Taking HCEO to fee assesment hearing

[fay180]

Hi all, this isn't my first post but it's been ages since I last posted and I can't remember my login (have also changed email addresses so can't retreive)

 

Anyway......

 

I was taken to court for an outstanding debt that I couldn't pay at the time. I didn't receive any papers from the court re judgement and therefore couldn't respond. The debt then went to high court and the first I knew of it was when some bloke landed at my front door to recover the debt. The problem was that they had then added over £900 in charges on top of the original debt. Some of the items being charged for have not been carried out / carried out correctly.

 

I have read with interest the thread re Sherforce and the case to recover the excess charges but my case is different in that I have paid the original judgement amount within a couple of days of knowing about it but have not yet paid and charges to the HCEO.

 

I have completed a CPR8 form and sent it to the High Court to request them to assess the fees that the HCEO are charging. They have now replied saying that action is suspended pending a hearing to assess the fees. Forms have now been submitted to relevent parties to establish a suitable hearing date.

 

Does anyone have any advice as to what will happen at the hearing and what I should prepare in advance?

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

You need really to get the legal bods to look at your thread, if you do not get replies soon I suggest you clink on the red triangle leaving a message for the site team to direct people with some expertise to your thread.

[ploddertom]

Hi all, this isn't my first post but it's been ages since I last posted and I can't remember my login (have also changed email addresses so can't retreive)

 

Anyway......

 

I was taken to court for an outstanding debt that I couldn't pay at the time. I didn't receive any papers from the court re judgement and therefore couldn't respond. The debt then went to high court and the first I knew of it was when some bloke landed at my front door to recover the debt. The problem was that they had then added over £900 in charges on top of the original debt. Some of the items being charged for have not been carried out / carried out correctly.

From what you say above then you have grounds to apply for Set Aside. If you win this then any monies you have paid the HCEO will have to be refunded to you. Do not rely on the Creditor doing this send a copy of the Order off yourself.

 

I have read with interest the thread re Sherforce and the case to recover the excess charges but my case is different in that I have paid the original judgement amount within a couple of days of knowing about it but have not yet paid and charges to the HCEO.

 

If it is our friends from Basildon then it may pay you to drop Lets Fight Bailiffs a PM as he is gathering info on our illustrious friends and their nefarious activities.

 

Who did you pay the original amount to?

 

I have completed a CPR8 form and sent it to the High Court to request them to assess the fees that the HCEO are charging. They have now replied saying that action is suspended pending a hearing to assess the fees. Forms have now been submitted to relevent parties to establish a suitable hearing date.

 

Does anyone have any advice as to what will happen at the hearing and what I should prepare in advance?

 

I assume you have a complete breakdown of the fees they want to charge. Most important is the "Activity Report" or whatever it may be called. This lists everything to do with your account from the time and date they receive the initial file to completion, including any visits, letters, phone calls, emails etc, it also lists at what particular stages fees are added and what they are for. It is with this that you can hit them hardest.

 

Write down everything that happened when they attended, include any witness statements from anyone - including own family - who may have seen and heard what happened.

 

The hearing can be a relaxed affair with the Master asking lots of questions of both parties. Beware them springing surprises at the last minute which may lead to an adjournment. They can be very sneaky.

 

Most important keep us up to date with any happenings.

 

PT

[brownefamily]

Have a look at my comments in the other thread on Sherforce

 

I did what you have done (paid the debt but not the ridiculous fees) took Sherforce to a Fees Assessment Hearing and they pulled out when they saw they were going to lose and ended up paying my costs

 

There's nothing to fear from the Hearing other than Sherforce producing evidence on the day that you've never seen and having loads of contradictory evidence!

 

You can win! They can't charge excessive fees when you've paid so quickly and can't argue that you should be paying for aspects of their service/company that were never used in your case.....well, they can argue but common-sense says that can't be right and the law agreed with me on that!

 

check the thread Sheerfarce Fraud/Deception or pm me if you want any help

[fay180]

Thanks for your responses and advice so far, apologies that this is just a very quick post but I've gotta go to work.

 

Ploddertom - Yes we do have a full breakdown of charges and these were also submitted to the High Court with the CPR8 form. We do not have an activity report though. How do I go about getting one - Data Protection disclosure request?

 

Brownefamily - Thanks for your support. I don't exactly fear the hearing as I believe we are in the right. It is more of a huge inconvenience if anything given that it will be approx 600 mile round trip for me so I would like to make sure I'm prepared to avoid having to do it more than once if possible.

 

The other thing is that the court staff have taken a great interest and have commented that they would like to attend just to hear what the Master has to say. It's almost as if this is the first case of it's kind and is some sort of precedent. I understand that this is not the case from other postings on this site so don't know quite why they are so excited about it.

[ohitsonlyme]

Thanks for your responses and advice so far, apologies that this is just a very quick post but I've gotta go to work.

 

Ploddertom - Yes we do have a full breakdown of charges and these were also submitted to the High Court with the CPR8 form. We do not have an activity report though. How do I go about getting one - Data Protection disclosure request?

In mt case I sent a data access request for £10 but they will take the 40 days to get this to you

mine is full of holes and contadictions of dates times etc I paid my ccj within 10days am now on to my second hearing,in the first one they lied and mislead the master in court

Brownefamily - Thanks for your support. I don't exactly fear the hearing as I believe we are in the right. It is more of a huge inconvenience if anything given that it will be approx 600 mile round trip for me so I would like to make sure I'm prepared to avoid having to do it more than once if possible. The hearings are nothing to fear but the travel is part of the costs why not fly down and ask for it back

 

The other thing is that the court staff have taken a great interest and have commented that they would like to attend just to hear what the Master has to say. It's almost as if this is the first case of it's kind and is some sort of precedent. I understand that this is not the case from other postings on this site so don't know quite why they are so excited about it.

There may be a bit of a buzz going rouyndas some sherrifs are gonna get their come uppance this certainly isnt theri first or last

lets fight bailiffs has recently won and has something in the papers this week

Keep on with it the more of us that fight back and are capable the less they will take advantage of people that cant fight for themselves

Onlyme

[fay180]

Thanks. I'll get to work on the suject access request then.

[High Court Enforcer]

£900 may be fare, it depends on the size of the debt.

 

Is the HCEO still pursuing you for the fees?

 

If not you may be wasting your time on the detailed assessment.

 

 

 

LFB won? Yeah, alright.

[Dodgy Geezer]

900 may be fare

 

I would like to bet that they are extortionate as per.

 

 

LFB won? Yeah, alright.

 

Do i detect a hint of sarcasm, annoyance even?

 

Whatever the reason, the more of us that fight for our rights against these thieving parasites, the better place this will be.

[fay180]

£900 may be fare, it depends on the size of the debt. I can assure you that £900 is far from fair. I ain't getting into an argument here as you are obviously on the side of the HCEO.

Is the HCEO still pursuing you for the fees? Not officially. I have received a phone call from them and have reminded them that all asction is suspended pending hearing - not heard from them since

 

If not you may be wasting your time on the detailed assessment. I will take that chance, thanks.

 

LFB won? Yeah, alright.

 

See above

[Nintendo Pü]

£900 may be fare, it depends on the size of the debt.

 

£900? I think not, even for someone who has a proppar education and can write proper English.

[ohitsonlyme]

Use the following for your data access request it work for me make sure you get everything and study it for anomalies

 

Sherforce High court enforcement

3-4 Freeport Office Village

Century Drive

Braintree

Essex

CM77 8YG

xxxxxxx 2009

Your previous reference numberxxxxxxx

Dear Sir/Madam

Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access Request

Kindly provide full and complete copies of any and all data you hold which relates to me and my entire history with your company. I have enclosed the statutory maximum of £10.

 

For the avoidance of doubt, take note that the enclosed cheque is payment for the fee relating to my Subject Access Request only and not a payment of any other kind or to be used for any other purpose. If you do not require a fee in order to process my Subject Access Request then kindly return my cheque.

 

For your convenience I have detailed below a list of what I require, although this is not an exhaustive list by any means and is just an example of some of the information I require with regard to any accounts I may have had or may still have with your company.

 

1. Computer screen notes relating to the conduct of my account

2. Computer screen notes relating to transactions that have gone through my account

3. Internal messages or notes relating to the conduct of my account

4. Internal messages or notes relating to transactions that have gone through my account

5. Recordings of any telephone conversations, whether internal or external, relating to my account

6. Copies of any e-mail's, or other electronic communications, whether internal or external, relating my account

7. Copies of letters relating to my account

8. All information relating to litigation that has taken place on my account

9. A detailed statement of account showing a breakdown of all costs charged, showing in each case the reason for the cost and the actual cost against that item

10. Copies of all reviews conducted relating to my account

11. For any cost which relates to an attendance fee, kindly state the date and precise time of the attendance and the name of the certificated bailiff making each attendance with the name of the county court where the relevant bailiff obtained his or her certificate

12. Copies of all relevant paperwork created as a result of any and all visits ever made to me along with details of the results of each visit

13. Copies of any and all documentation issued to me or left at my property after each visit was made including details of the date and precise time of the visit and the charges incurred; this must include the name of the bailiffs who attended

 

I trust that the above is clear and should you be in any doubt as to your obligations as a Data Controller, then I would advise that you consult your corporate counsel.

 

As detailed above, I have enclosed the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply.

 

If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please let me know by return.

Yours faithfully

 

 

Onlyme

[Nulla Bona]

£900 could be fair if the debt was a big one.

 

Most HCEO's charge around 7.5% and a few hundred £ for a first visit.

 

If it was a £10k debt this would make sense.

 

Make sure you have a stay of execution as just cos there is a court case pending doesnt mean that enforcement must stop.

[tomtubby]

£900 could be fair if the debt was a big one.

 

Most HCEO's charge around 7.5% and a few hundred £ for a first visit.

 

If it was a £10k debt this would make sense.

 

Make sure you have a stay of execution as just cos there is a court case pending doesnt mean that enforcement must stop.

 

 

Whether £900 is fair is beside the point.

 

The regulations covering fees charged by HCEO's state that the fees are either as provided by statute or "reasonable" charges can be applied.

 

£900 is NOT "reasonable".

[brownefamily]

Nulla Bona, I'd be interested to see where your 7.5% came from, let alone "a few hundred £ for a first visit"

 

HCEO fees regulations do not state these amounts

 

and if charges don't reflect actual costs, then they can't be justified

 

Why should it cost 7.5% of a debt to collect it? So a £1,000 debt costs £75 but a £2,000 debt costs £150. Why's that?

 

As soon as %s are used, it strikes me someone's just looking to make a profit

[fay180]

Sorry for the late response. (unrelated) events have sort of overtaken me over the last few days.

 

No the debt was not £10k. It was less than £1k.

 

I've yet to send off the subject access request. Thanks for the wording ohitsonlyme.

[fay180]

Just to give an update, (nothing has happened since Nov) but today got a phone call from our friends. They wanted to know remainder of the warrant would be paid. Told them that the warrant was suspended pending hearing and they should not be contacting me and they said that the pending had now expired.

 

I told them where to go and they said they would check my file and get back to me.

 

Seems that although they didn't reply to me to provide court dates, they haven't gone away yet!