Car gone

[maxi1]

Hello there everyone

 

I hope to be able to contribute to this site and also have people contribute to my problems!

 

well here goes with my first problem!

 

Today at 6.30am Drakes Bailiffs dropped a note through my door saying I owe £998 in unpaid fines and costs and that they would be taking my car in payment

 

firstly this is the first letter i have had from Drakes and secondly my car is on hp. When i went and told the bailiff about the car being on HP and that it was not mine to give to them he said it did not matter and then the truck came and took it. As i need the car for work i am at home today trying to make sense of this.

any advice would be much apppreciated.

[welly]

Hi Maxi

 

Could you start a new thread here:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-bailiffs-advice/

 

And you will get the help you need here and good luck:)

[Guest Zooman]

You need to inform the HP company today that their car has been took in payment of parking fines (I know it may not be but they will understand more if you say that) by the bailiffs. There is not much more you can do today beyond going with the money and paying them.

 

You will have to pay them but the question is how much? and can they take the car?

 

Only If this is Council Tax.

 

What I would also suggest is you phone the local magaratie court and make an appeal in connection with distress under The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 46.1.

 

Appeals in connection with distress

46.—(1) A person aggrieved by the levy of, or an attempt to levy, a distress may appeal to a magistrates' court.

 

(2) The appeal shall be instituted by making complaint to a justice of the peace, and requesting the issue of a summons directed to the authority which levied or attempted to levy the distress to appear before the court to answer to the matter by which the person is aggrieved.

 

(3) If the court is satisfied that a levy was irregular, it may order the goods distrained to be discharged if they are in the possession of the authority; and it may by order award compensation in respect of any goods distrained and sold of an amount equal to the amount which, in the opinion of the court, would be awarded by way of special damages in respect of the goods if proceedings were brought in trespass or otherwise in connection with the irregularity under regulation 45(7).

 

(4) If the court is satisfied that an attempted levy was irregular, it may by order require the authority to desist from levying in the manner giving rise to the irregularity.

I will post your grounds ASAP

[Guest Zooman]

I need to know what they where levying for before I continue.

[maxi1]

Hi Zooman thanks for replying.

 

they were levying for unpaid parking fines to which they added their "admin" charges.

[Guest Zooman]

and how much are the admin fees

[maxi1]

the notice does not state what they have charged this section has been left blank so as the parking penalty charge, bailiffs attendance costs, removal costs and VAT on bailiffs costs just "total amount due today £966.26" has been filled in.

[Guest Zooman]

did you get hold of Hp company. You must get a break down of fees to fight this, they have to give you one in law but they will not give it easily.

 

When

[maxi1]

Thanks Zooman

 

what i intend to do today (slowly as at work!) but have written letter to the court asking them to order bailliff to return the car as it on hp bailiff was not entitled to take as it belongs to HP co, am faxing the baliff to give breakdown of costs and to return car for same reasons and finally ringing HP co. (rang them yesterday and they said bailiff will eventually ring them if i do not collect car asap) and in strong terms letting them know they must demand return of car as it belongs to them. I will be faxing all parties. Yesterday tried to phone bailiff (he left mobile no on notice) kept going to voicemail, rang bailiff office kept on hold (0870 no. for 15 mins! no one took call rang 4 times each time for 15 mins)

[Rob S]

Don't forget to search SAYNOTO0870.COM - Non-Geographical Alternative Telephone Numbers on their 0870 number to see if they have a normal landline number listed. At least the next time you call them you won't be boosting their profits by using the 0870 number.

 

Edit. This is their head office number - 01992 703700 . You might be able to get through to their call centre via that. Their web address is Drakes Group - Certified bailiffs, total civil enforcement and debt recovery solutions, certificated bailiff

[maxi1]

Hi Rob

thanks very much for your info i will email as well as fax my correspondence them. will keep you informed

[maxi1]

Hi again,

 

i managed to speak to a manager at black horse (Hp company) who told me that Black horse would not ask for the car to be returned as I am not in arrears with my acccount with them! Anyway i told them that the car belongs to them and legally bailiffs should not have taken a car on HP but he was adamant that i would need to sort this out with bailiffs and to keep them informed but in the meantime i must continue to pay for car.

 

i have fired off faxed letter to the court in terms of letting them know that the bailiff acted beyond his powers in taking hp car and that he did not give me a breakdown of what i owed and i have copied the court letter to Drakes Bailiffs by email.

 

will keep you informed.

 

thanks for all the help and advice so far it is really encouraging

[philread1]

Hello maxi1

 

I'm really sorry to here about all the s*** your in. I have a few similar problems at the moment. A debt collector was supposed to come and see me between 9-9 today, but they did'nt turn up. Mine is due to unpaid council tax. I'm trying to hold them off at present till my cases with unlawful charges are concluded. If they are successful, they will give me enough money to pay them off.

 

I really don't know how to deal with these people or situations. Why on earth do we get ourselves in this mess?! On the other hand I do think a lot is to do with the high tax system in this country, all the tax I pay is a joke!

 

Anyway, sorry to rant a little, but by reading your thread I wish I could be of more help to you.

 

Hope all turns out good in the end, and keep your chin up, don't let the b******* grind you down!!!!!

 

Phil:)

[Guest Zooman]

The magistrates' court option is only for Council Tax.

[JonCris]

If they are certified as they claim demand the bailiffs number & the court that certified them..

 

Also word of caution this is important check your agreement with Black Horse. does it say its a personal loan.

 

There's a bit of an issue going on at the moment with Black Horse & their dealer car finance. Check this out The Black Horse car finance saga ... in The AnswerBank: Money & Finance

 

A personal loan normaly means you DO own the car from the outset & it should not be registered with HPI. But BH are registering such financed cars which they should only do if they had sold them on ordinary HP.

 

Also this might be why the guy at BH didn't want to get involved.

 

Hate saying this but your best & immeadiate course of action appears to be pay them get back your car then start you action to reclaim their charges & also possibly the parking fines which may have been invalidated by the way they where issued

[maxi1]

philread1 and Joncris thanks for messages.

looking at the agreement it says it is a hp agreement and the goods do not become my property until i have made all the payments.

 

Right now am hoping that court (who signed bailiff notice shoreditch & Clerkenwell) will agree that bailiff acted outside of powers and refer back to court. i have not had post yet today (as at work) but will let you know.

 

Received a letter from Drakes yesterday saying as you know we have your car if you can't pay send us keys and docs for car so they can sell it quickly to settle debt. I know they cannot do this as BH own the car. Sent a copy of Drakes letter to BH. I feel BH were not being helpful cos i am sure they use Drakes themselves when they have to repossess vehicles from customers! but we shall see.....

[Guest Zooman]

I emailed someone in the know earlier and I got an email back. I edited the personal stuff.

 

Hi Ashley,

 

When the bailiffs that we use (for penalty charge notices) initially receive an account they run a DVLA check to establish ownership of the vehicle. Once the account reaches levy stage they will then run a HPI Check to establish if the vehicle is actually owned by the defendant or whether it has been purchased under finance.

 

It sounds, in this instance, that the bailiffs in question haven't followed this procedure (our bailiffs xxxxxxxxxxx) so perhaps are acting unlawfully.

 

I wouldn't know what to comment in terms of the "defendant" seeking redress, but would suggest they pay up first, seek financial compensation secondly.

 

Hope helps

xxx

[maxi1]

Hi Zooman

thanks for that and also your friends advice.

 

It seems that Drakes did not care that it was on hp (they know the drill about checking first) and are hoping that i buckle and pay up and ask questions later, but i am going to pressure them and let them know that i know they acted illegally. As someone said earlier they do not reply to corrspondence post or email so i will register the letter i send to them today so i have this as evidence that i informed them of the position.

 

thanks

[Guest Zooman]

illegally = unlawfully

[Guest Zooman]

Can you get the money together and pay and fight on the costs later?

[JonCris]

philread1 and Joncris thanks for messages.

looking at the agreement it says it is a hp agreement and the goods do not become my property until i have made all the payments.

 

Right now am hoping that court (who signed bailiff notice shoreditch & Clerkenwell) will agree that bailiff acted outside of powers and refer back to court. i have not had post yet today (as at work) but will let you know.

 

Received a letter from Drakes yesterday saying as you know we have your car if you can't pay send us keys and docs for car so they can sell it quickly to settle debt. I know they cannot do this as BH own the car. Sent a copy of Drakes letter to BH. I feel BH were not being helpful cos i am sure they use Drakes themselves when they have to repossess vehicles from customers! but we shall see.....

 

I'm still concerned because if it was legaly still BH's property they would be demanding it's return. I'm concerned that you could still lose the car for a pittance but continue to pay the finance.

 

Also a point worth noting is that to allow this to happen to your car is usually a breach of most loan agreements as you are required to take all reasonable steps to protect the lenders interest

 

The T&C of a finance agreement can determine what it is (not just what it claims to be). For example does it allow you to return the car in good condition fair wear & tear accepted without penalty after half is paid. Does it say that they can only repossess the car by order of the court if you have paid over 1/3.

 

If it does not you should take it to your nearest CAB & request someone there have a look at it & confrim which it is

 

In the meantime don't mention any of the above to Drakes as whatever the type of contract it's best they think it is on HP.

 

As has already been advised try & payup get your car back then go after the bums for whatever you can get.

You'll get a lot of help here cos we all hate DCA's & in particular baillifs & debt collecters who are nothing more than parasites who live off the misfortunes of others

[maxi1]

yes i think that would be prudent but its gonna hurt.... but i need my car so yes will have to decide by end of today.....

[maxi1]

Thanks Joncris

 

i don't know what black horse playing at either on that score, they just seem to have washed hands completely, i felt i would be in a strong position regarding the HP stance cos before i came to this site i saw lots of info on internet saying that bailffs cannot take HP car but that seems to have gone by wayside:mad:

gonna call BH and ask to speak to legal dept keep you informed

[philread1]

Hello maxi1

 

That seems like a good suggestion by zooman, if you can do it, try and pay what they want now, and take the fight to them after. Its also a quicker way to get your car back I presume, as I don't think the b******* will give it back to you without a decent fight either.

 

Hope all goes well for you

Phil:)

[rambo]

This whole case is a disgrace.

By law the bailiffs cannot take anything that does not belong to you.

They are breaking the law, simple.

The court that issued the warrant to the bailiff should be involved in getting this sorted.

Could the bailiffs be reported to the police for theft?.