newlyn bailiffs complaint - advice needed

[scritti78]

Bit of an epic post, this, but please bear with me!

 

A Newlyn bailiff called at my house yesterday morning to collect their ‘fees’ on a council tax debt we paid in full directly to the Liverpool City Council three weeks ago. My wife answered the door with our 18 month old daughter clearly visible at her side, told this person firmly but politely that we’d be in touch and attempted to close the door, at which point the bailiff turned gangster and gave the door a hefty shove which, had my wife not acted quickly, would’ve pinned my daughter against the wall. My wife and I angrily admonished her for this, at which point she called my wife (and I quote) “a lying little bitch” and moved towards her in a threatening manner.

 

This monstrous woman then returned to her car, at which point I glanced at the letter she’d posted through the letterbox and saw the amount of £213.39. I went out to enquire as to where this figure had been plucked from. “It’s your fees for all the visits you‘ve had,” she said, and showed me a list of four or five alleged ‘visits’ with a ‘van fee’ of £120 tacked on. I replied that bailiffs can only lawfully charge for up to two visits where they have failed to gain ‘peaceful entry’ and that not only had they never once gained entry to my premises to levy goods, they had only visited the house on one occasion while the original debt was still outstanding, several months ago (any other removal notices had arrived by post), which means I only actually owe £24.00 maximum in fees. The bailiff just laughed derisively.

 

Just before I walked away from the vehicle, she made a thinly-veiled threat to levy somebody else’s car parked outside my house, then chuckled to herself contentedly. She seemed to be having a whale of a time, I must say. But the most stunningly idiotic and unprofessional thing she did (aside from almost crushing a toddler) was yet to come: as I crossed the street to go back inside, she rolled her window down and yelled in a ‘comedy’ voice “Iiii’ll be back!” and cackled like a pantomime villain. I’m not making this up. A grown woman attempting to mock me from across the street in a manner more suited to a primary school playground. I can honestly say, she was the most unpleasant individual I've ever encountered in my 31 years on this planet, truly abominable.

 

By the way, the removal notice that ghastly woman put through the door actually says nothing of bailiff's fees and instead claims I still owe the Council (not Newlyn) this sum of £213.39. To reiterate, I am now fully paid up with the Council- the debt was cleared about three weeks ago and I know full well they informed Newlyn of this on the 28th April.

 

Newlyn are trying to rob me, plain & simple.

 

Needless to say I got straight on the phone to the Council to lodge a complaint with them, and have drafted a letter to Newlyn which will be sent recorded delivery tomorrow (with a copy going to the Council). Is there anything else I can do or should I just sit tight?

 

One other query I had is regarding the fact I'm actually moving house next Monday. Naturally I'll be informing the Council of my change of address, but do I have any data protection rights when it comes to them passing on my address to Newlyn, given that I'm fully up to date with my council tax? Do Newlyn have any right to get my new address off the council? I really don't know if my stress levels can handle one of these b**tards turning up at my new house in a couple of weeks time.

 

Sorry for the novel, hope someone can help me out.

[tomtubby]

This is simply dreadful and I am shocked. With council tax the matter is quite simple in that the fees and levy are the RESPONSIBILITY of the local authority.

 

You MUST write a letter to the council and it should to be marked as a FORMAL COMPLAINT and should be addressed to the Chief Executive. This will ensure that the letter is lodged as a complaint against the bailiff company and from experience this will ensure that your complaint is dealt will in a speedy manner.

 

You have paid the Liability Order in full before goods have been seized and therefore the bailiff can only enforce for a visit fee of £24.50 if specifically instructed to do so by the council.

 

This complaint is clearly very SERIOUS.

 

PS: Which council is this?

[scritti78]

Thanks for the reply, tomtubby. It really was an astonishing incident, my wife and I were pretty shaken and it took us most of the day to calm down. The bailiff's behaviour was nothing short of monstrous.

 

It's Liverpool City Council, to answer your question. As I say, I've lodged a complaint with them by phone, but I'll draft that letter pronto and get it off to them. Should I not bother to send one to Newlyn in that case?

 

Also I just want to get a couple of things clear in my head. Firstly, when you say that fees 'are the responsibility of the local authority', does that mean it's up to the council to pay the bailiffs their fees by deducting them from payments I've made to the council? If that's the case then I've been completely misled by the council, because when I paid off my outstanding debt over the phone three weeks ago I was told it was now up to me to contact the bailiffs and pay any fees!

 

Secondly, are you saying that, by turning up at my home yesterday, the bailiff was acting unlawfully? Because she certainly hadn't been instructed to do so by the council, they had no knowledge of it.

 

Be great if you could clarify those two points for me because I want to make sure my case is watertight before I haul them over the coals!

[RaeUK]

You will be pleased to note that Newlyns plc are members of the Association of Civil Enforcement Agencies.

The ACEAs Code of Practice is a complete mirror image of the National Standards for Enforcement Agents.

Click the link, you'll need to scroll to the top, and have a read as to how your little miss bailiff should be behaving. I find the Standards a useful reference text for CEO Formal Complaints.

 

Department for Constitutional Affairs - Enforcement - National Standards for Enforcement Agents

 

 

Best wishes

Rae

 

[Oh, don't bother complaining to the ACEA they are toothless]

[scritti78]

Thanks, Kelcou. Have duly added a reference to the ACEA to my letter!

[caledfwlch]

Contact the Police and report her for attempting to assault your child.

 

If they try and come out with "its a civil matter" rubbish go to police complaints and tell the officer you are doing so.

 

charging a door with a toddler in the way certainly strikes me as attempted assault on the toddler.

[scritti78]

Hiya, sorry to be a pain, but scared my threads about to slip into obscurity!

 

Just wanted to ask again if tomtubby could clarify those points about the council being responsible for the bailiff's fees.

 

Thanks, and thanks again for the helpful comments thus far!

[hallowitch]

The council employ the bailiffs and are responsible for actions of there agents including there fees

 

fees are set by The council tax (administration and enforcement)regulations 1992 (amended)

 

http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/docs/Enforcement_Agent_Charges.pdf