want £2000 up front.

 

help please

[palomino]

Have you tried your local CAB?

 

tomtubby on here is knowledgable about bailiffs. If he doesn't pop in here by himself you might like to mail him.

[WWOW]

You aren’t going to get instant results but you can make a start.

 

Contact the bailiff to pay and collect your car.

 

1. Take someone with you to collect your car

2. Take a camera, pen & paper and a mobile phone.

3. When you arrive at the compound, ask your witness to write down anything the bailiff says to you. REMAIN CALM AT ALL TIMES. Don’t give anything away that you are about to put him in front of the judge and report him for fraud etc.

4. Pay with a credit card – NEVER question the fees but you MUST ask for a breakdown, if he refuses a breakdown then take down the name of the person giving refusal. Say NOTHING even if you know he’s overcharged you, charged a non prescribed fee or a credit card transaction fee.

5. When you reach your car, and before you get inside – photograph every scratch dent, scuff and mark, look at the wheels for clamp marks or from where it was towed or lifted. Take 40+ photos. If a bailiff objects to you taking pictures take his photograph and make a note of his objection. You will need this when reclaim the cost of repairs in the small claims track.

6. If a bailiff asks you to delete photos from your camera, say no! (the bailiff wiill be perverting the couse of justice) And make a note of his request. You need photos of damage to claim repairs from the authority that instructed the bailiff.

 

Then write to the bailiff with a Letter Before Action asking for your costs including a rental car, taxi’s etc recovering your own car and plenty of other costs. I can knock up some letters for you along with a Particulars of Claim to file at court if needed.

 

You need to make Form 4 complaint against the bailiff: Download the form from the HMCS website: http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/form4_0606.pdf and in the Details of Complaint: - Tweak as required

 

I make this complaint because on [DATE] at [TIME] the bailiff clamped and took my motor vehicle [MAKE AND MODEL] registration [ABC 123] as collateral for unpaid congestion charge of £[AMOUNT] plus fees of £[AMOUNT].

 

The bailiff failed to contact me beforehand or provide me reasonable opportunity to pay. He levied on the vehicle and then moved it to artificially inflate his fees and make a higher gain for himself than he would otherwise make.

 

I received no previous indication from anyone I owed any money and the bailiff took my car at 6am without warning or giving me reasonable opportunity to pay beforehand.

 

My car is necessary for getting to and from work. I tried to seek an amicable resolve with the bailiff afterwards but became defensive and vexatious in nature and demanding unrealistically high fees to return my car.

 

I understand a bailiff overcharging me with their fees or artificially inflating the debt to make a gain for himself or for someone else is called fee extortion and commits an offence under Sections 2 and 4 of the Fraud Act 2006.

 

I attach a copy of the bailiff’s receipt showing the total amount paid and confirmation showing the value of the original debt.

 

I ask for the vehicle to be returned undamaged to me at no cost to myself and I am remunerated for my financial losses in relation to repairing any damage to my vehicle caused by the bailiff, replacement of damaged and missing contents and for costs for my rental car and taxi's whilst my car was in the bailiff's possession.

 

Send the form to the certificating court with a covering letter asking for it to be placed before a judge.

 

Contact your credit card provider and do a chargeback under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 for the full amount you paid to the bailiff with your credit card using the grounds the bailiff placed you (the consumer) under unreasonable pressure to make a money transfer in favour of the merchant (the bailiff), and the merchant charged a fee that is not a staturory fee committing an offence under Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.

[tomtubby]

An Out of Time late Statutory Declaration needs to be filed IMMEDIATELY.

 

In cases such as this you application should certainly be accepted. Our office have received confirmation of 5 acceptances regarding TfL just today.

 

The downside is that many bailiff companies will insist on leaving the car at the pound until the application is determinded. This will not be before 5 weeks, therefore if you can afford to pay the fee to get the vehicle released ot amy be better although I am quite confident that TfL would instruct the vehicle to be returned given the wrong address etc.

 

Before removing a vehicle it is normal for the bailiff to contact TfL to confirm whether they are in agreement to the vehicle being taken. For this reason they would have had to confirm to TfL that they are happy that you have received documentation. I am unsure how they would do this.

 

Did the bailiff provide a complaints leaflet from TfL? This is important. Can you let em know.

 

Also did he provide a Notice of seizure of goods and Inventory?