Rossendales Nightmare

[Dancer199]

Hi,

 

I had a bailiff from Rossendales call a few months ago regarding unpaid council Tax.

 

I let him in and agreed that the bill needed paying but didnt have the £1600.00 he was asking for. I gave him £300 and he said i would have a payment schedule set up for me and left.

 

2 weeks later I had another guy at the door from rosendales asking to speak to me. He said he was here to collect the outstanding balance of £1500.00.

 

I told him I did not have it and he said I had 48hrs to get the money or he would be back to remove my goods. he took down the reg of my car without saying anything and left.

 

I then rang my local council and paid the ammount in full as I didnt want these people back at my door. I told the council that i felt threaterned and intimidated by this 2nd bailiff.

 

I was then told I had been charged £202.00 for this visit which included an attaedance fee, a van fee and a levy fee (no levy was done on either visits) I wrote to Rossendales and advised them that as far as I was aware you cannot charge a van fee to uplift good if they have not been levied upon first and no levy was ever done.

 

They wrote back inlcuding a levy which was totally wrong and unsigned , The bailiff had a had a quick look about in my room which i use as an office and included my computer which i use for work and a tv which he stated was a 50" plasma, I dont own a 50" plasma, and a large digital printer which he totally got the name wrong (the name that he put down does not existing in the printing world !) along with my car which is work £26k.

 

He claims I refused to sign the levy or walking possession agreement so as not to incur the £12 charge.

 

I have written to them 3 times now and have recived a letter from the complaints team leader saying the she has interviewed the bailiff and he is adament that these items were in my house when he attended and he did hand me a copy of the levy.

 

This guy has baltently lied and I have explained to them that he has levied on things which dont exist.

 

Its a point of order now that i get this £200 back from them,

 

Should I issue proceedings against them ?

 

Any and all help would be really appreciated

[ploddertom]

 

Its a point of order now that i get this £200 back from them,

 

Should I issue proceedings against them ?

 

Any and all help would be really appreciated

 

I assume you therefore paid the extra charges. To proceed further you need to ask them for a statement of your account including screenshot - this will detail all visits, charges, when they are and at what time they were applied. As a tactic they may ask for £10 but thie info you are asking for does not come under Data Protection so does not need to be paid - they are obliged to give you this information.

 

When you get it go through it with a fine tooth comb - by all means come back and ask questions. If you find you have been overcharged write to them give them 7 days to repy and if nothing received issue N1 in the County Court for your money back. If this was for Council Tax you should also write the same to the Council but point out to them if they fail to reimburse you you will also name them as co-defendant in any action.

 

PT

[Dancer199]

Hi Yes I paid the extra charges.

 

I already have a list of charges but I thought they could not charge a van fee if they had not done a levy of distress.

 

I have written to them telling them they have overcharged me and I want my money back plus the bailiff lied about doing the levy in the first place.

 

They say their fees are charged in accourdance with the council tax (Administration and Enforcement) regulations 1992 as ammended and I am due nothing back.

 

This cannot be right, the guy has made up a levy which is both wrong and unsigned. This cannot be right, How can I prove to rossendales that he has got it totally wrong because he was going off memory and has fabricated the levy once questioned ?

[ploddertom]

As stated previously you now need to ask them for your statement of account. You can't really do much more until you have this as this will be the evidence you need.

 

PT

[hallowitch]

They wrote back including a levy which was totally wrong and unsigned , The bailiff had a had a quick look about in my room which i use as an office and included my computer which i use for work and a TV which he stated was a 50" plasma, I don't own a 50" plasma, and a large digital printer which he totally got the name wrong (the name that he put down does not existing in the printing world !) along with my car which is worth £26k.

 

this would be classed as an excessive levy

as the car would have covered all the council tax debt and bailiffs fees there was no reason for him add the TV computer and printer

[caledfwlch]

Can a bailiff force entry if you refuse to sign a levy, and he goes away?

 

I thought if you refused to sign, the levy was invalid or unprovable, unless he removed the goods there and then?